#Tang and Pigsy are still best dads

[sairenharia]

MK's First Dad

The snakes represent my many, many dads!

Why yes, MK, they do represent your many, many dads.

Or rather, one dad, many times.

This dad.

So very clearly, the world of Lego Monkie Kid has been experiencing timeloops. Nuwa made MK to collect the stones and when the cycle of the world ends, he yeets himself into the pillar, and restarts everything from the beginning. Without outside factors, everything happens the same as it always did.

The Celestial body establishes itself, demons run amok, the journey happens, society builds, further and further until at least the Jade Emperor and maybe the other Guardians reach the end of their life and the Heavenly Pillar starts to crumble and has to be rebuilt and start the cycle.

Until THIS cycle where the Nine Headed Demon decided to wake MK up early.

And you know what?

I believe every single word the NHD said after he revealed himself was one hundred percent the complete and utter truth. He never ONCE lied to MK or any of the others, at least not from his perspective.

From the explanation of his motives, to the idle comments.

We see this in what he says he's doing. NHD said he isn't trying to push MK to a choice. What he wants is for MK to MAKE a choice. If MK chooses to sacrifice himself, NHD said he's going to save everyone, affirming his choice. By that same token, when MK comes back out of the pillar, he says he choose to face the end together in a supportive tone, affirming his choice again!

NHD didn't lie. Whatever choice MK made, he supported and encouraged MK in it.

His tune only changed, ONLY changed when he was terrified he was going to be trapped in the cycle again. And even then, it was only a brief moment. Once he saw he didn't have to be trapped, he was back to supporting MK, and he was relieved.

Even with the way NHD interacts with the others shows this. NHD allowed them to SPEAK. He only interfered when they tried to PHYSICALLY take MK's choice from him. NHD was fully enabling them to convince MK to make the choice they wanted him to make. They were allowed to persuade, because it was still ultimately MK who got to decide what he was going to do.

From start to finish, NHD had two goals. One was to leave the cycle, which he saw as happening either way. Either everything fell apart, or he had a way out when the cycle reset. MK's moved changed his gateway and that's when he got upset, but he had no issue with MK's CHOICE, just the fact he would be trapped again.

And two, that very choice.

But why? NHD manipulated Azure. He manipulated the Yama Kings. Potentially a lot of people in heaven and those below, which is pretty against people making choices. So why does he care so much about MK's choice?

Because the cycle wasn't supposed to end for another eon.

Because this cycle wasn't the first, it wasn't the second, and it likely wasn't even the hundredth.

Which means MK didn't have Pigsy. He didn't have Tang, or Mei, or Sandy, or anyone else in his life. They were long dead by the time the Harbinger is released in every other cycle.

Now with MK having longer to cook, he may be fully grown. Or he may be a kid again, but I think with what NHD said about wanting to give the Harbinger a chance to have a life, the Harbinger is usually grown enough to be able handle the trials.

But he's probably not got a lot of personality going on. Nuwa may have chosen an extreme way to maintain the pillar, but she does seem to be trying her best to minimize suffering. She is repeating the cycle because its the only way she can see in protecting the world from chaos. She makes Harbinger because a sacrifice is necessary for the pillar, to remain as a building block like I think she is. Harbinger has to be someone who EXISTS, but if he's largely a blank slate, then the loss is not so great.

Harbinger lives to sacrifice himself. He has no family. He has no life to lose.

But this means someone who is blank and potentially easy to lead astray.

This is why the trials. Because really, Harbinger is suppose to just live, grab the stones, yeet. Why does he need TRIALS? But then there is what the trials actually teach, as we know them.

A trial of resolve, to push through to the end despite the dangers. To endure danger and hardship to the end. Then the other trial, of focus on self, on what he needs to do in the present. But what's interesting is the DANGER of this one. Its not to Harbinger, but whoever is with him.

These trials are to make sure Harbinger has the nerve to go through danger and hardships to get to the end of the quest...and to keep his focus to PROTECT OTHERS.

Harbinger is made to be a sacrifice. He is made to protect. He is made to save. What happens if he sees people in danger on the way to the pillar? He would get distracted, but in delaying, he puts them in MORE danger. He has to be able to ignore those in smaller danger, and focus on his inner task, to make sure he focuses on the greater goal of sacrificing himself to keep them ALL safe.

I'm sure the dragon and tiger would have something similar.

So the trials help train Harbinger into some personality, but he still has to GET there. More over, he needs to have SOMEONE for the Black Tortoise.

The Yama Kings also know about the Harbinger. They know when he should be released and what he is supposed to do. They likely know what he is supposed to be like, and likely they are also how MK is supposed to even GET to the Jade Emperor.

The Harbinger needed a guide.

And I think that is the Nine Headed Demon.

Because here is the thing. NHD says he's not a monster. And he's tired of being the hero. And he isn't lying.

Here is the cycle.

The world starts. The Celestial body establishes itself. Demons run amok. The Journey happens. Society builds. Nuwa at some point puts the Harbinger in the stone. Eons pass. The Jade Emperor hits the end of his life.

The Harbinger is released.

And NHD is there, as a representative of the Yama Kings who know enough to know this will happen and what is expected. NHD helps the Harbinger to the trials. He helps him to the pillar. He watches the Harbinger sacrifice himself.

The cycle begins again.

He is there again.

The Harbinger dies again.

Over and over, until at some point, perhaps after the first time, perhaps later on, NHD is exposed to chaos. Likely when the cycle is ending and resetting, there is a window that chaos seeps in and NHD is able to see all that is beyond the world.

This is likely why he thinks he's fine regardless of MK's choice. Either he left during the brief window of a reset, he everything fell apart, so he was freed. He didn't account for continuing on beyond the reset.

NHD sees beyond and he sees beauty. NHD sees beyond and now he can REMEMBER. Why is hard to say. Likely he made a deal with whoever "he" is, but regardless, NHD loves chaos and he retains his memories.

But NHD was chosen to help the Harbinger for a reason. He is not cruel. He is not heartless. He loves the masses. He wanted to save and protect them, even at a cost, so he was chosen to help the Harbinger.

It is why even after he saw chaos, he chose to return. He had seen something so GOOD in his eyes, and he wanted to see if he could change the mind of those in the world. To convince Heaven to LET the chaos in. To end the resets and allow chaos and life to CHANGE beyond.

But no one listens.

They reject him.

Call him a monster.

The cycles continue.

He tries. He tries persuasion. He tries trickery. He likely tries force, but the Harbinger is too strong to stop and he will fulfill his destiny. He asks for help.

He even asks the one person who might stop the Harbinger.

Sun Wukong.

NHD said they were old enemies and old friends. NHD sought a solution, so he would ask who he could for help. Sometimes he could convince Wukong to help him. Others, he couldn't. And sometimes, he managed to get Wukong enraged enough to become an enemy. But unfortunately even with Wukong's power, he's never quite strong enough to keep the Harbinger from the pillar.

Likely because the Harbinger wants nothing more than to get to the pillar, and ultimately, the Harbinger is just some kid getting used, and Wukong can't bring himself to kill him. Allowing the Harbinger a moment to get through regardless of how the fight is actually going.

Which could be going far in Wukong's reaction to MK.

NHD said that MK is a remnant of chaos. Which means either the clay he was made from...or from Wukong's stone. And since the Celestial Primates are ODDITIES, its likely Wukong's stone that has that bit of chaos in it that Nuwa is using in her sacrificial building block. No one is gonna be able to make Wukong do anything he doesn't want, and likely none of the other primates, and Nuwa doesn't want to ask anyone to end their life either. Start anew is better.

But likely this bit of chaos may be why Wukong feels a draw to MK. Some part of him remembers the Harbinger. Remembers his strength. Remembers he's a kid being used, who hadn't been allowed to live, who did so much for the sake of others. A kid who idolizes him. A kid who can use his staff.

I think it says something with how much Wukong focuses on MK becoming self confident and choosing things for himself and why he steps in with the Spider Queen because its a fight MK desperately doesn't want even though he SHOULD be capable of handling it, instead of thinking the fights are too much for MK like the Lady Bone Demon. Wukong wants MK to decide things for himself, he wants MK to LIKE himself. Wukong wants MK to choose to. There is a bleeding of the timeline because of Wukong's connection to chaos by being a Celestial Primate.

The Harbinger is a blank slate...but he is a person. NHD, at first, just wants to help the world. He wants to be the hero. He wants to move beyond the cycle. But in trying to find that path, he introduces new elements to the Harbinger.

The Harbinger starts to show signs of development. Of change. The Harbinger starts to laugh. The Harbinger starts getting cheeky. The Harbinger starts crying when fights break out at the end. There is LIFE in the Harbinger.

Yet another beautiful thing this cycling world rejects for the sake of continuing to spin.

NHD tries to find a third solution. He tries over and over again. He knows the Harbinger will continue to the pillar, to save the world, over and over again, and he doesn't have the power to stop him. The Harbinger will always choose to sacrifice himself. He cannot end the cycle by preventing the sacrifice. He looks for a way to move past the eon. Maybe if he had more TIME, he could convince people to give chaos a chance. Perhaps he could allow the pillar to crumble more slowly, allow the sun to peak in over time. If he could just get the box to OPEN, then that would be enough.

Except nothing works. He can't fight anyone strong enough to replace the guardians. He can't find another means to fix the pillar. He tries over and over again.

There are several consequences to this and I'll get into one of those in another post. (Red Son has some INTERESTING things going on.)

NHD cannot find a means to move beyond the cycle. He is getting disillusioned. He wants to save everyone. He wants to bring them to the sun. He just can't.

He knows...he knows he doesn't HAVE to keep trying.

He sees it every reset. He has a window. He can LEAVE the cycle himself. Let everyone stay in their cave forever.

Except.

He sees the Harbinger throw himself into the pillar. The one he's sees sacrificing himself countless times for a world he never gets to truly experience. He only gets slivers of it. Moments of joy. Moments of triumphant. Moments of pain. Moments of truly being alive, when he deserved so much more.

NHD is tired. His sanity is fraying. He could simply go...

But he decides one more time.

He would live the cycle one more time.

Because the Harbinger deserved to fully experience the world. The Harbinger deserved to DECIDE whether or not to keep the cycle going, or let the world fall apart.

He manipulates the world in a different way. He's lived this cycle countless times. He knows much of what happens. He chooses a time.

He knows DBK gets released. He knows in short order, the Lady Bone Demon also gets freed, whether this is by the Demon Bull Family, the Mayor, or perhaps even Macaque (I haven't gotten a solid theory on what Macaque's deal is YET, but I have a suspicion his revival may not be a consistent thing.) Either way, DBK getting freed gets Wukong off his mountain because DBK is running around with HIS staff and while Wukong isn't interested in being a hero, that is HIS staff, thank you very much.

And the Lady Bone Demon is simply too big of a threat to ignore.

Its the first time where Wukong HAS to be active.

Its also the first time, in a while, where Wukong leaves his mountain. At times, visiting this city because its the first time in a while where the incarnations of the pilgrims are in close proximity and Wukong can't help himself. He just has to check things are okay.

Its the perfect set up.

The danger of releasing the Harbinger early is people noticing him. He will feel compelled to help people. NHD is pretty sure there is no way to be rid of that. So he needs something to justify this powerhouse running around.

This is the perfect time. Pigsy is a family man. If he leaves the Harbinger nearby, he will at least take care of the kid, and hopefully take him in. NHD can't be sure, but perhaps he has an idea depending on if Mei always finds Pigsy and Tang independent of MK's existence.

It works though. The Harbinger becomes MK and he's in place to be noticed by Wukong, who NHD already KNOWS experiences some bleed. Has seen Wukong react to the Harbinger with familiarity. Knows Wukong will be intrigued by MK enough to stay close.

Then DBK's freeing comes and Wukong is acting on suspicions, and maybe NHD is manipulating other things, but MK ends up with the staff, and Wukong is declaring MK his successor and NHD is thrilled.

MK now has the perfect smokescreen. The Celestial court has no say of what goes on with Celestial Primates without direct force. They don't know how they WORK. If Wukong says MK is his successor, then clearly he's done some weird primate magic on the boy and that's why he's powerful. The fact DBK and the Lady Bone Demon appeared, it screams of potential destiny to Wukong to. Throw in a few more of Wukong's enemies, keep him thrown long enough to not risk him thinking too much. Not like its hard, Wukong doesn't often think too much.

Even if this set up did present a few unexpected challenges NHD didn't account for. Macaque was largely an unknown because without MK's influence, IF Macaque is ALWAYS revived, Wukong and him likely never make up. They have too much bad history and too much stubbornness to actually work through their issues without MK calling Macaque out on his bullshit and enabling them to have to be around each other without turning into a huge fight. NHD got lucky that it took as long as it did because while Wukong doesn't overthink, Macaque certainly does and his plan may have been in more danger if Macaque had longer to explore those questions from episode one.

But no one knows MK is the Harbinger.

MK is allowed to experience life and what is means to save and have people to care for and he gets to make decisions on the scale of restoring the pillar and its perfect!

MK not only can make a choice, but will have the experience to do so.

Its all NHD ever wanted for him.

He's likely been doing something to the Jade Emperor to hasten his decline, or perhaps an eon really counts for the end of the man's life. Either way, he just has to free someone who is strong enough to take on the Jade Emperor in that state, but isn't strong enough to keep the stone functional.

The cycle can finally end.

MK can make a choice.

He can be free.

NHD never lied to anyone. He wanted to save everyone. He wasn't a monster. He wanted MK to have the freedom to chose, whatever it was.

He was only ever against MK the brief moment when he realized the world would continue and he wouldn't have his gap to escape. He didn't know WHAT would happen after that moment. Chaos had a chance to come in. There was a chance chaos wouldn't be able to, or at least wouldn't be able to for a very long time and he was so TIRED, he just wanted out, and for a moment, he was afraid to lose the thing he wanted for HIMSELF.

But as he stands on those stairs, as he sees the chaos, he is relieved.

He is HAPPY.

His words to MK are genuine. They are full of care and perhaps love. The child he had sent to die was finally alive. He was brilliant and clever. He found a third option that he hadn't been able to do for eons past.

He knows chaos is coming and that there will be a battle. The chaos MK feared may still be allowed through. So he warns him there is danger, that he will have to deal with the consequences of what happens Next.

He wishes him luck and thanks him. Sends him to a home he is glad his Harbinger is allowed to experience. For better or worse.

[kyri45]

I love your LMK Au, it's so cute and silly! My favourite part is definitely how you acknowledge Pigsy and Tang as MK's OG dads instead of just ignoring them!

Thank you! They still are his only “true dads” for now. Mac and Wukong might be his Bio dads and MK is accepting them trying their best to care for him, but MK still needs to recognise them as “dads”. The majority of this AU is, in a way, everything that happens before this moment.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Also dialogue thouts!!

MK: *drawing with crayons while Wukong orders food* Hey, baba?

Wukong: Yeah bud?

MK: Why don't I have a mama?

Tang and Pigsy: *glance at each other*

Wukong: What... what do you mean?

MK: Well, Mei has a mom and dad. And Redson had a mom and a dad too. Why don't I have a mom?

Wukong tries his best to avoid uncomfortable questions, which leads to misunderstanding and even more uncomfortable questions!

Wukong: "Uhh, well... you know how I tell stories about that someone I loved a long time ago - long before you were born? Like how Bull and Iron Fan love each other?" MK: "Yeah!! You call them Moon Flower!" Tang, eavesdropping in the bg: "Lore?" Wukong, wistful: "I do. Well... I don't think I'd ever love someone like I did Moon Flower ever again. So I don't think I'd ever be able to give you another mama or baba." MK, sad: "Oh..." Tang, butting in: "Don't worry MK! Lots of kids grow up with only one parent!" MK: "I know that, but that's not what I'm asking." Wukong, confused: "Hmm? Then what is?" MK: "I mean, who helped make me?" Wukong: (*splutters in shock!*) "Wh-what?" MK: "A book in the library said that mam-males like monkeys and humans need two sets of jeans from their baba and mama so they can get made. If you're my baba - where did my second jeans come from?" Wukong: (*continues to splutter and laugh nervously!*) Wukong, hesitating: "Well Xiaotian... you know Moon Flower?" MK: "Yeah?" Wukong (lie): "They helped make you." MK: "Really!?!" :0!! Wukong, going all-in: "Yes!" MK: "AH!!! I have mama!?" Wukong: "No bud, they identified mostly male so-" MK: "A SECOND BABA!?!" (*MK proceeds to excitedly info-dump to Tang about who "Moon Flower" is for the next hour. While Wukong rests his head on the counter, guilty over lying to his cub*) Wukong, whispering: "I swear, i didn't think he'd get so close to the Birds and the Bees talk so soon. I used to tell him that babies got made out of clay and he was happy with that..." Pigsy: "He's a quick learner, I'll tell you that much!"

Macaque is overhearing this obviously, and has a light-bulb moment of; "Moon Flower? Who's that- oh my gods that's what he called me when we were cubs.". After the shock wears off, Macaque is super-smug that Wukong still cares for him after so much had happened between them. And is curious now that Wukong's cub is convinced that "Moon Flower" is their other parent...

[menaceoffandoms]

Fuck it: collage AUs lego monkie kid

Mk is an art student who worked really hard to get a scholarship into the school. Yin and Jin are both in the same course as him, he corrected them about art theory once and they've never let it go so now they torment him in class, and everyone else for that matter. Wukong is there teacher and he is servery under qualified but he dose his best. Mk still works and lives at Pigsy's noodles, which in this is a hot spot for students cause of its close proximity to the uni. Balancing school and a job is a nightmare but he's trying his best.

Mei is in a business/marketing course, she wanted to do something more fun but her parents wanted her to do it, but she's actually really good at it especially whenever they do social media stuff. Princess Iron Fan is her teacher and the Demon accountant is her class mate. Mei and Red Son are roommates, they start off hating eachother but slowly become friends. When Mei finds out PIF is Red's mum she's begs her for baby photos, much to Red's embarrassment. Red Son is on an engineering course and Sandy is his teacher. Mei is a streamer with a pretty large following and she's currently saving for a new parts for her motorbike, which Red will likely end up replacing for her.

Tang is a history teacher at the school. He never shows up to class without a bowl of noodles. The scorpion demon is in his class and has a crush on him, but for obvious reason he's not at all interested! Tangs one love is noodles and noodle making Pigsy's.

Macaque is like a drama teacher or something like that, Mk likes to sit in on his seminars sometimes, and he's made a name for himself as the schools cryptid. He never seems to leave and always shows up in random places, a lot of people think he secretly lives in his classroom. He likes to scare and mess with Wukong a lot, they hate eachother but it's so over the top everyone either thinks there dating or wants them to kiss already.

Bai He is just a kid so she doesn't attend the collage, but she's seen around there a lot. Her pearents are probbaly teachers there, or maybe Macaque is her dad in this who knows, but for awhile some students thought she was a ghost haunting the school.

LBD and the Major either used to be teachers but got fired, or they both work at the school and are the most hated teachers there. LBD would teach law and the Major would do something similar, maybe criminology? Could throw a curve ball and have him teach psychology, that could be funny.

There's too many characters for me to be bothered to list rn so uhhhhh Nuwa is probably head of the school, any gods or celestial warriors are teachers, most demons are probbaly students unless they served a big part in the show (like syntax is probbaly the IT teacher) anddddd if it's not obvious I've never been to a university so I am very unqualified to do anything with this, I'm just having fun.

That being said if anyone dose want to do more with these concepts, go ahead, could be fun

[littlelegoman]

LMK NINJAGO CROSS OVER, BUT IT'S JUST LLOYD AND MK SWITCHING PLACES FOR A WEEK

Tang (possibly Pigsy, too): Wow, that sounds like a lot to go through as a child. And you bodily became 18 when you were 12? I'm so sorry, they shouldn't have done that to you..

Lloyd: Well-- it was to save the city--

Tang: What did that city ever do for you? I mean, your whole life is just one tragedy after another; your mother abandons you, your father is locked away, you get sent to a boarding school to make you evil and you still get bullied there. You're manipulated multiple times by adults, and sure, you tried to do that once to them, but you were a child. They were adults. That's not fair.

Lloyd: It was destiny, I had to because of the prophesy...

Tang: No, you had a choice. You didn't have to do all that, and even if you wanted to, you could've waited till you were mature enough to understand the severity of it. Your uncle trains you-- actually, he forcibly takes you, which legally would happen anyways as your only relative, but the law was never involved, not to mention you were under the impression you'd be hurt.

Tang: It's not your fault either. You were coerced into it. The prophesy never said when you had to defeat your father, right?

Lloyd: Well, I don't entirely remember....

Tang: You needed an adult who wasn't going to use you, and you never got that. You never got a childhood, and that's terrible. I'm so upset that this happened to you because no kid deserves this. I'm not completely okay with MK being the Monkie Kid; I mean, look at all the danger it's put him through - but at least he was an adult, old enough to make his own conscious choice.

Lloyd: I...

Lloyd: Thanks, mom.

Tang: It's no pro-- wait what?

MK: And you have elemental powers?! Oh, that's so cool! I don't have any of those, really. I mean, I can do a lot of things that the Monkey King can do, but I don't think controlling elements was one of them.

Zane: It is awesome, of course, but we have years of years of unpacked trauma.

MK: Same!! :D

Red Son: Your father... was okay with you becoming a hero?

Lloyd: He wasn't the best, but it's not completely his fault. The whole venom and oni thing really messed him up. He knew what he was, and he... deep down, he wanted a safe world for me, and fhst meant a world without him.

Red Son:.... I see.

Lloyd: So, uh, you want to be like your father?

Red Son: Well, of course I do! I'm not some a simple-minded peasant like Noodle Boy or Dragon Girl! My father's legacy is one to behold with pride.

Lloyd:... but?

Red Son, sighing: but my father barely recognizes my greatness; and Noodle Boy and his peasant friends do....

MK: Why is... why.. (MK, trying to talk about Garmadon)

Wu: Ah... My brother and I share Oni and Dragon blood... when he was bitten by The Great Devourer, it caused his blood to turn cold.

MK: Does that mean you can become evil too?

Wu, caught off guard: Oh. I..

Wu, sighing: Yes. That is a possibility. I trained my students the best way I knew how... I.. admit I wasn't the best

MK, smiling brightly: HAHA, yeah, you weren't!

Wu, offended:

MK: Wait-- you ABANDONED your son to an evil school?!

Misako: I-- I did.

MK: Why not send him to a normal school?! Or with Mister Wu?! If you knew he was gonna beat up his dad, wouldn't it have helped if he grew up with morals???

Lloyd: I mean no offense, Sun Wukong, but I don't know why MK still likes you.

Wukong: Honestly, I don't either

[janetbrown711]

If I Fail You

Zhu Li Na is four months old when the cracks in the universe return, so it looks like it's time for baby's first Collect-A-Thon to Save the Universe! Surely nothing will go wrong!!! (Season 5 Rewrite adding in freenoodles fan kid Zhu Li Na + diving deeper into the mentality/mental health of certain characters)

Chapter 1: Watching Him Fade Away

Pigsy notices his son is starting to crack, but it's hard caring for a monkey-demi-god-kinda-regular-god and a four-month-old. But nevertheless, Pigsy tries.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Ao3 Link

Doodles !!!

MK was a very, very good big brother. 

He was over at Pigsy and Tang’s as frequently as Sandy, always helping out and playing and cuddling and changing and cleaning and taking care of the little piglet as much as possible whenever he wasn’t training with Monkey King. 

Pigsy hadn’t minded the extra help at first. It was nice to have his son and daughter bond and who was he to refuse an extra pair of hands when he was this tired all the time? Plus, Tang had to go to work, and so the help was certainly needed at times. 

But something was… off with his son. Of course, something had been off for months now, but whatever it was it was clearly getting far worse as he was gaining circles under his eyes so dark they were supposed to be reserved for new parents. He was also adamantly in denial of the whole thing, as any time Pigsy tried talking to him about sleep or stress, he jumped right up and suddenly remembered a task he had procrastinated and dashed off. 

A part of Pigsy worried MK had been lying about accepting all this change– that he didn’t like his room being taken, or that he even didn’t like Li Na. Another part of him told him that was ridiculous, as MK seemed genuinely happy to help her whenever he could. Another, deeper part of him wondered if MK had been like this for months, but Pigsy just hadn’t noticed, too busy dealing with the pregnancy and NICU. A more optimistic part said maybe the couch wasn’t as comfortable to sleep on as it used to be, and he should encourage the kid to go back to sleeping at his place. 

But that could easily make him feel worse, right? Pigsy worked to make sure MK knew he still had a place in his home, he didn't want the kid to think he suddenly flipped a switch on him. He needed to know he could still rely on Pigsy, even if he was a lot busier these days. 

It didn't help that no matter what progress Pigsy felt he made, it felt like he was back at level zero every time MK returned from training. 

He needed to think up a plan, and quick– or else risk MK losing his mind. 

Of course, it was hard to plan with a four-month-old in constant need of attention, but you know. 

“If the problem is a lack of sleep, bringing MK back to his own place and away from a screaming baby would certainly be for the best,” Sandy suggested, finishing buttoning up Li Na's onesie after a change. 

“Yeah, I know, I know– but I don't want ‘im thinking I'm shoving him out, you know? I want ‘im to know he can always come to me for help,” Pigsy sighed, folding some of her laundry. 

“Have a little faith in the kid; he knows you love him, he's said so himself.” Sandy picked Li Na up, though she cooed and reached away to Pigsy. 

“I–... I dunno… he's real sleep deprived– you know how thoughts can get,” Pigsy scratched his neck. 

“Then remind him,” Sandy gave a soft smile. “Tell him you're concerned and be honest about why.” 

Pigsy looked away. “Eh… me and honesty don't really get along well, what with sayin’ I wasn't the kid's dad to his face and all for twenty years…”

“Are you sure that was honesty and not insecurity?” Sandy raised an eyebrow as Li Na began to whine. 

Pigsy sighed, taking his daughter back in his arms. She immediately cooed happily, which made the elder pig demon chuckle a little. “I guess you might be right… but still, I just– I'm not good at this. Not really.” 

“I don't know, Li Na seems to think you're doing just fine.” Sandy winked, making Pigsy roll his eyes and blush slightly. 

His friend laughed. “Just trust your instincts, Pigsy. You've always been good when you listen to your heart.” 

Pigsy snorted, but didn't have a good rebuttal. Especially because Li Na did seem plenty happy, reaching for the buttons on Pigsy's shirt with glee. 

The thought occurred to Pigsy that maybe Sandy ought to be the one to talk to MK since he was so good at it. Before he could suggest it though, there was a massive woosh throughout the apartment announcing MK's arrival from training.

“You want me to head out for some groceries?” Sandy offered, but Pigsy shook his head. 

“I think it'll be good if just the two– er, three– of us head out for a bit,” Pigsy suggested. 

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Pigsy.” Sandy smiled at him all bright and corny, which made him roll his eyes again as he exited the nursery. 

Not to his surprise, Pigsy found MK in the kitchen wiping down the countertops with extreme vigor, acting like each little crumb and blotch was the Lady Bone Demon and needed to be wiped off this plane of existence asap. It might have been funny if it weren't for the stress and exhaustion weighing in his eyes. 

“Hey, kid. You– uh… feeling okay?” Pigsy asked. 

“Pigsy–! Hi! How're you doing?” MK shot up from the counter with a forced grin. 

“I asked you first.” Pigsy raised an eyebrow, shifting Li Na to an upright position so her head was against his shoulder. 

“O-oh! Right! Yeah, I'm all good man! Never felt better!” His son gave an even bigger smile and thumbs up for emphasis. 

Pigsy frowned. “Kid, when was the last time you slept?” 

“Bah, sleep is for the weak.” MK tried to wave off. “How's Li Na? When's the last time she slept?” 

Pigsy gave an unamused look. “Kid, I know what you're trying to do and it ain't gonna work.”

“What? Being helpful? I'm hurt.” MK put his hand over his chest dramatically, before scrubbing the counters again. 

Pigsy rolled his eyes. “Li Na is fine, MK. It's you I'm worried about.”

“I told you, I'm fine! Never felt better!” His son insisted, tossing out the cleaning wipe. 

Pigsy growled in frustration, causing the piglet in his arms to whine, sensing his distress. 

“Oh–! Hey, I can take her if she's not feeling okay! Or I can get her formula started or her diaper changed or–”

“MK, she doesn't need any of that–” Pigsy took a breath to try and calm himself while rubbing Li Na's back. “Just tell me what's wrong… please.”

MK's smile faltered. “A-are you sure you don't need anything? I can clean up around here or wash the van o-or even cook dinner, if you need.” 

Pigsy sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, before remembering his idea from earlier. “You know what? Let's go check on the restaurant. See how it's holding up.”

That worked to snap MK out of his spiral, as he froze and tilted his head. “Really? Why? You're not gonna open it for another four months.” 

Pigsy shrugged. “Fresh air'll do us good. Plus, I wanna make a proper meal on a proper stove, and I think my old cookbook is still over there.” 

“Oh– Okay! I can get the ca–” 

“I'll get the carrier and bag. You can take Li Na,” Pigsy decided instead. 

MK seemed confused again, but accepted the now smiling infant into his arms. “Hey kiddo, you having fun?” he asked, scrunching his nose. “We're gonna go to the restaurant soon. That's where you were born! It's also my favorite place on earth, so it'll be super fun.” 

Pigsy chuckled, shaking his head before going back into the nursery to get the same well-loved carrier he had used years and years and years before with MK. 

“So..? How's it going so far?” Sandy asked, startling the pig who had forgotten he was there. 

“We're gonna go for a walk, get some fresh air… though if you wanna take over, be my guest,” Pigsy half-joked. 

Sandy gave him a pitiful smile. “You got this, Pigsy. Just open up a little bit and you'll be golden.” 

The chef rolled his eyes. “Yeah, just text Tang where we are so he doesn't think we're being kidnapped or somethin’.” He snorted before  finding the diaper bag and throwing a few things in.

He had to dig a bit through the closet before he found his old baby carrier, with a well-worn scrapbook sitting right underneath. 

The chef couldn't help but smile a little as he picked it up and started flipping through. At the time he'd thought it was corny, that he wasn't MK's dad so there wasn't a point. However, his grandmother (and eventually Tang) insisted it was just to preserve good memories, and Pigsy couldn't have been more grateful. 

His heart ached with happiness and joy as he saw old photos of MK's chubby face, with fistfuls of noodles and a face covered in sauce. It had been a long, long time since he'd seen that face, so full of joy and nativity. No past, no future, just in the present focused on gorging himself on noodles. 

“Found something?” Sandy asked, peeking over Pigsy's shoulder. 

“Just an old scrapbook,” Pigsy chuckled before shutting it carefully. 

“Oh? I thought you weren't the ‘nostalgic type’.” Sandy grinned cheekily, quoting Pigsy from twenty five years ago. 

“Yeah, yeah, shut up,” Pigsy huffed and stood up, pausing when he realized he was still holding the book in his hands. 

…He wasn't exactly sure why, but he slipped it into the diaper bag too. 

“Text me if you end up needing anything,” Sandy said, not commenting on Pigsy's impulse decision. 

“Yeah, yeah. Get some sleep while you can,” Pigsy gave his friend a short crooked smile. 

Sandy laughed. “I sleep plenty fine on my boat, Pigsy.”

“With all those cats? Sure.” The chef retorted. “I should be back in an hour or so.”

“I'll hold the fort down. Have fun.” Sandy gave a salute, making Pigsy huff in amusement before heading back out to the living room, where MK was bouncing Li Na in a mix of exhaustion and worry. 

“C'mon, Li Na, it's okay, h-he'll be back soon, it's okay, you're okay, you're– Pigsy! She started whining and I-I think I'm messing it up, she won't–”

“Hey, hey, it's okay, kid, it's okay.” Pigsy immediately set the carrier and diaper bag on the couch, rushing to his son's side and placing a hand on his back. “You're okay, kid, just relax.”

“No, she wants you, she doesn't want me, I-I'm all messed up– take her back, please.” MK's resolve was starting to crack. 

“Hey, MK, it's okay, you're okay, just take a breath for me, alright?” Pigsy placed a calm and firm hand on his chest, taking a slow breath MK eventually copied. 

“Th-thanks, Pigsy.” MK sniffled, trying to bounce the still squirming piglet. 

Pigsy's chest ached with worry for both of them, but he shook it off for a moment. “I'm gonna get the carrier on, and then we'll go for a walk, alright?” 

“Yeah, that’s good.” MK nodded, small tears forming in his eyes.

Pigsy bit his cheek, but knew the best thing would be to just move on for now. And so, he quickly got the baby carrier on, putting it into front-inward carry mode, and placed Li Na inside, who relaxed as soon as her chest was against his. 

MK just stood there, watching at first before looking at the ground with his hands in his hoodie. His eyes were shining with tears, and his head was slowly sinking further and further down. 

It was something MK did a lot as a kid, especially on days he wanted nothing more than to just disappear. It made Pigsy want to cry, but the chef toughed it out. 

“C'mon, let's get some air.” He gave a mostly-not-forced smile and patted his son's shoulder. 

The boy nodded, clearly swallowing his tears before he suddenly moved, picking up the diaper bag and opening the door. 

“Dads-ies first.” MK cracked a mostly-forced smile that made Pigsy's heart twinge. 

“Thanks, kiddo.” He patted his arm again, and the three of them headed out into the night. 

The chef instantly felt more relaxed the second the late evening air hit his face, but he could tell it made MK more than a little anxious. Pigsy nudged the kid before taking a deep breath, implying for him to do the same. MK did, his shoulders loosening a little, but his eyes stayed glued to the ground. 

“You know– it’s– uh… it’s hard to believe it’s been four months, you know? Since she was born,” Pigsy tried lightening the mood. 

“Y-yeah! Man, time does fly, doesn’t it?” MK gave a weak laugh, one hand briefly leaving his pocket to scratch his neck before going right back. 

“Oh yeah. Sometimes I can hardly believe you’re in your twenties and not still goin’ to school,” Pigsy snorted. 

MK laughed a little less at that. “Yeah, it’s… yeah.” 

Pigsy winced as they stopped at a crosswalk. “It’s… hard to imagine one day Li Na’ll be in her twenties, all grown up and probably helping you fight whatever monster’s attacking the city that week.” 

“I thought you don’t want her fighting?” MK raised a somewhat playful eyebrow. 

“MK, I’m still not jazzed about you fighting,” Pigsy chuckled. “But… if that’s how it’s gonna be, that’s how it’s gonna be.” 

MK looked forward. “Right. Because ‘destiny’ and all that.” 

“What? No–ugh, I’m putting a household ban on that word.” Pigsy shook his head. “I mean because– I– you know– with the whole–” 

“Light’s green,” MK interrupted and immediately started walking again. 

Pigsy sighed, making Li Na shift so the chef put a hand on her tiny head. “I’ve got my work cut out for me tonight, don’t I kiddo?” he asked in a low voice, to which Li Na just cooed tiredly. The chef chuckled and gave her a soft pat before walking again. 

Just listen to your heart, Pigsy, just like Sandy said to. Sure, you’ve screwed this up before just about a million times, but Sandy is usually right about these things anyways so– just– try. For MK. 

“So– um… you feeling hungry at all?” Pigsy ventured, deciding to steer clear of the d-word. 

“Eh, not really.” MK half shrugged. 

Pigsy eyed MK for a moment, looking him up and down and checking for his usual hunger ticks. “Let me rephrase that; when was the last time you ate?” 

“Pigsy, I’m okay, really, I just–” MK tried to lie, but seemed to remember he’d already been caught earlier. “Training was just hard today.” 

Pigsy’s brows knit together. “What do you mean?” 

“No! Not like that, I don’t mean it like that– I just– you know–! The more powerful I-I get the more he works me, which is good! Monkey King isn’t bad, it’s all just– it’s fine, I’m fine, let’s just go back home.” MK almost turned around, but Pigsy grabbed his arm. 

“Kid, I know I’ve been… a little hard on him in the past, but I know he’s helpin’ you in ways I can’t, so it’s okay,” The chef gave a weak smile. It seemed to help the kid genuinely relax a bit, making the chef’s smile grow. “Besides, he did help save your sister’s life, so I know he ain’t all ‘irresponsibility’.” 

MK let out a genuine laugh. “Of course him saving your life doesn’t count for anything.” 

Pigsy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, he’s saved me too, I guess, whatever.” 

“And he’s saved mine,” MK pointed out with a smug grin. 

“Eh, I’d say at this point the score of ‘saved your life’ versus ‘actively put it in danger’ is about even,” Pigsy pushed back playfully, and his son let out another laugh. 

“Yeah, whatever,” The kid shook his head with a chuckle, and all that laughter made Li Na let out laughs of her own. 

“Well, look who’s deciding to join all the fun,” Pigsy teased her a little. “What do you think? You like that Monkey King guy?” 

Li Na laughed again, making her brother grin. “You know, I think that counts as a ‘yes’.” 

“Bah, she’s four months old, what does she know?” Pigsy waved off. 

“Nah, I think she’s got it just right.” MK winked and booped her snout, making her scrunch up her nose and smile big, which MK copied, just as they came to another crosswalk that was thankfully green, and then it was “restaurant, sweet restaurant”. 

“Look, Li Na! It’s the best restaurant in all of China,” MK grinned as he fished out the keys from the bag, meanwhile, Pigsy soaked in the quiet warm feeling of seeing his third biggest pride and joy in person again after four months away. Of course, it also brought back memories of the absolute pain and terror he felt when last there, but there was also plenty of joy and love, so Pigsy was doing just fine. 

As was MK, evidently, as he lifted the security shield and flicked the lights on with delight before zipping to punch in the alarm code at a pace physically impossible for the old chef. Instead, Pigsy took his time letting all the memories soak in (though was certainly thankful all of the… “mess” had been cleaned shortly after going to the hospital). 

“Ahhh, it’s good to be back Pigsy.” MK came out from the back with a grin. “So, what’re we going to make? We gonna go for the longest noodle record again? Ooo– wait! What about the thickest noodle?! You haven’t done that yet, have you?” MK’s more manic energy came out yet again. 

“Woah kiddo, let’s settle down a bit first, alright?” Pigsy said lightheartedly. 

“Ahhh, c’mon! It’s why we came here! Revisit some memories, get cooking, and have a totally cool and awesome time for Li Na’s first visit– er… I guess first ‘return’ to the restaurant since she was born here.” MK tapped his chin. 

“Right, yeah, that’s true, but– I mean– there’s also– you know–” Pigsy hesitated again, cursing himself for stumbling over his words again. 

MK tilted his head. “You feeling okay, Pigsy?” 

“Are you?” Pigsy immediately snarked back, though immediately wished he hadn’t (the cursing in his head growing louder). 

MK’s eyes glanced around the restaurant as he slowly made his way to the bar and sat on a stool before picking at the grout. “I-I mean– I’m okay, if that’s what you’re asking. I-I just–...” 

Pigsy blinked, surprised his screw-up wasn’t backfiring. Scared he’d find a way to ruin it though, he quietly and carefully approached the bar, giving MK an analytic up and down. 

MK glanced his way, noticing the look and shrinking down. “I… I can’t sleep. Every time I do, I-I just– I-I–” The kid suddenly froze, eyes glazed over with a distant look of shame and terror before he desperately tried shaking it away. 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay– stay with me, kiddo,” Pigsy tried his best to soothe, placing a free hand on MK’s shoulder and squeezing it tight. He could feel MK wanting to resist, but Pigsy held on tight, and eventually his son leaned into his shoulder. 

“I-I’m so tired, Dad. I just wanna sleep, but– I-I have to keep working– I have to keep training, I have to.” MK sniffled. 

“MK, it’s okay to take breaks sometimes,” Pigsy urged, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and giving them a squeeze. 

MK shook his head. “E-even if I didn’t need to, I still can’t– it just doesn’t stop…” 

Pigsy nodded slowly, not entirely surprised he was finally displaying symptoms of PTSD, or whatever Sandy called it– dammit, it really should be Sandy instead of him– why did Pigsy think he could do this on his own? Always so stupid–

No. If MK needed help getting to sleep, Pigsy knew how to get him to sleep– just use the same trick from when he was a kid. And who knows? Maybe with some luck, Pigsy could get a meaningful lesson in there too. 

He could do this. He just needed to listen to his gut. 

“I’m sorry sleep’s skipping out on you, kid,” the chef started, giving him another squeeze. “But since we’re all up and here, why don’t we give Li Na her first cooking lesson?” 

A light sparked in MK’s eyes. “Really? You want me to help?” 

“‘Course I do. You’ve run this place on your own a few times already, and she needs to know all the tips and tricks.” Pigsy winked, going behind the bar. “Although the dish we’re making tonight ain’t on the menu.” 

“Huh? Why?” MK tilted his head and followed. 

Pigsy shrugged. “Consider it a ‘double lesson’.” 

“Ooo! Like a noodle master and his proteges,” MK grinned again.

“Sure,” Pigsy snorted, finding his old cook book and flipping to the particular Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup recipe he had in mind. 

“You sure Li Na’s gonna be able to stay awake for the whole lesson though? She’s already looking so sleepy to me,” MK cooed over the somewhat droopy-looking infant. 

Pigsy chuckled, patting her head again. “She’ll be just fine; us Zhu’s can practically cook in our sleep.” 

“I made instant ramen once in my sleep, does that count?” MK joked. 

As much as Pigsy hated that garbage, he nodded sagely. “No doubt about it.” 

That seemed to strike MK, as his joking smile twisted in surprise, before he shook himself out of it. 

“R-right– well, um– I’ll get started on the dough,” MK forced a more casual smile before zipping off to the back again. 

Pigsy bit his cheek, looking down at Li Na and silently wondering if that all was a good sign or not. The infant just blinked and smiled back tiredly. 

“You know, you’re a lot like your brother when he was a kid,” Pigsy smiled tiredly and kissed her forehead. She cooed a tired response before nuzzling her face into Pigsy's chest. 

Shortly after she did, MK came out from the back with all the stuff needed to make the noodles piled high in his arms. He managed to set it down just fine though; probably due to the kid’s super strength. 

“Alright, I’ll get started on the dough if you get started on the chicken and beef?” Pigsy proposed. 

“On it.” MK grinned, and Pigsy hummed happily as the two of them got to work. 

Pigsy immediately started talking Li Na through the process of making noodles, despite her immediately falling asleep at the likely familiar sounds of sizzling meat and boiling pots. MK of course chimed in whenever he could, whether with a joke or with how he liked to do it versus how Pigsy did it. A part of Pigsy wondered if the kid knew his sister was asleep, but even if he didn’t, Pigsy wouldn’t dare say a word. After all, he was having fun, and that plus the sleep he’d get tonight would make him start feeling better in no time. Not completely fixed, of course, but better. And MK needed better. 

It was dark out by the time they were wrapping everything up, and while MK was babbling about this one customer he had to serve, Li Na was starting to stir once again. Pigsy immediately started to sway as he stirred to try and keep her wake-up calm so MK wouldn’t worry, but babies are babies and soon enough a cry broke out. 

“Seriously! A whole avocado! Who doe– Li Na–!” MK dropped everything to run to his dad’s side. “Is she okay? What’s wrong?” 

“She’s okay, she’s okay, she just woke up from her little bed time nap, didn’t you?” Pigsy tried assuring the both of them, but Li Na must’ve been tired of the carrier as she started wriggling in frustration. 

“Okay, okay, I hear you kiddo, just hold on a sec, okay?” Pigsy told her before looking at MK. “How’s about you do the finishing touches and I get her settled, alright?” 

“O-Okay, yeah, I-I can manage.” MK chewed his cheek but tried to smile. 

“Everything’s under control. Don't worry, MK.” Pigsy placed a hand on his arm again and gave it a squeeze. 

“Right, yeah. On it, boss.” MK nodded to himself and went to the pot, giving Pigsy enough confidence to make his way to the bar where he finally freed his agitated piglet from her prison. 

“There you go, it's okay, you're okay,” Pigsy shushed, carefully holding her in one arm and setting the carrier down with the other. 

Li Na still continued to fuss though, threatening to wail as she kicked and failed her arms. Pigsy bit his cheek, trying to rock her but she kept trying to push him away. 

“Kid, it's okay, I'm just trying to help you, just let me help you,” Pigsy pleaded with her, trying to bring her back to his chest but that only made her angrier as the wailing began. 

Pigsy winced, trying to rock her instead, but that wasn't working either. She just kept crying and crying and crying, her face turning bright red and scrunched up. He tried digging through the diaper bag for something to help, but with how much squirming she was doing it was hard to be efficient with one arm. 

“C'mon, it's okay, you're okay,” the chef whispered, desperate to not stress MK out even more than he already was. 

God, this was such a mess. Sandy would've had it all figured out by now– he could read Li Na like a book, and he could help MK actually talk about his feelings. All Pigsy could do was bury his own feelings deep down and hope his kids didn't do the same. No wonder MK was like this, Pigsy was an exhausted mess too– he couldn't help anyone like this– he–

“Here, I got her formula for you.” MK suddenly appeared in front of Pigsy with a bottle in hand, startling the chef who needed a moment to comprehend. 

“I– uh– thank you,” Pigsy took it with hesitation, unsure if it would work. However, the second the bottle reached the infant's lips she started chugging away. 

Pigsy cursed himself internally for not even considering that could be the issue. 

“Thanks, kid. How'd you know?” Pigsy asked tiredly. 

MK shrugged. “She had that kinda clicky sound when she cried, and she only does that when she's hungry. I think it's because her tongue is in position for the bottle or something, I dunno.”

“Oh, yeah, I– uh– I guess she does,” Pigsy looked at her, shame weighing heavy in his chest. 

“A-anyways– um– soups on,” MK gave a big nervous smile.

“Right, yeah. Back to our cooking lesson,” Pigsy forced a weak one back. 

Taking a breath to ground himself, Pigsy got up and started making his way back to the counter. “You see, Li Na, the thing about good food is when you make it just right– the flavor, the feelin’– it all just comes rushing back to you,” Pigsy couldn't help but smile a little, thinking back to the last time he held MK in his arms in this very kitchen. If you do it just right, Li Na, it's more than ‘just food’, you know what I'm saying?” Pigsy looked at MK too. 

“Right! Yeah, Li Na, follow the recipe and it'll all be good,” MK patted his sister's head. 

“Oh– well– no, I, um–” Pigsy glanced at the noodle dish, when he realized MK– if he was following the directions to a tee as he claimed– missed an ingredient, and did a taste test to confirm. 

“Hmm… it's missin’ somethin’.... but what?” He teased his son a little, and panic quickly entered his eyes. 

“Wh-what?! But I followed the recipe perfectly, right?” MK went to flip through the cookbook before Pigsy rolled his eyes and let him have his own taste. 

Thankfully, that snapped MK out of fight-or-flight as he tasted it for a second before it must've clicked in his mind. He instantly stood upright and reached for the soy sauce. 

“Ahhh,” Pigsy winked encouragingly. “See kid, it's not always about following the recipe like it's written; sometimes you gotta feel it.” The chef smiled softly at the piglet as MK got bowls down and poured servings for the two of them. “And when you do, it becomes more than just food: it's home.”

“Oughhhh, it's so good,” MK laughed, tiredly picking the bowl up like he was talking to it. “Wish Li Na could try some, man, it's delicious.”

Pigsy chuckled, noticing Li Na was done with her bottle and quickly moved to start burping her, towel already on his shoulder. “Can't say I'm surprised. When I found– er– when you–... when you were a kid, this was your favorite.” He smiled tiredly at the memory, thinking back to the scrapbook. “I don't know when you stopped likin’ it so much, but–... but it always helped you sleep, so I figured–” 

A soft thud of MK resting his head against the bar, next to his bowl, made the chef chuckle. “Still works.” 

MK mumbled something in his sleep, and Pigsy rubbed a hand across his back until a small smile crept on his son's face. 

“Now for the hard part.” He cringed, thinking how he'd now have to carry both of his kids up the stairs to MK's room. 

Welp. He had no one but himself to blame, so may as well get to it. 

Pigsy worked quickly and efficiently, making sure Li Na was 100% satisfied and ready to go back in the carrier before he set it to “backpack mode” and placed her in. After that, he mentally prepared himself for how much his back was going to hurt in the morning, before scooping up his sleeping son and throwing him over his shoulder, trying his best to make sure no part of him was hitting Li Na. 

Immediately, Pigsy knew this was a stupid idea and that he should just text Sandy or Tang to come over to help. Instead, Pigsy stubbornly trudged up the stairs and into MK's apartment before all but dropping him onto the bed, before he too practically collapsed and sat. 

“You know… that… was a lot easier when you were little, kiddo.” Pigsy snorted. 

MK didn't respond in the slightest, those noodles really knocking the living daylights out of him. It was good to finally see him relax and hopefully, with time, the dark circles around his eyes could disappear. 

“Sorry I had to kinda trick you into sleeping, kiddo, but it's for your own good. You need to take care of yourself before you try and take care of me and your sister,” Pigsy chuckled a little as he heard Li Na coo behind him. 

“Oh yeah, your brother's a real hard worker, missy. He needs his rest so we can't be staying long,” he told the infant, though wasn't really motivated to move. 

He watched as MK's chest slowly raised and fell, over and over and over again in a rhythm that finally made Pigsy's own tense shoulders relax. He chuckled to himself as he instinctively reached and brushed his son's hair out of his eyes.

“I don't know how I ended up with you, but… I'm so glad I did,” he whispered. “I love you, son. Get some rest.”

Pigsy sat there for a while, softly stroking his son’s face and humming a lullaby out of habit. It seemed to help his son relax even more, a smile creeping on his resting face, making Pigsy feel like his heart could burst with pride and love. However, the chef knew he couldn’t stay forever, and so after finishing the song, he stood and turned off MK’s lights and left him to do as he was told.

Once outside, he let out a heavy, exhausted breath before going back to the restaurant where he took off the carrier and rearranged it to be front-facing once more. 

“You have fun with your cooking lesson, kiddo?” Pigsy asked, adjusting the straps. 

Li Na had no response, of course. Instead, she just watched her dad with big, curious eyes as he started gathering up all the baby supplies. 

“Glad you liked it cuz there's plenty more where that came from,” he teased and slung the bag over his shoulder before he looked at all the bowls and food still out. 

“Looks like we're coming back tomorrow anyways because I do not have the energy to clean all this up.” He snorted, which Li Na tried to copy. 

Pigsy chuckled. “Nice one, kid. Now let's get you home.” 

Li Na again attempted to snort, which Pigsy took as tired acceptance, so the two of them left the restaurant and headed homeward. 

.o0o. 

Despite Li Na waking up every two to three hours for food and changing, Pigsy actually felt somewhat at peace knowing his son was finally getting some rest. On top of that, Sandy was finally taking a day off as well, working on a “personal project” since it was Saturday. Tang didn't have work too, meaning he was home and relaxing as well. The only one not relaxing was Li Na, but she was still getting the hang of the “existing” thing, so it was fine. Besides, she was getting good at sleeping (much better than the previous three months), so he was relieved and proud nonetheless. 

“You know, call me crazy, but I feel like we're actually starting to get the hang of this whole ‘baby parenting’ thing,” Tang joked, lifting Li Na in the air while he sat on the couch, making her squeal in delight. 

“Compared to how we handled MK? Definitely,” Pigsy agreed as he repacked the diaper bag so they could go back and clean the restaurant.

“Oh, c'mon hon, that's not fair– he snuck up on us,” Tang pointed out, putting Li Naback down. 

“Literally,” the chef snarked. 

Tang rolled his eyes. “I don't know, I don't think we were terrible or anything– he's still alive, isn't he?” 

“By a miracle.” Pigsy shook his head. “I still remember the beach incident.”

“Hey! That wasn't my fault! And in my defense, he's probably literally made of stone! And it's not like he was drowning or anything, I just–” The scholar got all red and flustered, making his daughter giggle. “You mock my pain, Li-Li.”

“Clever girl,” Pigsy smirked as his husband shot a dirty look. 

“Well, if she's going to be like that then she doesn't get any more upies.” Tang stuck his nose up and Li Na's face fell. 

“Tang…” Pigsy cautioned, noticing her face already beginning to twist and redden for a cry. 

Tang looked back and noticed too, before immediately correcting his error and lifting her back into the air. “It's a good thing I'm not though, because you're such a cutie! Yes you are! Yes you are!” he said, lowering to kiss her cheek before raising her again and again. 

Pigsy smirked and shook his head. “You're such a sap.”

“You are too! Yes he is, yes he is!” Tang fought back without stopping his little game. 

The chef rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I'm all packed, we good to go now?” 

“You know, I don't understand the purpose of taking MK all the way to the restaurant when you could've just made him food here,” Tang quipped, standing up and cradling his daughter, who was slightly less upset than before that their game had ended (though she did reach up at him with excited arms). 

“It was for the lesson! Plus, kid needed to sleep in his own bed so he wouldn't be woken up by Li Na for once,” Pigsy pointed out, getting the carrier ready for Tang. 

“You just wanted to check up on the place again, didn't you?” Tang raised a playful eyebrow. 

“And if I did?” Pigsy dared his husband to question him as he handed the carrier off

Tang chuckled, kissing Pigsy's cheek as they swapped Li Na. “Big sap.” 

“Oy,” Pigsy rolled his eyes yet again, bouncing Li Na a little as he did. “Can't a man have some peace in his own home?” 

“I think even you should know by now the answer to that is ‘no’,” Tang snarked, clicking all the buckles. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get a move on.” Pigsy placed her in the carrier with her chest against Tang's, and this time Tang kissed him on the lips. 

“Maybe you can whip me up a bowl of noodles while we're there too, hm?” he teased, his fingers tracing up Pigsy's shoulders flirtatiously. 

“Freeloader,” Pigsy scoffed. 

“My darling husband.” Tang batted his eyelashes. 

“Yeah, yeah, let's try and get going before sundown,” Pigsy stopped the banter before they got too carried away, and so the couple (+ baby) headed downtown. 

Of course, the walk wasn’t long since it was just the three blocks, but “somehow” Tang’s ankles were already hurting, so he “rested” by the bar and played with Li Na while Pigsy started cleaning on his own. 

“You know, I’m kinda surprised you’ve been handling the whole ‘stay at home dad’ thing so well so far– I really thought by now you’d be itching to just open this place again– or at least be writhing with envy at the fact that Golden Hog’s open right now,” Tang pointed out, eyeing the window of the rival restaurant across the street. 

“It’s nice to know you have confidence in me,” Pigsy huffed, scrubbing off some sauce from a bowl. 

“Oh, come on– I’m allowed to make comments based on years of observation and learning now, aren’t I? Besides, it’s a compliment. You’re doing well,” Tang gave a small smile. 

Pigsy just hummed a little, continuing his work. 

“Then again, when you get to spend almost all day every day with this lil’ cutie, I can see why,” Tang scrunched his nose and took Li Na out of the carrier to cradle and bounce her. 

“Yep, she’s my favorite little freeloader,” the chef teased, setting the dish on the drying rack. 

Tang gasped in offense. “I’m wounded, Pigsy. You’ve wounded me.” 

“Take it up with the baby, I’m sure she’d love to hear why you’re better than her.” Pigsy waved off, grabbing some more pots and spoons to clean. 

“...Am I at least your favorite big freeloader?” Tang asked cautiously. 

Pigsy laughed. “You’re ridiculous.” 

“Wow. You did it. You wounded me again,” Tang sighed dramatically, which made Li Na laugh and reach at his scarf with excitement. “How can you live with yourself?” 

“Knowing that this is payback for all of the many, many noodles I've cooked over the years,” Pigsy gave his husband a wink. 

Tang stuttered to think of a comeback, but didn't manage to get one out before there was a loud squealing of tires outside and someone burst through the bamboo flap. 

“Heyo my favorite-set-of-dads and niece-y! How's it hanging?” Mei grinned wide as she took off her motorcycle helmet. 

“Mei! It's so good to see you,” Tang practically jumped to hug her with one arm. 

“Yeah! What're you guys even doing here though? Aren't you staying closed for another two months?” Mei looked to the chef. 

“I'm cleaning up from an impromptu late night meal I made last night for MK,” Pigsy explained casually. 

“Oh, sick! He doing okay?” she asked, pulling up a stool next to where Tang sat again. 

Pigsy's shoulders tensed a little before he shrugged. “He's resting now.” 

“Oh, that's good. I noticed him being wayyyy more active on my late-night streams than he normally does. That's good.” Her eyes wandered back to the little four-month-old. “Omg–! Is this Li Na's first outing? That's so cool! I gotta take a photo!” 

Pigsy paused. “Ah– well– actually she was with me last night–” 

“Shushhushhushhushshhhh–  I'm taking photos.” Mei grinned, taking out her phone and snapping picture after picture of Li Na looking at her with her head tilted in confusion and curiosity. 

Pigsy couldn't help but laugh and shake his head, putting the last few dishes on the drying rack before taking out one of his bigger pots and boiling water yet again. 

Mei perked up. “Ooo, you cooking for Li Na too? That's so cute!” 

“Nah, this is just to satisfy the freeloader, since Li Na's too young,” Pigsy sighed dramatically. 

“Ah, right, can't make her sick in the tum-tum, got it.” Mei nodded wisely. “Though– uh– can that be for two freeloaders?” she asked, batting her eyelashes. 

“You people are gonna be the death of me.” Pigsy shook his head as if he wasn't already planning to. 

“Teehee,” Mei giggled, making Li Na giggle too. “Ough, she's just too cute! How do you people get anything done around her?!” Mei booped her snout. 

“Lots of practice,” Tang laughed, offering to let Mei hold her, which she immediately accepted. 

“Well, call me untrained because all I wanna do is play with this cutie patootie, yes I do, yes I do,” Mei grinned wide as she tickled Li Na with one hand, filling the restaurant with piglet squeals. 

Pigsy couldn't help but smile as the restaurant came to life with cooking, chatter, and laughter as Tang and Mei caught up while keeping the piglet entertained. He could actually relax when it was like this, when he knew exactly where all his loved ones were and that they were safe and happy. He loved feeling like he could provide for them– that he could watch over and protect them. It was something of a scarce feeling these days, so Pigsy would soak it up while he could. 

Pigsy was about half way through cooking a massive pot of zha jiang noodle soup, when there was a massive truck that parked just outside. At first, Pigsy worried that the delivery company forgot the restaurant was closed, but one glance outside revealed it was just Sandy with his new pet project. 

“OMG! Sandy! And Mo!!!!! Hi Mo!!!!!” Mei ran out the door and waved, piglet still in arm and squinting and squirming at the sudden sunlight. 

“Mei, don't run off with her,” Pigsy cautioned, not taking his eyes off of the bamboo he was slicing. 

Thankfully, she heeded the warning, as Sandy came to them instead of vice versa. 

“Wow! Nice surprise seeing you all here.” Sandy smiled big, Mo perched on his shoulder. “What's the occasion?” 

“Clean up turned late lunch hangout,” Pigsy explained, adding the vegetables to the pot. 

“And here I thought maybe you'd actually take a day to relax,” Sandy teased. 

Mei laughed, sitting back down on her stool. “This is Piggy we're talking about– he wouldn't know relaxation if it hit him in the head.”

Pigsy scoffed, but let the insults come. He didn't feel like explaining the nuances of his hobby, and was perfectly content knowing they were having a good time trying to roast him anyway– or at least Mei was. Sandy and Tang moreso just laughed along. As for Li Na, she reached and grasped at Mei's jacket while oinking here and there before she started to grow tired. 

By the time soup was up, Pigsy recognized she was on the verge of getting cranky, and so ordered Tang to take her before serving up everyone's meals. 

“Wow, Pigsy, are you psychic or something? How'd you know to make enough for Sandy too?” Mei asked before eating a spoonful. 

Pigsy shrugged. “I always make more than enough because I know a certain freeloader is gonna ask for more.” He shot Tang a dramatic look, to which his husband grinned. “Besides, I wanted to make enough for MK too in case he heard all the noise and decided to come down.”

“Oh yeah, he must be real conked out right now, huh?” Mei spat out bits of sauce. 

“Must be.” Pigsy shrugged and handed her a napkin. “I should probably check on him soon.”

“Ah, MK's fine, Pigsy. He's just a very sleep-deprived adult. If he's resting, I say let him,” Tang waved off. 

“Yeah, yeah, you're right, I'm just being paranoid,” Pigsy let out a tired sigh. “I think I'm in need of some sleep too.”

Sandy smiled at him pitifully. “I can help out at night too, you know.” 

“Bah, you got your trucks and boats to work on,” Pigsy waved off and Mei immediately snickered. 

“That's our Pigsy, ladies and gentlemen,” She clapped with a shit-eating grin. 

“I can and will charge you for that bowl, Miss Dragon Heiress.” Pigsy squinted at her. 

Mei squinted right back but said nothing, eating more. 

Pigsy ate in smug satisfaction. 

The “late lunch” ended up lasting hours, the gang all laughing and talking and taking care of Li Na and feeling normal together. Pigsy hadn't realized just how isolated and disconnected he felt being locked up in his apartment all day every day, but now that he was here it was like a breath of fresh air. If Pigsy could find a way to capture the moment in a bottle for him to access whenever, he would. 

However, the longer it went on, the more… off Pigsy felt. Despite Sandy and Tang's assurances, he couldn't help but worry why MK hadn't wandered his way down yet. It was true MK had slept an entire 24 hours before, but something deep in Pigsy's gut told him something wasn't right. He tried to ignore it, especially whenever Li Na needed him, but it continued to nag at the back of his mind even as the conversation went outside to Sandy's new truck. 

“OMG!!! It looks just like Mo! That's so cute, Sandy!” Mei admired the headlights and grill. 

“My little guy does so much for me, it's the least I can do for him,” Sandy smiled softly, giving the cat a nice scratch on the chin. 

Pigsy thought it was corny, but knew not to say anything. Instead, he kept on wiping down the counter near the outdoor bar, where Tang was eating his third bowl and wearing Li Na in the carrier. 

“Omg-!! Is that a little kitty cat-patterned car seat?! That's so cute! We gotta get Li Na in it!” Mei beamed excitedly into the vehicle's windows. 

Pigsy looked at the time. “Maybe later kiddo, we gotta start wrapping up soon.” 

“Awww, I don't wanna go home. Home is lame and I want more delicious noodlessss,” Mei whined. 

“I have some leftovers if you want em,” Pigsy offered, and Mei immediately grinned. 

“Man, Dadsy, you're the best,” She gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. He responded with his own tired one that made Tang chuckle. 

“You sure Li Na's our first daughter?” Tang smirked. 

“Yeah, shut up.” Pigsy scrubbed harder to avoid the stupid look on his stupid husband's stupid face. 

“You know, I got a feeling that this baby is built to last.” Sandy patted his handy work, andthat sense of unease in Pigsy went into complete overdrive right before a sword fell from the sky and right onto Sandy's truck before three louder crashes destroyed the carrier. 

As if almost triggering a heart attack from the sheer volume and damage alone weren't enough, Pigsy could make out the familiar groans of pain from MK, making his heart sink into his stomach. 

“MK?! What– are you okay?! What just happened?! Pigsy exclaimed, rushing out of the restaurant. 

“Aha– we have to go.” MK hopped up just fine, though had a look of extreme panic on his face. 

“Does that have anything to do with the fact that the ominous cracks are back in the sky?” Tang questioned, pointing up. 

Oh god…

“It's okay! We got a plan!” Sun Wukong smiled and patted MK's back like it was no big deal (as per usual). 

“Oh, do we, huh? We don’t even know if these magical pillar healing stones are real,” Macaque bit back, filling Pigsy with rage towards the Monkey King for the millionth time, especially when he realized all the noise had woken Li Na from her nap and she was starting to wail. Tang was handling it, of course, but it still was enough to make the elder pig demon growl. 

“W-what if going after the stones is just another tricky plan by tricky plan demon– like this is exactly what they want? Wh–... what if we really just are chaos..?” MK paced with anxiety, and Pigsy wanted nothing more than to put a hand on his shoulder and tell him that whatever he was talking about, it was okay and they'd be fine. 

However, Wukong beat him to it. “Listen bud, the only thing I know for sure is I don't trust anyone who isn't standing right here, right now.” He looked around the street, making Pigsy feel slightly bad for getting so angry at him.

Slightly. 

“If those stones are important,” Wukong continued, “then the safest place for them to be is with us.” 

“Uh… what?” Pigsy finally got the chance to ask just as a bunch of sigils appeared in the sky. 

“It feels like we're still missing something important here,” Tang pointed out, looking at the sky while he tried patting Li Na's back to soothe her. 

“Oh– Yeah! We're– uh– sorta on the run from the celestial realm,” MK confessed, scratching his neck. 

“I'm sorry– what?!” Pigsy exclaimed. 

“I-I can explain, but we really gotta get going,” MK urged. 

“What?! But what about Li Na? She's only four months old!” Tang added, the parents sharing a worried look. 

“Yeah, well too bad, she's an accomplice now, so let’s get a move on,” MK urged, and terror settled in its usual spot in Pigsy's stomach. Just then, celestial soldiers teleported down all around them in pillars of light, armed and ready for battle. 

“Yep–! Go now, people! Now, now!” MK laughed nervously, grabbing Mei's arm as he looked for an exit. 

“Yeah, you probably shouldn't have messed up Sandy's fancy-schmancy new truck,” Mei pointed to the wreckage, which MK seemed to just now notice. 

“Oh-! A truck! Yes, I can make one,” MK quickly decided, twirling his staff around before he hit the ground. It caused a blast that thankfully pushed away the celestial armies while also making the remains of the truck turn into a proper and overcomplicated getaway vehicle. 

“Okay-! Everybody in!” MK called, looking around as the soldiers readied to fight again. 

Pigsy froze momentarily, unsure of who to help or how, when Tang grabbed his arm and started dragging him to the truck, his other hand covering Li Na's head. 

Right– yes, Li Na was here– Li Na was in danger– MK could handle himself, but Li Na was just a baby– he'd be okay, MK would be okay, Li Na would not, not if he froze– not if he–

“Pigsy, come on,” Tang urged at the open door and Pigsy snapped out of his spiral to quickly shuffle inside, taking Li Na out of the carrier and into the car seat MK had thankfully thought to include just as Wukong let out a painful cry somehow louder than Li Na's. 

“What on earth is going on around here?” Pigsy muttered, digging through the diaper bag for Li Na's blanket while Tang tried patting her chest to keep her calm. 

“If the sky cracks are back, it can't be anything good.” Sandy gave his friend a somewhat grim look through the rear-view mirror. 

“Great, okay, good, just great.” Tang’s eyes started twitching. “And here I thought maybe everything was okay for once and that we were having a good time but nope! No peace in this family, no siree, we’re monster magnets and we’re never going to know peace a day in our lives until we die and–” His rant was interrupted by Wukong and MK suddenly falling into the truck from a shadow portal.

The second they were in, Sandy shifted the vehicle into gear and floored it on out of there, MK sticking his head out of the window to look back at whatever fight was still happening with Macaque. 

“H-He’ll make it out of there, right?” He looked at Wukong, whose eyes were distant with shock. “He always gets away… right?” 

The king didn’t seem capable of answering. 

“I’m sure he’ll be okay, kid. Macaque’s a tough one,” Pigsy tried to comfort, though was distracted by Li Na still wailing. 

“R-right, yeah, he’ll–...” MK again glanced at his mentor, before just falling back into his seat and hanging his head back. 

The kid somehow looked even more exhausted than before. 

Pigsy finally found the quilt Sandy made for Li Na and gave it to her, stroking her cheek gently twice to maximize her comfort. After a bit of that, she was able to stop her shrieking, which was only a slight relief to all other passengers as now the car had a tense atmosphere of uncertainty and pain no one knew how to address. 

Pigsy wasn’t surprised when Tang suddenly held his hand, and he gave it the strongest squeeze he could before reaching and placing a hand on MK’s shoulder, squeezing it too. 

“We’ll figure this out, kid, I promise.” Pigsy forced a weak, but hopefully encouraging smile. 

MK sniffled and put a hand over Pigsy’s. “God, I hope so.” 

“Hey now, there’s nothin’ we can’t figure out as a team, alright? We got this,” the chef insisted, trying to sway both MK and himself as he did. 

“Right… right, yeah, we got this… together?” MK smiled. 

Pigsy nodded. “Together.” 

[magicwhiskers29]

This is. Something of a nonsense post, I think, but I wanted to ramble about who MK classifies as his "many, many dads" in s5e3's gag about the snakes. (I haven't seen further than this ep yet, so please no spoilers!)

Like, obviously there's Pigsy. We've known MK definitely sees him as a father since s2e1, where he calls him Dadsy. This is only affirmed again and again by later seasons, with stuff like s4 explicitly saying Pigsy raised him, and Pigsy calling him son (whilst he's asleep, so MK doesn't hear, but still) in s5e1. No one is arguing at this point that Pigsy counts.

Then... Well, I feel like the next obvious choice is Wukong, and that is already a lot more... Complicated. Obviously a lot of people (myself included) do see Wukong as something of a father figure for MK. He mentors (that should probably be in quotation marks because of how not good at it he is, but ah well) MK to help with his new powers (nominally) that his other family, like Pigsy, just can't really, because Wukong's the only one with similar abilities. He looks out for MK and often tries to shield him from even knowing that there is a greater danger -- his role in the story is that of a mentor, but when you break it down, it can sound fatherly.

But does MK see it this way? It's explicitly prompted in s4, when Mei and MK talk about the prospect of Wukong being his biological father. MK denies it outright, but only on the grounds that Wukong would have told him, if it were true. It's his trust in Wukong that makes him not believe it, not the fact that he personally thinks it wouldn't make sense, or that he doesn't see Wukong that way.

As a counter point, I've seen some people say the s5 scene where he acknowledges that they're all Wukong's friends (after they rebuild his house) is confirmation that MK sees him as a friend, or potential equal -- that they're buds, not father and son. And like, they are buds! They are friends! But I don't think the narrative wants us to view them as equals, or that close to that, because they are explicitly still mentor and student. Wukong is still the one giving MK advice through the next few episodes. MK loses the fight against Wukong at the beginning of s5e1 to show that, whilst they both hold back, Wulong still beats him, even if only just.

Wukong even calls him kid, just like Pigsy does! And I know that's part of his branding, but... It's not his name. Mei doesn't call him that, and she's his best friend. There are supposed to be parallels drawn between Pigsy and Wukong's behaviour, in regards to MK.

So especially with the season 4 conversation about Wukong as MK's dad still up in the air and not fully answered, on account of Wukong not having the answers, it seems, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume MK is including Wukong in his "many, many dads". He's also saying the line to Wukong, so...

And then... Tang? For one, Tang and Pigsy often act like they're married, with the way Tang hangs around the noodle shop (below literally where Pigsy and MK live) and has been, as such, telling MK stories since he was a child, being particularly relevant here, I think. Like, whether or not you think Pigsy and Tang are romantically involved, or just long-time friends, Tang has also been there for MK for a while.

MK does call him "Mr Tang" for a while, which isn't overly familiar, but... What else would he call him? The show isn't literally telling us that Pigsy and Tang are married, or anything close to such, so MK doesn't know him as well as Pigsy. It's polite. And MK tends to call most people by a title in the early seasons -- "Mr Tang", "Monkey King", most villains with a title... He usually calls people directly by the name for two reasons: he's very close and familiar with them (Like Pigsy or Mei), or he's belittling them because he's not at all close with them (Red Son in s1, or Macaque in s2, plus other villains that he uses no title for). He also tends to be more respectful towards people he looks up to or is intimidated by, so... DBK, who is just terrifying, in s3, Tang ,who taught him about JttW, in early seasons, and Wukong, who is his hero.

That's a lot of ramblings to say that I think including Tang isn't a stretch. This is a joke line, so I think we can assume MK is being loose with his classifications.

Is three "many, many"? I wouldn't exactly say so, but our other candidates are er.... Sandy? Macaque? To address both of those...

MK only meets Sandy in the pilot, and seems to view him as first a family, and then a personal, friend. The narrative frames Sandy as that kind of guy that gets called "Uncle or Aunt whatever" because they're a friend of your parents, in my opinion. He's an adult authority figure who looks out for MK, so if that's the definition then... Sure? Maybe MK is being extremely loose with who he counts, and since we've already seen the line between friend and family for him be extremely blurred, we could say for sake of argument that Sandy is one of his "many, many dads".

But Macaque? Oof, that's more complicated. If we just say that all of MK's male mentors are his father figures, then sure, go nuts. Macaque is one of his "many, many dads", but... The extent to which MK actually sees him as a legitimate mentor, and most certainly a father, could definitely be called into question.

In season 1, he does until the Macaque attacks Wukong. Then he sees himself as having been tricked, and the lesson he learns is related to Wukong. In other words, he largely discounts Macaque's work.

In season 2, he explicitly only calls Macaque his teacher to demean him. (Macaque: "A good kid with a really terrible teacher." MK: "I thought you were my teacher?") He is definitely bitter over the events of Macaque's two episodes up to this point, and make sure Macaque knows that. Macaque probably does legitimately see MK as his student of sorts, but son? Hm...

In season 3, Macaque spends most of it working for the main villain. So, uh. Not much father-son bonding happening there. He fights MK multiple times, and only teams up with him once he can get away with it. Macaque presents himself as very distant whilst they're all planning in the s3 specials, and his snarky mask is up in full force, but I do think he does really bond with MK in the final battle. Here, him calling MK kid or kiddo feels more along the lines the genuine affection that Wukong and Pigsy use it for, rather than demeaning.

In s4, he goes out of his way to help MK in one of his darkest moments, and even confronts parts of his past with Wukong for MK. He also once again participates in the final battle. (To help them.) By this point, it's undeniable that Macaque really does care about MK, and if you wanted to read that as him seeing MK as some kind of son, then I would say power to you. I don't know if that's really how I see it, but there is something there.

The issue? It's not "does Macaque see MK as a son?", it's "does MK see Macaque as a father?". My opinion is that MK sees Macaque as, at best some kind of shady uncle, but I don't want to understate the fact that the two of them do still grow closer. Maybe for the sake of the joke, MK includes Macaque, because his behaviour's been similar to Wukong's recently. (Though it is worth noting that MK doesn't see stuff like the Macaque-Wukong conversation in s5e1) I think I'll just have to leave this one more open ended.

And now I've spent way too long analysing what is almost certainly just a gag line directs as a bit of a wink and a nudge at the audience. Oh well.

[itsabouttimex2]

Platonic Noodlefam Headcanons

(Pigsy is best dad, I’ll be the first to say)

Growing up with these three is wildly chaotic. MK’s boundless energy, Tang’s noodle shenanigans and Pigsy’s hair-trigger temper has definitely left an impact on you.

Probably, you’re some kid that Tang finds god knows where, and he thinks: “If Pigsy can raise a kid, I can too.”

And he’s not entirely wrong, because you do find yourself slowly assimilating into this strange little family. To even out this wacky high-energy trio, you quickly mature and become somewhat stoic, providing a steady rock for the others.

However, if you’re younger than MK, you’ll definitely provide him with another insecurity to overcome. Having someone who is younger than him be more mature and sometimes far more helpful can be incredibly demoralizing. Still, he’s a protective presence in your life, always stepping up to shield you from danger. Anyone who dares to lay a hand on you will; in short order, find themselves face down in the dirt.

If you’re older, he instead looks up to you as a stable and competent source of support. He cares for Pigsy and Tang, really, he does. But Tang can be petty and is somewhat dramatic, and Pigsy, though reliable, can be grumpy and blunt. You provide a constant in MK’s life, someone he can turn to and ask for advice without too much judgment.

Either way, expect to cover more than a few shifts while he’s out saving the city/world.

For Tang, you’re a motivator to be better, because he can’t let a child take his place as “the smart one”, though he eventually realizes that being mature doesn’t mean that you’re as well-learned as he is. In fact, forcing yourself to be mature and reliable all the time without any breaks is clearly grinding you away bit by bit. On your particularly rough days, he’ll take you aside and have you sit down with him for a while. He’ll read you some of the lighter stories from Journey to the West, giving you a much-needed moment to recharge.

For Pigsy, you’re another troublesome child. Refusing to take breaks or reject requests for help, you run yourself dry to lend a hand to others. I personally think a lot of people overlook just how genuinely capable and successful Pigsy is in canon. Raised a kid by himself while running a popular noodle shop, also by himself. He’s clearly very skilled and dedicated.

And experienced, too. You think he doesn’t know that you’re worn out, kid? That you haven’t slept in four days? Nice try. He’ll put a hand on your back and guide you to your room, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed until you finally lay down and pass out.

Spending time with Tang and MK together almost always results in you and your brother sitting side by side as Tang recites tales of the Monkey King’s journeys. MK usually has his head on your lap or shoulder, but he never falls asleep. He just sits there, fervently taking in each and every word. Also, expect to try lots of new food with them. Pigsy puts something new on the menu? You all are trying it together. A new food stall opens? The three of you are first in line. A limited edition drink comes out? Your little triad will be testing it day one.

MK and Pigsy are pretty much opposites, one grounded and down-to-earth, the other energetic and reckless. However, they clearly care for each other greatly, and make for a good team whenever they join forces. Probably you work at the noodle shop with the two of them, giving them plenty of opportunity to look out for you. MK will physically push himself between you and any unruly customers, ready to square off, but Pigsy is quick to grab said customers and throw them outside.

Pigsy and Tang obviously serve as the parental figures in this little quartet, but one is a lot better at it than the other. Tang will probably feel more like a cool uncle that comes to visit on holidays, but you’ve accidentally called Pigsy “dad” more than a few times. You should expect for any potential suitors to be warded away without hesitation. Tang will cry out about his ‘weak ankles’ and then “accidentally” trip and spill his noodles on whoever is bothering you. Pigsy will straight up launch a wooden spoon directly into the face of anyone who dares to hit on you while you’re working.

Altogether, you’re a surprisingly functional family unit that’s far from nuclear, but your differences only serve to bring you closer together.

Essentially:

[666herescared]

Imaginary Shadow Dad)Ch.7: Anger

—☆—

  Notes: Get ready to see the badass good boy! Trust me though, there is an explanation for his behavior. He’s just a bit more agro than canon Mk, but he’s still wholesome and a little bean!:3 Also, uncle Sandy>:3 He has a therapy degree.

—☆—

Territorial Monkey

  Pigsy was startled when the school called in the middle of his work day, forcing him to take an early lunch and see what was wrong. Tang was probably in the middle of a lecture at the time, so it wasn’t likely that he’d be able to join in. He arrived at the school and made his way to the principal’s office, seeing his son squatting on the chair with his feet supporting his ass. “Ah. You must be Xiaotian’s father. Please, take a seat.” The man at the desk said, a stern gaze causing the pig to stiffen up.

  He sat down and glanced at Mk, who was still refusing to sit like a person. “What did you do?!” Pigsy whispered, making the little monkey flinch and avoid his glare.

  “Nothing he didn’t deserve.” The boy whispered back, keeping his glare on the carpet. 

  The principal cleared his throat, stopping the demon from questioning his kid further. “Xiaotian bit another kid today.” The condescending man glared at both of them, seemingly blaming Pigsy just as much as Mk. “According to him, the kid tried to steal his lunchbox and, “got too close”.”

  “What?!” The pig exclaimed in shock, before hearing the low growl his son gave to the authority figure.

  “What else was I meant to do!?” The kid suddenly looked like he was about to leap across the table and attack the principal. Knowing his son, he was perfectly capable of it too. “I gave him one bite of it last year, and now he won’t stop pestering me about it when I say, “no”!” Mk slammed his hand against the chair and made the whole thing creak- Wait, what the fuck?!

  How was his son that damn strong?! Was tree climbing really that good for the upper body? “You should have approached a teacher about it. Not. Bit him.” The imposing male stated.

  “And have it get ignored? Fat chance! I’d rather get in trouble than lose my meal!” The kid stated like he’d tried that before, even though Pigsy definitely hadn’t heard about that. 

  The pig patted Mk’s back, not missing the way his son tensed and gripped the chair. He decided it was best to give the kid his desired space. “Okay.. Well, what punishment is the other kid getting?” The demon asked, not expecting the reply of,

  “None. I believe your son inflicted enough pain on the poor boy already.” 

  Pigsy laughed in disbelief. “You’re kidding. The kid tried to steal from my kid! He should at least get a talking to!” He exclaimed, not understanding the principal’s logic. The little monkey’s eyes lit up, clearly cheered up by the defense. He already understood what he did wrong. He was more angry about the kid not getting punished in the first place. 

  Sadly, that light was snuffed out when the principal sighed as though they were being unreasonable. “I understand that, but the boy came into the nurse’s office crying over how much it hurt. It was already bruised when he came in. I think your son has punished the boy already.” The man stated with a glare that shut down Pigsy’s argument. “I understand that your son is… a special case. So, instead of detention, he'll just have to write a three page essay about the dangers of bites." 

  "WHAT?!" Mk yelled, interrupting. "Do you think I don't already know that?! I get that I did bad, but three whole pages?! I'd never find enough info!" The boy seemed angry, though he was still refusing to sit like a human.

  Pigsy held up a hand and successfully shut his son up, which was a surprise to him. He wasn't expecting that to work. When he took a glance, his son was now looking down at the floor in annoyed silence, clearly not having wanted to shut up. Makes you wonder. "Well.. I’ll ask Tang to help him write it. I'm sorry for his behavior." He apologized with a small bow in respect, seeing his son tip his head slightly, clearly following his lead but not wanting to show too much respect. 

  The principal dismissed them, allowing the pig to head back to the shop and the child to stomp back to his class, not noticing the wisps of shadow coming off of him or the intensity of the glowing from his eyes.

——000000——

Protective Monkey

  Mk was stuck up a tree. No joke. That's literally where he was. The cub had started getting into fights a lot, mostly to defend demon kids from getting bullied. But eventually, he was threatened with suspension. He still protected those in his corner from his perch, but he started relying more on his apparent infamy rather than his physical strength. It was useless when he got in his most recent one. The Little Monkey was walking through the hall, when he heard a slam and turned to see a young yellow lizard demon named Miki being held firm against her locker.

  Long story short, the fight got bad, he got caught, and to escape the consequences of his actions, he fled up his tree. He was just lucky that the doors to the school yard were open. He started out only a little higher than normal, but then the principal came out, calling for him to get down. He climbed higher and sat in the middle branches, where he was well out of the principal’s reach. The vice principal walked up beside his superior, gazing up at the errant child and asked, “Should I call his parents?”

  A dead branch was kicked from Mk’s seat in the tree and hit the man on the head. He rubbed his head as he confirmed, “Yes. He might listen to them.” 

  The Little Monkey was truly living up to his name as he sat there so high up the tree that falling was sure to break at least one bone. Just how he liked it. As monkey as the Monkey Kid could get. He knew that if he had his shadow tail then, it would have been flicking in a pleased manner.

  He could almost feel the ghost of it there. He felt incomplete without it. Six ears that weren’t there flicked as he watched the ground. He honestly acted so similar to Monkey King that it was scary. Protective, and yet he flees the moment consequences arrive. It was a part of his training, after all. It wasn’t his fault. “Get in, get out fast.” 

  “MK!” Pigsy yelled from the ground. Oh- shit, how long had he been there? He looked down and saw both his dads, Dadsy just standing there and staring up at him in shock, while Tang paced in a panic. “Get out of the tree!” 

  “NO!” The Little Monkey climbed the rest of the way up the tree. “You aren’t my dad!”

  The jolt of pain on Pigsy’s face was quickly covered. This had started happening around the time that the fights did. Mk would yell, “You aren’t my dad!” or something similar and then call him Dadsy in the next damned sentence. “Get out of the God damned tree! I am your dad!” 

  “You’re not my dad!” the Little Monkey yelled, hanging from a branch like a fucking koala. 

  “I am your dad, get down from the f- heckin’ tree!” The nervous parental demon barely caught himself almost cussing. Not till Mk’s sixteen.

  “I’m up a tree and you’re not!” the boy yelled down, pointing at his dads with one hand as the other held him steady.

  “XIAO HOUZI!” Tang shouted fearfully, finally standing still for a moment. “COME DOWN! YOU’RE GOING TO HURT YOURSELF!” 

  The Little Monkey reflexively covered his ears, falling down to the next branch and having to catch himself. 

  Suddenly very aware of his own mortality, the boy started crying. "Dadsy! Help! I'm scared!"

  “Great. He’s not being stubborn now, but how are we gonna get him down!” the pig exclaimed in confusion, hearing everyone else watching the spectacle start hemming and hawing. He sighed deeply, but it was abruptly cut off by some weirdly serious kid shoving past. He looked to be about twelve years of age, with long, straight black hair - like a waterfall made of ink. He wore a pink and very floral-themed hoodie adorned in lotuses with sweatpants to match.

  “Calm yourself! I’ll get you down!” The strange boy’s voice was so deep, you could be forgiven for thinking he was an adult. Maybe he was just a really short sixteen year old… with a really developed voice? 

  The boy leapt up the tree with an ease that defied gravity, and offered the panicked boy his arms. Mk was wary. He didn’t know this kid and wasn’t entirely certain he could trust him, but the older kid’s aura was so calming that he felt like maybe he could… and he really did want to get down from the tree now, so he allowed himself to relax and climb into his arms.

  The older boy made his way back down the branches much slower than he had ascended, and allowed Tang to pull his son into his arms once they were on the ground. He immediately turned to leave. As he was walking past, however, he gripped Pigsy’s shoulder and whispered, “You have no clue just who you have under your roof. Don’t expect favors too often. Keep him safe.”

  “Obviously! He’s my-” The demon turned around to look at the odd boy, but he had vanished just as suddenly as he had appeared. He looked around for any sign of the cryptic teen, but there was nary a clue aside from a few pink petals in the grass. “What the-..Hm..” That scent.. 

  The pig let out an OOF as he was unexpectedly hugged by his husband from behind, followed by a second, somewhat less abrupt hug from his son. 

“I’m sorry..” Mk whispered, with tears in his eyes.

  Pigsy put all thought of their fortuitous benefactor out of his mind. His kid was crying. He could think about mysterious flower boys later. For now, he had to focus on bringing his son home, and making a jujube cake for his family.

——000000——

Snap

  It wasn't Mk’s fault! Just getting that out there. He was just protecting a demon kid. He was sitting on his branch when he heard a kid scream. "B-Brutus, please!" No'e yelled, getting the attention of the school yard guardian. Brutus - He was a well-known bully who was infamous for being a lot meaner than the other playground antagonists.

  A glance toward the confrontation showed that Brutus's reputation was fair. After all, he was holding No'e's antlers so tight that moving could cause them to snap. "You asked for this, tattletale! You shouldn't have told on me when you have these convenient hand-holds."

  The monkey-boy could see where this was going, so he wasted no time in snapping off a branch from his perch, leaping down and storming over to, without a word, hit Brutus's stomach hard enough with his makeshift club to make him let go of the reindeer girl's antlers. The boy grunted in pain as he was thrown off, hitting the ground with enough force that he lost his vision for a moment. 

  No'e knew to run after a rescue at this point, so she fled before the fight broke out, with only a muttered, "Thank you." to MK.

  He didn't hear her, though. He was already having a bad day, and he didn't need Brutus making it worse. Without a thought in his mind, he lifted the stick above his head, and swung it with all his might at the boy on the ground, snapping the stick with the impact, and definitely bruising the kid. He came to his senses when he heard the boy's scream.

  MK realized his mistake a moment too late as he stared down at Brutus. The boy may have been cruel, but Mk knew he had hurt him more than he should have. Not good. Terror welled up inside of him. This was bad. He’d really done it now! He was suspended the last time he got in a fight, and he didn't want his dads to get angry again. 

  He ran.

  He didn’t notice the people yelling after him or how shadowy wisps clung to him, nor how his eyes glowed brighter in the moment. He was too panicked, trying to find a- there! On the wall of the school, he spotted a few pipes and someone on the roof would be far out of reach.

  Without thinking, he raced to the piping and scaled it to reach the roof, nearly slipping a few times in his panic. As he reached the top, and scurried over to the middle, he let out a sigh of relief. Finally, somewhere he wouldn’t be seen. The shadows calmed and his eyes faded to their normal shade. He was just gonna… stay there… for a bit.

-Hour 1-

  It was already concerning when the school called that day, but it was so much worse when he found out what they were calling about. They couldn’t find Mk! Pigsy closed the shop without hesitation so he could go and help look for his son. Tang showed up at the school gates in a cab moments after him. It seemed like he’d gotten a similar call. 

  “Pigsy! Oh thank goodness! I was worried I’d have to search on my own!” The scholar whined fearfully and hugged Pigsy’s arm, clearly nervous for their son.

  The demon chuckled anxiously and petted his husband’s hair to comfort him. “Yeah. Same here, Tangy.” the pig agreed, beginning to walk toward the building, his husband in tow. And so, the search began! Sadly, questioning Brutus was no help. He was kinda non-functioning and still on the ground at the time, due to blunt force trauma, so he saw nothing. Oops. 

-Hour 2-

  They were getting scared. The principal had called the cops to help search, and Tang had had three breakdowns already. Pigsy’s efforts in promising free noodles when they got home were no longer helping.

  Mk watched the chaos unfolding through a small hole in the short brick wall that surrounded the school roof. He was starting to think he’d bitten off more than he could chew. He was so nervous. How would he calm his dads? He didn’t want them to panic! But he also didn’t wanna get arrested! Well… they’d have to give up eventually.

Right?

-Hour 3-

  Around the start of the 3rd hour, Mk took to throwing pebbles down to his parents. He was missing, but he was trying. He wanted his parents to know he was okay, but he didn’t want to alert the cops to his location. He peeked over the edge of the roof to line up his next shot- but, “Hey- wait, isn’t that the weird kid who saved me from the tree?” 

  The boy was looking directly at him! He looked so baffled by the Little Monkey’s antics, but he actually saw him! “Wait- wha? Where did he go?!” The teen had vanished again. A single petal landed on the Monkey Kid’s nose. It made him sneeze. Was it just his imagination?

-Hour 4-

  All the other kids had gone home. Their parents had been called to pick them up when it was discovered he was missing. The cops and other adults were still searching - still calling for him - but Mk didn’t dare come down. It didn’t matter that he was getting cold. And bored.

  ..Mostly bored.

  He tensed and ducked back out of sight when two officers who had been circling the school for the hundredth time stopped at the bottom of the pipes. Mk held his breath and listened.

  “You don’t think he climbed up there, do ya?”

  You could hear a pin drop in the tense silence, but MK breathed a sigh of relief when the second officer said, “Nah. No kid could climb that.”

  And back to being bored…

-Hour 5-

  Why weren’t the cops leaving?! Even Dadsy and Mr.Tang had gone home by now, probably in hopes that he was already there. It was getting dark now! The Little Monkey lamented his continued trapped state as he sat up there on the pebble covered roof. He missed his dads.. 

  He placed a soft hand on his shadow, and he teared up.

-Hour 6-

  Mk started softly singing to himself as he watched the ground below. The officers were finally getting ready to leave. He remembered when dad used to sing that. He remembered falling asleep to that song every night. “Shine~ Shine~ Shadow light. A star I needed to keep alive. So shine~ Shine~ Shadow light. I want to see you shine so bright.”

  And finally, finally, the cops left. Mk climbed down expertly, although stiff from sitting on the roof for so long, but he made it to the bottom and started his long walk home. He kept humming the old lullaby to himself as he made his way back to his house. As the shop came into view, a feeling of dread came over him. He was scared of how his dads would react, so rather than use the door, he climbed up the fire escape and slipped into his room through his window. He ever-so quietly started getting ready for bed, but froze when he heard footsteps on the stairs.

  Mk was still as a statue as they stomped up to his room. “No- No, of course I know that. Look, I feel like he’s been through enough just going missing. No! I don’t care if you think he-” Pigsy threw open the door, phone to his ear and went stock-still in an instant.They found themselves stuck in a silent stare off, but it was Pigsy who broke the stillness. “I-I found him,” he gasped, dropping the phone in his shock. 

  Tang bolted up the stairs, seemingly having heard what Pigsy’d said. He hit the wall in his rush and shouted, “WHERE IS MY BABY?!!” Pigsy had forgotten completely about whoever he was calling, running forward alongside Tang and causing Mk to throw his hands up as the scholar yelled, “Xiao Houzi!” and gave him a huge hug. The pig caught them both up in a bone-popping hug an instant later.

  “H-hi dads..” Mk waved one semi-pinned hand, before working his arms free and wrapping them around his parents’ shoulders. He felt so much guilt rush over him at once that he started crying as he held his dads close. “I-I’m sorry..”

  “It’s alright, Mk.” Pigsy muttered, trying to regain composure, but still crying a lot. 

  Tang wasn’t even trying. He was sobbing into his son’s shirt and nuzzling him. “Xiao Houzi! Oh, my sweet Little Monkey. I thought we’d lost you!”

  “I’m sorry,” Mk apologized softly again, voice barely audible, as tears traced thin lines down his cheeks.

  “H-Hey. It’s okay,” Pigsy consoled his son. “How about I make us some jujube cake? We can go calm down, and talk about this. Alright?” the demon asked, wiping his eyes and stepping back. 

  The exhausted family agreed and made their way downstairs for some comfort food and a long conversation. 

  There was one thing the adults knew by the end of that day. Mk needed some therapy. 

——000000——

Old Friend

  It was a Saturday, which meant Mk and Tang were both home and Pigsy was cooking. They were presently sitting at the counter, waiting for lunch to be done. Tang was recapping the chapters about the kingdom of women to Mk. Meanwhile, he was glancing through therapist listings on his phone. Once the food was done and placed in front of the two, Mr.Tang decided it was a good place to stop and focused on eating, alongside his son. 

  After a little bit, Pigsy noticed that someone familiar had slipped in among the customers. Someone they still had to talk about. The mysterious flower boy was sitting in one of the booths! He was eating and staring directly at Mk. 

  Pigsy tapped his husband on the shoulder and muttered, “That flower kid is here again.”

  Tang barely glanced up from his noodles, but the Little Monkey slammed his hands on the counter and turned to look. 

  The moment he noticed him, the older boy booked it out the door. “YOU!” the younger yelled, chasing the boy out the door. He was lucky that traffic was slow. “You aren’t disappearing this time, big brother!” Mk said, almost playfully as he chased the older boy. Look, this happened a lot, okay? It was getting annoying that he stared at him all the time, but never actually talked to him.

  Eyes following MK out the door, Pigsy clarified, “I meant that we should talk about him.” to Tang.

  “What about him?” Tang asked through a mouthful of noodles.

  “Isn’t it weird that he keeps showin’ up and staring at Mk? And the first time he showed up, he said some ominous thing about us, “Not knowing who we have under our roof.” Like, who does he think the kid is?! Mk is Mk! He has no right to tell us-” 

The demon’s husband shushed him. “Pigsy, sweetheart, you’re rambling. I don’t know what your point is.” the scholar stated.

  “S-Sorry, Tangy. It’s just… What’s going on with our son? How are we supposed to help him? He acts like a monkey, has shadow magic, and definitely needs therapy. I don’t know what to-!” The pig had calmed down significantly, but his anxiety was starting to ramp up again, so Tang grabbed his hand and ran his thumb across his husband’s knuckles.

  “It’ll be alright, Bao Bei*. How about you take a break and help me look for a therapist for our Little Monkey?” he asked in a comforting tone, emphasizing his breaths. 

  Pigsy breathed in and out alongside the scholar subconsciously, relaxing fairly quickly. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” He agreed, grabbing his ‘Out to Lunch’ sign from beneath the counter and walking around to sit with his lover. Tang patted his back and slurped up the rest of his noodles fairly quickly, just waiting for their son to get back, before heading downstairs to relax.

  They didn’t have to wait too long, because the Little Monkey walked through the door moments later, glaring at a petal in his hand. 

  Mk crushed the petal angrily, and dashed for the stairs, but was halted suddenly by Tang. Luckily, he was able to stop the instinctive punch he nearly threw. That was happening too much- “Yeah, dad?” Mk asked, opening his fist and shaking the tension out. The shadow trails flickered away as he lost the aggression.

  “We’re heading downstairs for a break, Xiao Houzi. We’re gonna keep looking for a therapist while we’re down there. Do you want to come?” Mr.Tang asked, eyeing the tense hand in a way that did not go unnoticed.

  After a moment of thought, Xiaoti- Mk said, “No. I’m gonna go watch ‘Monkey Cop’ again.” while pointing up the stairs. His human dad nodded, letting his hand go, and waving at him cautiously as he ran to his room. 

  Once he knew his son was up the stairs, Tang stopped waving and put both hands into his sleeves, walking down to the couple’s home. His husband lingered in the noodle shop for a moment, looking at their son’s room worriedly, before catching up to his lover. 

  The two of them walked over to the couch, Tang flopping down and Pigsy settling down next to him a moment later. Both let out long sighs, before taking out their phones and continuing to browse therapist listings.   Thirty minutes later, Tang found something interesting. “Pigsy. Look at this one. Home practicing therapist, with all necessary licensing, and multiple degrees. High rated, cheap, and he practices with unconventional methods, such as tea, sharing his therapy cats, meditating and yoga.”

  “Sounds like a bunch of mystic mumbo jumbo,” the demon replied, uninterested at first. That is, until his lover shoved his phone in his face.

  “Look at who the therapist is, though,” the scholar insisted.   Pigsy pushed his husband’s phone back, confused at the disbelief in his tone, until he saw who it was. Holy shit. “Sandy?!” 

  Five minutes later, Pigsy was making a call to a very old friend. The phone rang for a moment, then that voice he hadn't heard in years came through from the other side. "Thank you for calling "Cats and Tea Therapy"! How may I help you?"

  Emotions stirred in the demon's gut as he heard his old friend’s voice sounding so calm. "H-Hey, Sandy." His voice quivered, nervous about getting back in contact with the river spirit. 

  There was a pause. Shock was clear in Sandy's voice as he asked, "Pigsy?" After a moment without denial, a joyful tone slipped into his next sentence. "It’s been too long, old friend!" 

  The pig smiled as he heard his friend’s voice. "Heya, Sandy! Heard you're doing therapy now. How did that happen?"

  "Oh! I started therapy a while back, and it helped so much, I thought why not share the love. Why do you ask? Are you thinking about getting therapy yourself?" the river spirit asked.

  Pigsy cringed slightly at the thought. "Nah. Already did that a while ago. It's for my son," the older clarified, before getting an odd look from Tang. He then realized how that sounded. "Me and Tangy took him in about two years ago. Almost three now. He's turning thirteen in a few weeks." 

  "Oh! Okay. I was worried something happened between you two, and you found someone new," the river spirit chuckled with relief. 

  Pigsy laughed along with him. "Nah. We actually got married, like, five years ago."

  "WHAT?!" Excitement and shock mixed in Sandy's voice. "Why didn't you invite me?"

  The pig chuckled at his friend's question. "You know that's not part of pig demon courting, Sandy." 

  "But Tangy's a human! I just wanted to be there. Maybe be your best man. Mo could be your flower girl!" the spirit excitedly rambled, forgetting that Pigsy had no clue who Mo was.

  "Wait, what?" the demon exclaimed. "Who’s Mo?"

  Sandy felt like an idiot after that. "Oh. Mo is one of my therapy cats.. He’s my favorite!" he whispered the last bit into the phone, like it was a secret he didn’t want getting out. "Anywho; you wanted to set up an appointment?" The river spirit decided to finally get back to the point of the conversation.

  "Right. Me and Tangy have been looking for a therapist for our son. His name is Xiaotian, but he prefers Mk," Pigsy started.

  "Wait, how do you get Mk from Xiaotian?" the spirit asked in confusion. Why would that of all things be the boy’s preferred nickname?

  "Oh. It's short for Monkey Kid. We started calling him that because he climbs around and acts like a little monkey," the demon explained, watching his husband nod along with his description.

  The spirit made a sound of agreement, before claiming, "Sounds like a textbook case of childhood autism. Anything else?" 

  Pigsy was stunned for a moment by the sudden diagnosis, but he honestly agreed. "Yeah. He's been acting out recently. Being aggressive, flippin' from happy to angry to sad on a dime, and getting in fights at school."

  "Hm. Well, as an orphan, he's probably going through the five stages of grief. Anger is only the second stage though, so he might feel stuck. I'll see what times I have free. When do you guys have time?" The spirit asked calmly, like he wasn't mentally dissecting a child without meeting him. 

  "Uh.. None of us work on Sundays, and around 3:00 P.M. seems like a good time." He looked to his husband for approval, and got a nod in response. 

  "Alright. Let me check my schedule.." The rustling of pages could be heard over the phone for a few moments, before Sandy exclaimed, "Alright! I have every other week at that time open. Does that work for you?" the river spirit asked.

  "Yeah. Thanks, Sandy. I'll see you then," the demon confirmed. "How much will it cost per session?" He was a little nervous about the price, but at least he knew he could trust Sandy with his son. 

  "It’s normally around 100 per session, but I'll give you my friends and family discount, so it'll only be 75 for you!" the river spirit said with a joyful tone.

  "Pretty cheap for therapy so specialized. I gotta get back to work soon. See you on Sunday, Sandy." the Pig told the spirit, about to hang up the phone.

  "See you then, brother."

*”Bao Bei” is a chinese pet name for one's lover, according to google. It’s like calling them, “Baby” or something.

——000000——

Cats and Tea

  Mk was sitting behind Tang's seat in the truck, on his way to the therapy office for his first appointment. The scholar was telling him a story about the Monkey King and his lover, Liu'er Mihou. “-and then, bursting from the very shadows on the Monkey King’s chest plate, came the Six-Eared Macaque; ready to strike their opponent down! With one mighty blow from the shadow wielder’s staff, and an accompanying strike of the Monkey King’s, the battle was won! Their foe laid dead at their feet,” he emotively expressed, acting out the scene and then saying in sync with his son, “SOLAR ECLIPSE!” at the top of their lungs.   Pigsy covered one of his ears as they yelled the nerdy reference, but he honestly found their shared hyperfixation adorable. He wanted to contribute to the conversation a little, so he offhandedly mentioned, “A six-eared monkey with shadow magic, huh? Sounds like a dead ringer for your Shadow Dad.” to Mk.

  The Little Monkey was a little confused by that, but Tang rebutted before he could ask, “Ah! But you’re forgetting that the Six-Eared Macaque died during “The Journey to the West”, so he couldn’t have been Xiao Houzi’s Shadow Dad.”

  Mk was about to ask the scholar when that happened, when he got interrupted again - this time, by Pigsy. “Didn’t you say that’s heavily disputed? And Mk has said that Shadow Dad didn’t like him bringing up Monkey King.”   Again, the Monkey Kid went to ask something and got interrupted. Shadows were flickering around his hands as he gripped the seat in front of him, and they even flickered around his phantom limbs! The tail and ears flicked in annoyance as his Ba Ba said, “But that doesn’t mean it’s the same monkey. After all, I doubt Liu’er would show his ears so freely. He always glamors them away!”

  Yet again, Mk was gonna talk and got interrupted, but this time, he lashed out. Right as Dadsy started talking again, the Little Monkey shouted, “WILL YOU TWO LET ME TALK?!” while punching the floor of the truck.

  Both of his parents sat in stunned silence as the sound ran through the whole vehicle and Pigsy immediately braked. Everyone was breathing heavily as they tried to collect their thoughts. 

  Tang was first to recoup, brushing his hair back down and fixing his glasses, before turning around to look his son in the eyes as he apologized. He saw the shadows and brightly glowing eyes, but was only mildly concerned with that when he saw the look of regret and conflicted pain on his son’s face. “It’s alright, Little Monkey. I’m sorry for interrupting you. Say what you wanna say,” he comforted, brushing a hand through the tween’s hair. 

  It was barely anything in comparison to family grooming sessions, but it was something. It managed to calm Mk down from his anger, leaving him simply crying. 

  The adult panicked and reached both arms out as an invite. One that Mk took gladly, letting Tang pull him into as strong a hug as his frail arms could give. “There there, Xiao Houzi. You’re alright. We’re here. You’re here. You’re safe,” the scholar consoled his son, petting through his hair to calm him down.

  Pigsy glanced at the two questioningly, letting Tang know what he was asking with his eyes. A soft nod from his husband caused him to start driving again, wanting to get to the therapy appointment as quickly as he could without scaring his kid.

  As they pulled in, Mk quickly got off Tang and stepped out, looking at the boat in confusion. “A boat? That’s definitely a unique place to practice therapy.” 

  "It’s actually his house," the scholar corrected as he walked past.

  “Unique place to live, then,” the little monkey snarked, walking up alongside Mr.Tang. He wasn’t going to admit it, but he didn’t want to go in by himself. 

  When they all reached the top, they were all a little nervous, though Pigsy was the first to shake it off and knock. 

  Then the door opened, revealing a blue skinned river spirit that towered over all of them. “Hey! Pigsy! Tangy!” The oddly pleasant spirit greeted, before glancing at the Little Monkey on the side. “And… you must be Mk, right?” 

  The boy was terrified. He didn’t expect his therapist to be so… muscular? He was massive! Mk stepped back a little but was stopped by Tang rubbing his back softly and calming him. Grounding him. With a deep breath, he answered, “Yes, that- that's me. Hi.” 

  The therapist then waved at the boy, not pressing further. “Alright. Come in, guys.” He walked back into his house, heading to the kitchen right away and leaving his client to get comfortable. 

  When Mk walked in, he was shocked by the place. There were tons of cats, like, at least thirty! One in particular caught his attention. An orange tabby with a blue collar was staring at him. And what was up with it's eyes?! They were so… empty. The cat approached and Mk took a step back. Then once again, and his reaction was the same. “What does it want?” he stammered, shying away from the tabby’s eyes. 

  “He likes you!” Sandy commented, stepping out of the kitchen with a gray, cat themed tea set. The tween jumped back from the therapist, though the spirit’s reaction was only a chuckle. Mk looked at the blue guy with confusion, before reaching down cautiously to test it.

  The kitty sniffed his hand and meowed, before rubbing up against the tween with a long purr. It caused the Little Monkey to give a lopsided grin, while over at the tea table, his parents caught up with their old friend. Mk didn’t care about their conversation, though. He sat down to let the tabby climb up on him, noticing after a moment what the tag on its neck said. “Buffalo?!” he wheezed, laughing like crazy over the stupid name.   “Yeah, I… lost a bet..” the blue guy mumbled, though he was giggling at the boy’s reaction. “I get what you mean. He can’t help but make you love him!” he whispered to the tween’s fathers. 

  Pigsy and Tang nodded, happily looking at their son. The cat was climbing all over the Little Monkey, while the Monkey was still laughing.

  In moments like this, you could see that Little Sky clearing up. His sunshine smile and shining eyes peeking from behind the clouds that had covered them when he lost his Shadow Dad. After a little while, once the adults were done with their conversation, Sandy waved his client over.

  He approached cautiously and kneeled on one of the bamboo mats. The cat remained on his shoulders, as the spirit poured him a cup of boiling water. Mk picked two tea bags of the plum tea, but hesitated for a second. Was this the same brand Shadow Dad used? It was the same blue cat on the lo-.. What the heck?!

  That same blue cat was now standing next to the river spirit, smiling at the kitty on Mk’s shoulders. Wait… smiling? Cats don't smile. Do they? At least not like that! Of course, cats aren't normally blue either.

  Eyes drifting back to the tea bags, the Monkey Kid felt a lump form in his throat. The same tea Shadow Dad used to… He was on the verge of tears when Buffalo bunted him insistently. The fluff rubbing against him knocked him out of the near tearful state, and caused him to rub his cheek against the cat in return. He finally opened the wrappers and took out the bags, before placing them into the boiling water. The blue cat seemed proud of Buffalo.

  “Oh! This is Mo by the way!” The muscular spirit stated as he lifted the blue kitty into his hands. Hands, not arms, because the cat was just that small in comparison. Mk smiled softly at the cute scene, rubbing his arms as he got nostalgic again. The tabby on his shoulders bunted him again and snapped him out of it. “Buffalo is one of my therapy cats. He’s fully trained, which is why he keeps snapping you out of those sad spots,” Sandy explained to the confused tween.

  “Ah,” he mumbled, petting the orange kitty on his shoulders. He felt like it deserved a little bit of loving.

  After a few more moments, Sandy decided it was time to get started with the actual therapy. "Alright, Mk. Do you want your dads in here for your first session?" the spirit questioned calmly. He sounded so experienced.

  "Um.. No. I wanna do the first one alone," the Little Monkey answered, a small amount of guilt creeping in when he saw his dads react.

  Tang startled, and then looked down sadly while Pigsy panicked a little. "What?! Kid, are you sure? I don't wanna leave you alone! What if you have a panic attack? We know how you get when you're alo-"

  "It’s best to respect the patient's wishes, Pigsy. You and Tang can wait outside. I'll make sure to get you if he has a panic attack," Sandy butted in, still sounding so calm. 

  Tang forced himself to remain composed as he stood up and grabbed his husband’s hand to walk out. "Of course, Sandy. Come on, Pigsy." 

  The moment they passed through the door, the scholar’s act fell and he started crying into his lover's chest. With a deep sigh, the demon muttered, "You're an awful actor, Tang." and dragged him off to sit in the truck.

  Mk chuckled at his parents' worry, then refocused on the man in front of him, sipping his tea nervously. How was the river spirit so big?

  The therapist took a sip of his own cup before asking, "Alright. How about you tell me about yourself?" 

  “Okay.. Well, I’m guessing my parents already told you about my outbursts?” Mk began, getting a nod in response. “Those started about two years ago. The first time, a kid was trying to steal my lunch and I bit him. My most recent one was a time where I… beat a kid over the head with a stick because he was trying to tear off my classmate’s antlers. But, I’d say I was in the right there.” Mk claimed, getting a little bitter at the end.

  Sandy stroked his beard in thought for a moment. “Sounds like you have some level of anger issues, specifically a type of righteous anger that points toward a sort of internal moral debate.” 

What? 

  “There is a likelihood of abandonment issues in orphans, and anger issues are just as likely.” 

How?! 

  “Especially ones that emphasize one's wishes to be above their former parents, or potentially trying to make up for what one believes they’ve done wrong. Maybe even trying to live up to perceived expectations from their late paren-”

  “Stop. Seriously! How are you even doing that? You sound like you’re reading from a textbook!” Mk interrupted, feeling the discussion become far too close to the truth for only having explained two outbursts.

  “Okay.” The blue man said calmly, standing up and walking over to a shelf. Looking around him, one could see that he was grabbing an incense stick. When he returned, he placed it on the tray and lit it up. The smell was rather calming. It relaxed Mk before Sandy started talking again. “Could you tell me about your parents? All of them, I mean?”

  “What do you mean, ‘All of them’?” the Little Monkey asked, looking for clarification. 

  The spirit in front of him calmly began to explain to him, “Well, all of them! Anyone you’ve ever considered a parent, and your birth parents, of course. It is my understanding that they weren’t exactly deserving of the title?” He was patient with every word. It was getting on Mk’s nerves.

  “Not much to say about them. They hated me and I hated them. It’s not exactly a complicated situation,” Xiao Houzi said spitefully, picking at the skin on his arm. “But… there was my Shadow Dad… and don’t say he wasn’t real, all right?” he demanded anxiously, though he only got a calm nod in return. How did he do that? Sandy was so… relaxed, no matter what! 

  “Well… Shadow Dad was sort of a… shadow demon… that I met in this closet my…" he paused a moment to consider his words, then continued, "..birth parents used to lock me in when they got sick of looking at me." 

  Mk stared at the glowing tip of the slowly burning incense as he spoke. It was good to have something to focus on other than dwelling too much on what he was actually saying. "I don’t know why, but he decided I was worth protecting."

  "He gave me this small lantern with some of his power in it." Mk glanced up at the enormous blue man to gauge just how crazy he thought he was. Seeing only understanding - maybe even belief - in his eyes, he forged onward, "If I turned it on, he’d be at my side in seconds! It was incredible!”  

  Sandy nodded. "And this lantern brought you comfort." It wasn't a question, but an observation.

  “Yeah…" Really. How was he doing that? "I think it was about a year after that, he showed me where he lived. He would bring me there after school or whenever I needed to get away."

  "Get away from what?" Sandy prodded gently.

  "From my parents… or the bullies at school. Or if I was just feeling…"

  "Lonely?" 

  "Okay. Stop doing that, or I'm gonna stop talking."

  "Stop doing what?"

  "Reading my freaking mind!"

  "Oh," the river demon replied, as though he honestly hadn't realized he was doing it. "Sorry. Go on, Mk." 

  "A little while later, Shadow Dad started teaching me to use the magic in the lantern! It was so much FUN! Another year after that, he started training me to fight." Mk frowned as he realized how that might sound, so he added, "It was just the basics. Stances and how to block… not much else that a kid could do, but it was still incredible!” 

  The spirit made a mental note of that and kept listening.

  “Another year after that, he started teaching me proper fighting, and… he made me brothers! Their names are Rumble and Savage! They're twins!" 

  Pausing again as his words brought back a host of memories and a flood of pain, Mk had to concentrate to keep his voice from cracking. "They were… are sixteen, so they're my older siblings. Or… actually, I guess they'd be nineteen now." 

  "You miss them a lot." Sandy said before he could stop himself. Throwing up his hands to placate the boy, he added, "Not reading your mind. It was just…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "..obvious."

  Mk sighed and continued as though Sandy had said nothing.

  "They don’t talk like normal people do, but I still managed to learn their language.” He was starting to lose himself in the memories, the words flowing like water as they played in his mind. “I used to use the lantern to make myself look a little more like them. I gave myself shadow ears and a tail. Shadow Dad thought it was adorable."

  Tears began to slip unnoticed from the Little Monkey’s eyes while he recounted, "I remember how the twins used to babysit me. Sometimes they would hang upside down with me, and jump-scare Shadow Dad."

  They used to play with one of those little ‘put the block in the hole’ toys. It was honestly hilarious. All but one of the blocks fit in the square hole, and depending on which one was doing it, they had a different solution.” A soft smile snuck its way back onto Mk's face as he thought back to it.

  “If it was Savage, they would pop the lid off and put the block in, before pretending they just managed to get it through the square hole, but if Rumble was doing it..” the Little Monkey cut himself off with a giggle. “Sorry!" he laughed again. “If Rumble was doing it, he would keep trying to get it through the hole. When it didn’t work, he would just hit the block against it until the lid broke!” Sandy laughed along with Mk at the memory.

  “He always looked so proud of himself too! Like, he’d give us a smug smirk every time! And Shadow Dad would have to fix the toy before they could use it again!” Mk kept giggling, until he started thinking about something else and his smile fell away once more. “Shadow Dad… I don’t blame him for leaving. I’m a bad kid. It’s my fault he left.”

  Sandy took a sip of his tea and stroked his beard in thought. “Hmm.. Are you sure about that? From the sound of it, he might not have left you by choice.”

  Where did he get that idea from? “What makes you say that?” the Monkey Kid asked.

  “I don’t know… you’re just talking about him like he’s the best person in the world. It sounds like he was attentive and protective of you, and someone like that wouldn’t just get rid of you." 

  Mk's brow furrowed as he considered this new information. Could it be true? If it was, why hadn't Shadow Dad at least explained before he left? 

  Seeing Mk's distress, Sandy stood and disappeared into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with a tray of tea cakes and set it down in front of the boy. "Do you remember anything that could’ve caused him to have to leave?” The spirit asked, causing the tween to think about it a little more.

  Oh! Mk's widened as he recalled something he'd forgotten over the years. “He started acting really weird before he left. He was constantly tired and sluggish. Do you think that’s why? Why he left?..” the boy sounded cautiously hopeful. Maybe Shadow Dad didn’t choose to leave.. Maybe he got sick!- but… The hope faded as another, infinitely more horrible thought occurred to him. …did he die? This new possibility made a sick feeling rise in his throat. Had something bad happened to his Shadow Dad?

  “That might be. Though-.. Are you okay?” Sandy cut himself off, prompting Mk to wipe his eyes. When did I start crying?-

  “Uh- oh. Yeah,” the Tween confirmed as Buffalo rubbed his head against his cheek. He snickered despite the crushing weight in his chest. 

  His therapist looked rather disbelieving, but didn’t press farther. “Alright. Do you want to try something different?” he asked, sparking the younger’s interest. “I usually wait a couple sessions to do this, but you seem like you need it. It’s just a meditation exercise. It wouldn’t be hard,” 

  Mk thought on it and glanced at Mo, who gave a nod of approval. “Alright… I guess." Mk agreed, raising a brow at the cat's very human-like behavior. "What do I have to do?” the Little Monkey asked cautiously, recieving a smile from the river spirit.

  “I’ll do most of the work. Just relax and mimic my pose,” Sandy responded calmly as he moved from kneeling to sitting lotus style, and placed his hands together in the shape of a triangle.

  Mk moved to copy, though he was a little skeptical. What was this even gonna do? 

  “Alright. Now remain calm. It will feel a little weird, but don’t try to fight it," the therapist warned. "Just focus on something you want to talk about that you don’t know how to describe.” 

  The tween was confused, but just followed the instructions, shutting his eyes. That’s something you do when meditating, right? After about ten seconds, he felt a sensation like something tickling his nose and forehead. Well, he was warned that it would feel weird. The sensation soon changed, now feeling like there was some super powered magnet in his head trying to connect to one in Sandy’s, until that disappeared as well. 

  Suddenly, he felt like he was at the beach, wind blowing on him from the water. However, he still smelled the odd mix of the two teas and the lavender incense. It was weird.

  “Okay.. You can open your eyes now.” the spirit offered.

  Mk’s eyes opened slowly, but not his real eyes. The eyes that opened were those of his inner self. It was like waking up in a dream in a way, though the weirdest part was that there were about fifty butterflies with symbols on their wings. “Woah..” Mk muttered breathlessly.

  “Mhm. This is called a mindlink. We can show each other memories and thoughts here, but we can’t see anything the other doesn’t want us to see.” Sandy explained calmly. “I’ll go first, so you know you can trust me,” he stated as he placed a hand in front of one of the butterflies. It alighted onto his hand and let him lift it to his lips, at which point he blew on it, causing it to fly to one side.

  Mk’s eyes followed it and watched it fly into a tree. Then, suddenly, everything to that side shifted to something else.

  Sandy and a bunch of others, running from something, until the others disappeared, leaving the spirit alone with a bunch of weird creatures. Sandy looked around in what seemed to be fear, until he spotted someone holding a detonator. Anger overcame him and he dashed forward, punching the person in the face and causing them to hit the button.

  Right as the explosion went off though, it paused and shifted to something much less shocking. Sandy, covered in cats and brewing tea, though what Mk didn’t expect was a tattoo across the therapist’s shoulder blades. He must have noticed the shock, because the spirit chuckled. “After I got therapy, I got that tattoo to show that I overcame my own anger issues,” he explained, turning around to give the tween a better look.

  The large tattoo depicted a phoenix with its wings stretched out. It was a gorgeous sight, and a testament to Sandy’s devotion to getting better. Mk wanted one now. He was about to compliment it, when one of the butterflies flew over and landed on his nose, making him sneeze.

  The butterfly flew to the opposite side and created a familiar image. Xiaotian sitting in a closet, though it was presented as if it was a shadow play. Xiao-Xiao was crying until Shadow Dad stepped into frame. He beckoned the child and walked over to the side again, though this time the view followed him as the Little Sky did too.

  Mk was getting misty eyed again, though Sandy was a little confused. He was no stranger to stylized memories, but this was a new one. He didn’t bring it up, and simply watched respectfully.

  Two more shadows entered, one rushing to pick Xiaotian up as the other followed with a protective eye. The little sky was giggling along, though it was echoey - to the point that it seemed ominous. Then Shadow Dad walked away, dispersing like so much smoke as he left the area of the memory. Then the twins went too… Mk left behind. Mk started pounding on the edge of the frame desperately, watching helplessly as his family walked away.

  The Monkey Kid was crying again now… Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced behind him. Pigsy was standing there with a sympathetic look on his face. Memory-Pigsy then kneeled down to give his son a strong, steady hug. Tang appeared on his other side and did the same, though his hug was much softer due to his weaker physique. Safety. Xiao Houzi was still crying, but he felt safe. They kept him safe. He wasn’t going to get hurt. He was safe.

 —

  Pigsy was too nervous to stand still now. It felt like forever since they were told they weren't wanted in the session. He and Tang walked up to the door again, about to knock, when Mk stepped out, a self help book in hand. The thing that caught Pigsy and Tang’s attention most, though, was that their son was smiling. Smiling softly, gently. Not a forced smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. A pure and real smile! He looked calm. He looked… happy. “Hi, dads!” he said cheerfully.

  “Wow. You look better already!” Pigsy snickered, Tang letting out a long breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

  “See? I told you Sandy could handle it,” the scholar tried to avoid anyone knowing he was more worried than the pig was. 

  “Oh, no, you don't! You were pestering me the whole time about checking on Mk!” the demon argued, not noticing how his son's smile widened. 

  He was safe. It would be okay. 

  It filled the shadow with relief. He finally had a chance to slip away. Down.. Down.. Deep under Megapolis… to the one person who could hear him speak.

  “Ah! Greetings, uncle!” a young demon said as he pressed a button behind his ear, activating a special communicator.

  “Hehehe.. Heya, nephew..”

—☆—

And- FINALLY DONE!!!

Sorry for taking so long. It was very hard to write. :( 

The ShadowDad AU can finally progress! It’s been so long! Thanks for your patience, and above all else,

Have fun, and happy scrolling!

(Ps: Mk calls Nezha "Big Brother" because he's always watching)

Prev- Chapter 6 and Next- Chapter 8

[ghostenluvs]

ok so like a while whilleeeeeee ago i mentioned writing a macaque and morro fic and i've really tried to finidh the chapter but all i've got completed is the intros before they meet.

here y'all go i might post the wip of the next part if people like it.

The six eared macaque stands in the kitchen of his dojo, socially drained after the last hours of training with mk and the others, the newly monki-fied monkie kid had dragged everyone together to train as a larger group for as they put it; “battles and bonding”.

He sighs, loud in the secluded space. 

The dishes had gone undone for a good couple days too many, his counters becoming unpleasantly cluttered. He pushes up his sleeves with the intention of finally getting it over with.

The ground rumbles.

“Wha-” he’s cut off as another larger shake rocks the building, knocking him into the sink. His ribs sting from the impact.

The stacks of dishes clatter and shake, a precariously placed glass falling and shattering on the wooden floor.

He pushes off from the counter, sending himself outside through the shadows to the sidewalk.

The city seems in total chaos. People shouting and distant overlapping car horns as the ground is still rumbling like a thunderstorm beneath the asphalt.

Noting the strange red wash over the world, he looks up.

And the sky was ripping apart at the seams.

He watched wide eyed as the sky, a building across the street, a parked car, all erupted in this strange swirling tear in reality itself. Everything was covered in the oppressive red waves of light from these tears.

He dropped into the shadows, and sped through the chaos, past the waters (an unnatural purple hue to them he was sure couldn’t be from his shadows) as fast as he could towards where he knew there would likely still be the most competent people to deal with, whatever was happening.

To the top of flower fruit mountain.

As he emerged from the shadows, everything became very loud.

He could hear his f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ allies in a mix of panicked shrieks (tang) and firm shouted commands attempting to get everyone together.

He’d emerged in the part of the cave where wukong’s house was being rebuilt, and he saw red son and mei back to back between two swirling breaks in the ground. He sent them through the ground to where mk’s dads were on the other side of the cave near the opening to the usual sparring spot, with surprising difficulty. Things were getting brighter, the red now washing away basically half the colour wheel.

Mk and Wukong were notably absent.

“Where are the others?” he has to raise his voice to be heard over the swirling winds.

Pigsy shouted back. “They were outside! They went to get a better look at things!”

Macaque nodded, dashing towards the sparring ground opening.

The sky had more tears in it, with one huge rip making itself the central problem. With its size, it was pulling in boulders and trees from the ground like some sort of black hole. And there framed before it on their respective clouds, were the two idiots with no goddamned sense of danger.

“GET DOWN HERE YOU TWO! YOU”RE GOING TO GET SUCKED IN IF YOU STAY UP THERE!” The wind and the ground rumbling were so loud now, he could barely tell if they heard him.

They were talking to eachother hurriedly, but to his surprise and dawning horror, he couldn’t hear them. All he got from his hearing at that point was stranger, more overlapping sounds than usual. Like the sounds of the whole world compounded and multiplied over itself.

It hurt.

He covers his ears as best he can and shouts again, to no response. They turned as if to return to solid-ish ground like the sensible people they weren’t.

Then the tears in the sky all grew simultaneously brighter, sending out a huge pulse of red light. The world seemed to disintegrate as his vision was bombarded with light and the force of that huge pulse hit him like one of red son and mei’s ballistic missiles of a race car.

The only sense he got anything solid from was his hearing.

He heard more than he ever had at once in his life. 

He thought in the back of his mind, that this must be what burning alive felt like in audio form.

And then everything went dark.

—--

You know, for being peacefully dead and all that, morro sure was not feeling peaceful.

Why? You might ask?

Because the departed realm was most definitely NOT supposed to do what it was doing.

He felt like someone had shoved him into a box and shook him.

There were panicked ghosts yelling everywhere, even the old misers who never did anything but whisper about their scholarly pursuits in life and shushed people like elitist librarians were scrambling about and yelling.

And it was red.

The departed realm was never red. But now there were rifts in space opening and pulling people in left and right. The off putting colour difference just made it worse.

He dodged a group flying by him trying to get away from one such rift, just in time to feel it start pulling him steadily towards it.

And that was very bad, he assumed.

He tried to fly forward, sideways, up and down, any direction but towards the steadily growing rift, swirling with colours.

The fog of the departed realm was being sucked in much faster than he was, so he must be making some headway,

Meanwhile the red was growing brighter, and brighter still. More and more ghosts getting pulled into these strange rifts that appeared out of seemingly nowhere. If there were ground here, he was sure there would be an earthquake.

He pushed himself forward with as much strength as he could, and began to move forward successfully.

The red grew brighter, he could almost feel… wind? As if there were air whipping all around him.

With a final determined push forward, he sent himself free of the rift’s gravity.

Only for more rifts to open and the one nearest him to approximately double in size and strength.

Figures.

He can’t fight a pull this strong, he hasn’t had need of that level of flying strength in the departed realm before.

He’s going to be pulled into the swirling mass behind him.

The red grows somehow brighter, a pulse of energy building up and being sent out from each rift and first hitting him square in the back, mere milliseconds before he would’ve been pulled into the swirling thing.

He cries out, and loses consciousness for the first time since his death.

-----

and here's tags for folks who wanted it.

@peanut-with-wifi-access @bitshoarder @theresistanceneverquits @howtogetblinded101 @xenazaria @lyfrassirrrrrrrr @ladycrpsss @techtordoestuff @junkanimate @nic-liveblogs i think that's everyone? hope so.

sorry this was so long i wanted to finish a good length before i posted and it just hasn't worked right yet.

[fandomgoesahhhhhhhhh]

Lego Monkie Kid(LMK) x Reader Headcanons

SEASON 5 SPOILERS(not major but still)

🥘Dadsy Headcanons🥘

Pigsy’s Fluff and Angst headcanons(with GN Reader who’s around Mei and MK’s ages/platonically)

We all know he is the best cook, but I imagine whenever his kids(including you) is tired or haven’t eaten. HE ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS find a way to make you sleep or eat. No one even knows how..he just does-

I headcanon him being fatherless, but grew up with an amazing grandma and mother so he wants MK and everyone else(who have bad parents) to have a father figure in their lives..something he didn’t had growing up.

After S5, Pigsy starts questioning himself if he’s doing a good job raising MK and if he’s a good father to him. He blames himself for his sacrifice and was goddamn scared of losing his son

HE AND TANG ARE BASICALLY MARRIED!! I’M TELLING YA! They just had a secret gay wedding and keep their gay marriage a secret..I mean yes, you, MK, and Mei knows(also Sandy cause like they see the gayness in them), but that beside the point-

PAPA SENSE!!! DADSY SENSE!! Doesn’t matter where you or any of his kids are! HE IS GONNA BE THERE AS SOON AS HIS FATHER SENSE GOES OFF!!! You best believe he gonna run all the way to you. He might be tired and sweating as hell, but it’s the love that counts

Beside his rake, he use a roller or a fry pan as his next best weapon. I imagine one time, during their adventures, Pigsy couldn’t find his rake so he just use his fry pan. He’s basically Rapunzel, but in a male, Lego, pig demon form(Tang would say that)

He taught all of his kids(MK, you, and Mei) how to cook and how to make a perfect dish(like from S5 Ep1) and would sometimes supervise any of his kids as they cook by themselves

Despite him being all hot temper and have anger issues, he always make sure that you’re doing ok. If you’re sick or have an emergency, that’s something he can deal with and would always check on you and make you an amazing noddles to help you

This PIG DAD will immediately close his noodles store to help any of his kids if they’re in grave danger. He doesn’t like closing his store early, but I swear if any of his kids gets hurt, he will not hesitate by a second.

If you have a panic/anxiety attack, he will immediately go by your side and comfort you the best he could. He will not leave you until you’re 100% better.

Albums…picture albums scrapbook! He have TONS of them! All in order! If you ask for baby pictures or any pictures, he got ya..Tang can’t even stop him from getting all excited of showing off his kids

(I hope you guys enjoy. Been a long time since I’ve done this, but here we are. If you have any requests, let me know)

[violetjedisylveon]

Spicynoodles Tangled AU

*very loosely Tangled based and also has some Barbie Rapunzel movie traits for dragon bestie purposes*

Red Son = Rapunzel

Lady Bone Demon = Mother Gothel

MK = Flynn Ryder

Mei = Pascal

In case you didn't see the note, Red does have both hands, I was just too lazy to draw the other one \ (ツ) /.

@py-dreamer for the idea of having Red Son in the Rapunzel role, it made the whole thing work a lot better.

MK and Red Son are both 18, MK is only a few months older, and Mei is 15.

I've had some fun ideas in the like month I spent working on these. It has gradually drifted further and further from the Tangled story, and then I looked up info on Flynn and turns out he's a lost prince from a destroyed kingdom so I unintentionally made MK more like him anyway.

MK isn't a lost prince tho, he's just got the from a group of people who had their kingdom destroyed. He's still MK under the Flynn like personality, so he's gonna be the one to offer to braid Red's hair.

I plan to make designs for some of the other characters, like Iron Fan and DBK obviously, but also Bai He, Pigsy, Tang and whoever I decide to have be Maximus and the guard captain(probably Ao Lie and Wukong/Macaque tbh). I said it gets less Tangled based as it goes on.

I plan on having Bai He in a similar role to Cassandra from the Tangled series, but without the jealousy because she realizes that LBD is a shitty parent who only cares about power and she's living her best life with her monkey dads.

I also kinda wanna have Ironbull and LBD have an epic fight while MK takes his new boyfriend to therapy.

Overall this is a very fun AU to draw for.

Spicynoodles Tangled AU Masterpost

[kitofawriter]

Spoilers for LMK Season 5 Episodes 1 and 2 (again) below the cut!!

Better audio! Let’s go!

The intro, my beloved!

Tired MK, nap now or you may never get the chance.

“Way batter monkey mountain” I missed that before.

SpongeBob style zoom in is hilarious

“I already said the thing!”

SWK wants MK to be as immortal as he is, of only so they can play fight without him holding back at all. I can feel it.

They destroy mountains in the show more than anything else.

MK, The Small Sage of ignoring his problems until they go away except they never go away.

“A surprise?” The fact that this many thousands of years old monkey is so excited for surprises is adorable.

Mac doing his lurking.

“You really are the worst mentor” Mac, I love you, but you are not any better. Remember the anime style video game?

“We” will get me every time.

I kinda wonder is LBD was actually the one to like, fully bring Mac back or if someone else did and he doesn’t remember.

“You need to do better” you’re not being super fair there, like SWK is trying. Maybe step up and also be a monkey mentor if you’re so concerned.

Pigsy doing his fast little hammer trying to get it finished faster.

MK, if you weren’t ready why did you call him over?

The house!! Genuinely hope nothing happens to it this season. (Tell me it’s not gonna become this shows version of the Bounty)

I was so distracted my the pictures I didn’t notice the drawings!!! OMG!!! MK you’re the best!!

Love Mei in those overalls BTW, super cute.

Hugs!!!

It’s funny that MK can activate Tangs power for him.

It’s interesting to see that the only major difference with the animation is the characters. Like the cinematography is still really similar. It’s just rigged animation now.

If anyone has any insomniac!MK getting comforted by Pigsy (or any of his dads) fic recs, please share them because this is the good stuff.

Also MK is the anti Steven Universe. Steven collects moms and MK collects dads. (But obvs Pigsy is like number 1 Dad. Pigsy gets the worlds greatest dad mug and Tang, Sandy, and SWK all get mugs that say “backup dad” and then a number in order of when he met them. Because I think it’s funny.)

I love how Pigsy knows forcing him to bed is 100% the wrong thing to do here. Like this is something he’s dealt with multiple times.

MK cooks like I do. It’s okay MK, I don’t know how to freestyle either, that’s why I’m the baker of the family.

The animation shift of the food that’s missing something and the finished thing is so nice. I lost how it shifts from looking bland to looking SOO GOOD.

I want those noodles.

Baby MK!!

I would die for Pigsy. Like, he’s such a good character.

I wonder if the burning of FFM is canon and if Mac helped save all the baby monkeys. That would make sense as to why they cling to him.

Every season MK gets further and further for a good nights sleep, for only pennies a day, you could sponsor a monkie kid and help him receive a nap. In return, he will be well rested to prevent monsters from destroying the city.

Team Let MK Rest!

Little monkeys are scared. It’s okay little monkeys, they won’t destroy your mountain this time, probably, maybe.

Episode 2 time!

Took a break because internet was being mean to me. (Wouldn’t load)

Have I mentioned how much I love the new intro?

SWK is unimpressed with the lords of the underworld’s intimidation tactics

I love how MK still uses/wears Monkey King merch even though they’re friends now. Do you think SWK has a closet full of unreleased merch he has saved to give MK as gifts? Because MK would love that.

Mac is also unimpressed. Very “been here done this before”.

Ace attorney MK!!!

“We have brought a power even greater than yours” *brings out Nezha and Li Jing* did you guys read JTTW? Because like…beating these guys was how SWK got recognized as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

Cheeky monkey

The panic in Mac’s eyes when he realizes what’s happening is fascinating.

I kinda wonder where they got the fillet, cause in the book they were given to Guan-Yin by Buddha. I doubt Buddha was like “you need to subdue the Monkey King again? Yeah sure, have this super powerful thing”

Also SWK still trying to comfort MK even when dealing with this thing.

Your honor, they are divorced.

Tang is the only one who can teach MK anything.

Painted style sections my beloved.

“It’s his lawyer bit.” They’re both so used to MK’s antics

SWK’s obnoxious younger brother vibes whenever Nezha is present are my favorite.

Heaven getting flashbacks to SWK’s last rampage

I think there should be a running gag that MK’s style and Sandy’s style are total opposites so every time MK rebuilds something of Sandy’s there’s a little chibi Sandy mourning the new look. It’s be funny.

You know Mac, if you just portaled Wukong into the truck sooner you probably wouldn’t have gotten caught.

Also sad SWK face will always get me.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Ok but Wukong claims MK as Yubei's honorary/sworn older brother. Macaque who was in the room suddenly feels a cold swear as he Realized Wukong Sees MK As His Kid. His Clcub, who Macaque had chased fown and hunted like an animal in an effort to keep LBD's attention off of Wukong himself.

Macaque has that revelation loooong before Yuebei is born.

You see...

When Macaque was still processing that Wukong (his former mate) had been pregnant with the Egg for many many years - he had a brief brain-fart during "Shadow Play" and at during his panic he asks;

Macaque: "Is it my kid!? Wait..." *glares at MK really hard* "Are you my kid???" MK: "Wut." Macaque: "No, no, wait, thats dumb, it's the same baby now as back then. Sorry bud, but I am totally freaking out right now." MK: "Because you spent the last couple hundred years being a deadbeat dad?" Macaque, grabs MK by the shoulders: "YES!!"

The rest of the MKrew escape the Shadow Lantern simply because Mac was panicking so hard he dropped it. Even being super mad at him, they stay until he stops hyperventillating. In Mac's defense, he's not sure how long normal Stone Monkey pregnancies should be.

Even once the realisation kicks in that the "Egg" is a Stone Egg formed from Wukong being encased in the mountain without resources - Macaque has a second "crap Im dad" realisation when he realises that him abandoning/cutting-off Wukong back then is what triggered the process. He still wants to take responsibility for the Egg as it's indirect creator.

And ofc during S3, Macaque notices how protective/paternal Wukong is with MK and starts to realise;

MK might not be Macaque's kid, but Wukong certainly considers MK to be *his* kid.

Macaque has tricked, fought, and psychologically tormented said kid in his goal to either hurt Wukong or extract information.

Macaque is now being forced to capture said kid and/or Wukong for LBD less he suffers a fate worse than death. And while Macaque would hate to do either, he can't stand the thought of handing Wukong over. So MK is his primary target throughout S3, even if Mac tries his best to "soften the blow" if it were when he tries capturing him.

MK is super excited to meet the Egg when it's finally born, and is acting in a manner typical of an older monkey cub wanting to care for their younger sibling. It's too fricking cute and-

Well crap, now Mac doesn't want to turn the kid over. Mostly cus doing so will def hurt Wukong and make his King somehow hate Mac even more than he does now.

Maybe if they do get the Samadhi Fire, him and Wukong might- Macaque, begings violently batting away his talkative shadow clones: "NOPE! Get the heck out of here with that!! I'm just getting the Fire to be free of LBD's influence!"

And once Yuebei is finally born...

Wukong, talking to the baby: "Bao bei [treasure], this is your big brother, MK. Well, honorary big brother, but you get what I mean." MK, holding Yuebei: *is so happy he can't form words + is happy-crying* Macaque: *trying his best not to ask MK "hey, wanna be our son?", cus Mk has his adoptive dads + Mac thinks the kid hates him anyway* "Hah. Crybaby." MK, still crying: "Shut up. You cried when you saw her for the first time." Macaque, trying his best not happy-cry again: "She looks like me! Of course I'd cry - such a curse to place upon a innocent soul!" Wukong: *sighs fondly at the back-and-forth*

Mac's gut reaction is to insult others/himself when he feels emotionally vulnerable, and MK knows how to flip it around.

It very much becomes a "Dad treating his eldest son vs younger daughter" situation, especially if Bai He is thrown into the mix. Mac will 100% spoil his little princesses, but MK...

MK can handle it. He's Wukong's heir. He's ok with Mac only really being soft on him when no one else is around. Secretly Mac's kinda jealous of the dad-attention Pigsy, Wukong, and even Tang get from the kidm even though in his heart he knows it's unlikely MK will ever see Mac as a father figure.

[fluffypotatey]

heyyy isnt it wild how when characters say that mk "literally never listens" that is Also a case of unreliable narration. mk listens a lot actually!! he listens to macaque's "you don't use a weapon, you ARE the weapon" monologue in 1x09. he listens to mac again in shadow play (since he was able to quote back the "then be a warrior!" bit). actually now that i think of it there are a lot lot lot of times when mk deliberately echoes someone else's dialogue and clearly he had to have been listening to them and internalizing it bc otherwise he wouldnt be able to repeat it (things like "chose the wrong successor," "to pain," and "harbinger of chaos" come to mind). the thing is tho that mk usually tends to listen to + internalize things that hurt him or otherwise confirm his own fears. so its actually worse in the long run for him!! :D

imagine you are MK. most of your life before this whole story began was you working under Pigsy, your boss/dad, and hanging out with Mei, your best friend in the world.

constantly, you will have Pigsy screaming up a storm about employee etiquette and how MK should clock in on time and “if you ever come to work late again, i’ll fire you!” or you have Tang telling you beautiful stories in exchange for free food because every tale he spins is magical and adventurous. or you have Mei who is a little bit like the little devil on your shoulder egging you on to another game or arcade or movie or outing because both of you never truly had a friend until you met each other and never know when to end your time hanging out.

and we see this in the second episode of season 1, where MK feels pulled in every direction with his job, spending time with Mei, helping out Sandy, and training with the Monkey King. EVEN BY S1 HE IS AT THE END OF HIS ROPE!!! And did anybody truly notice????? DID THEY????

and yeah, Pigsy, Mei, and Minky King are the big contenders for telling MK he isn’t listening, and honestly MK does have a problem with understanding the intent and meaning behind what his friends are saying as he’ll only take in the superficial. however, when it comes to the most stressful and dire times, MK is all ears.

he absolutely understood LBD’s words when she put him and his self worth down, he understood Macky’s ire and vitriol (and was able to piece together that most of Macky’s words are a shield), he understood SWK’s aversion for allowing MK and the gang’s help with finding the rings because of their mortality

here is my assumption of what MK is learning from the people around him (bc my personal headcanon is that MK learns and understands how to behave and react from the people in his circle):

he’s learning that his friends’ needs are more important than his own

he has learned that a lot of his worries are meaningless because they typically get brushed off

in addition to that, he learned that if he has any issues, it would be better to keep them to himself because it truly is no big deal and will find some resolution eventually

he learns that nobody is fully certain he can do things on his own

he learns that many people (the villains) believe he’s someone they can mold into their own

MK is internalizing a lot of shit. and we see a snippet of that behavior I think in s3 where he bemoans about not being good enough for SWK and Pigsy’s is like “woah, wait a minute….did that asshole really say that to you???”

and the thing is, Wukong didn’t say that nor would he ever intend to say something that would make MK think little about himself; however, Wukong has his own issue of never elaborating on shit, so while he may have said “listen, bud, this journey is super dangerous and life threatening, and you’re still mortal so it would be best if you stayed here” what MK heard was “since you’re still a weak mortal, this mission isn’t cut out for you”

and yeah it just eloquently shows how MK internalizes the worst of people’s words (hey, like mentor like student, am I right? 👀) which is why it is so easy for the antagonists to creep into his head (LBD, Mac, Azure, Ink!MK, possibly PIF???)

but yeah, what you said, bestie

[narratorstrash]

Realm’s Best (Dad) Boss

A short fic written by NarratorsTrash for my friend’s GreenKnightMonkie AU <3

(Warning; There’s like one (1) swear word)

It hadn’t taken Pigsy long to hire new help for the restaurant. With the newly merged realms, there had been plenty of displaced people looking for homes and jobs to recover from the sudden change. Pigsy and Sandy both got lucky in the merge; their respective homes were still standing and stable despite the horrible chaos that had ripped through every nearby world.

Tang’s apartment had been almost completely destroyed, having been ripped from it’s foundation and placed in this strange forest world with animal-like beings who knew nothing of humans but helped those who ended up in their corner of the new world anyway. Luckily Tang wasn’t actually in the building when it happened, but having to travel all the way there to rummage the mess for his belongings was difficult to say the least. In the end, Tang moved in with Pigsy.

In truth, the company helped the chef after the loss of his best employee (and son), MK. It was a hard blow he didn’t take well at all, even with the help from his old friends. Mei hadn’t reacted any better than him either.

Within mere hours, MK’s missing poster joined thousands of others on boards and light poles and building walls. But after four years, there was no word on his condition or location. Not even a word from the kid himself. Every day that passed without any information on him was like a jagged knife digging deeper into Pigsy’s heart. He didn’t know how much more he could take…

But when two young adults showed up at his business, hungry and ragged, he didn’t hesitate to hire them. Sure, Aaron could be too excitable for his own good and Harumi was a former convicted felon in one part of the merged realms, but they were hard workers and, in a way, reminded Pigsy of his missing son. It was a painful reminder at first, but now he saw a little light from both of them that helped him slowly escape the dark pit he’d been thrown into.

Aaron seemed to enjoy the stories Tang told, much to Tang’s elation, and Mei and Harumi seemed to have bonded over complicated family— though Harumi never spoke much about her previous life beyond that she lost people and experienced plenty of hardships. Pigsy didn’t particularly care where the two came from as long as they didn’t pull any tricks or hurt his family, they could work for him as long as they wanted.

One day, during a lunch rush, Aaron was running deliveries and Harumi was helping Pigsy in the kitchen when she accidentally dropped a half finished dish. She got frustrated— understandably— and snapped at Pigsy when he tried to place a hand on her shoulder. After that, she seemed to realize what she did and locked herself in the bathroom to calm down, leaving the mess on the floor for the chef to clean. It had been annoying, but Pigsy was sure it had been more upsetting for Harumi than himself.

When she finally left her self-imposed prison, she had grabbed the broom only to find the mess already gone. She seemed confused at first, then surprised, then shook it off to sweep the entire floor as a sort of silent apology. Pigsy thought about getting on her case, but thought better of it when he saw the familiar furrowed brow of emotional distress MK used to unintentionally pull when he knew he was in trouble. Another reminder, yet another sharp sting of memories.

Harumi remained silent for the rest of her shift, even when Aaron came back for the last deliveries of the day and when Mei stopped to ask the two employees if they wanted to visit the arcade with her. Aaron was more than happy to go, but Harumi just gave a ‘no thanks’ and holed up in the apartment above the restaurant. The two young adults had asked what happened, to which Pigsy told them she just made a mistake earlier and was being hard on herself for it. Aaron said he would talk to her after he got back to check she was okay and suggested to make sure she got something to eat. According to him, she struggled to take care of herself when she got like this.

At that point, only knowing her for about half a year, Pigsy could tell she didn’t do well with failure of any kind, so he knew what Aaron was saying was true. He and Mei left quickly after that, leaving Pigsy to figure out what to do with the angsting girl in her shop.

•.~~~~~.•

After debating it and searching all the cookbooks he could, he settled on cooking some comfort food his grandmother and mother would make whenever something went wrong— pineapple buns. They weren’t all that complicated and they always made him feel better, so it was a pretty easy decision.

He made his way up the stairs and knocked on the door, hoping she hadn’t fallen asleep immediately after clocking out. The only response he got was the door opening just a crack and a redish-brown eyes peeking out at him.

He cleared his throat, “Hey Rumi. I know yer probably a little upset about droppin’ those noodles earlier, but ya don’t needa be.”

She still didn’t respond, glancing away in shame for a split second.

“Anyways, I made some pineapple buns an’ thought ya might want some.”

He waited for a moment, then another. Finally, Harumi answered.

“Thank you…” she mumbled, opening the door enough to receive the food.

He handed the plate off to her and smiled softly, relived she took the offering. After that, he simply let her be, busying himself with wiping down tables and mopping until Aaron got back. When he entered the door, he had a large smile and appeared to be hiding something behind his back. He bid a quick hello and good night to the chef and bolted up to his and Harumi’s shared room. Pigsy huffed, too accustomed to Mei’s similar behavior to question it. Hopefully his employees would be at a hundred percent by opening tomorrow.

•.~~~~~.•

When he unlocked his shop and entered, his yawn was interrupted when he spotted an unfamiliar mug on the counter he preferred to work on. He hung up his bag and approached it with a little wariness, picking it up and turning it to see what the words were.

Printed in a neat font, it read ‘World’s Best Boss’.

Pigsy was more than mature enough to admit his eyes watered just a little when he understood the gift and who had got it. Damn those kids and their friendship with the ever mischievous Mei…