seasonsrpg | Is it worth it? [Closed]

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Is it worth it? [Closed]

WHO: Red Son, Wukong, MK
WHAT: A serious talk
WHEN: August 14
WHERE: At Red Son's house
WARNINGS: FEELINGS, FIRE, and discussions of trauma

MK did promise he would talk to them by today. He had put it off, as usual, but the promise hung heavy on his mind. He made sure to make food first. A nice lunch for everyone with dessert even. You know, to make the bitter news go down easier. Delicious noodles, dumplings, and a nice cake were on the table. MK took a deep breath as he stepped out to the entryway of the kitchen. He hoped they were both home but if he had to say it twice, he would.

After all, both of them had other important things to do. Oh they were not gonna be happy about this.

"Monkey King! Red Son! Lunch is ready!" He called out. Time to get this started.

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"It smells great out here, Bud. Did you go all out again?"

Wukongs pops up from where he was lounging in the living room. He's been out of his room pretty much all day, just hanging out and trying not to dwell on things feeling off. Or his feelings dump.

There is a bit of a delay.

But it is MK and he is at least trying to respond to MK and its been a few days for him to get at least a little less worked up.

So he will actually open the door and step out of his workshop, rubbing at his eyes. He pauses, sniffing the air and looking over at Wukong. "It certainly smells like it," he said. Was there an occasion?

"I did go the extra mile for lunch today, yeah. Noodles, dumplings, and Chinese Raspberry Snowflake Cake for dessert." MK said with a dramatic pose and flipping his hair tuff. There were even sparkles, howeve he managed that. He lead the way into the kitchen, the nervousness building.

"So come on in! Sit down. Eat. And...uh...we can talk."

Well that set off several warning bells right away. Good thing he's back to normal. Probably.

"Sure thing, Bud." He moved to his usual seat and settled in. "I mean, we did just finish with the whole 'You can always talk to me' thing."

"Talk," Red Son said and well.

That was definitely worrying. On many levels. Especially with the sparkles. He's pretty sure when sparkles have to do with something serious, it was just an extra danger sign.

He does come in and will be getting some of those noodles though. He can't deny Pigsy really has good recipes. "Talk about what, exactly?"

MK sat at his usual seat and made sure everyone could reach their bowls, the dumplings, and the sauces he even made for them, from scratch. The cake was on the counter and looked like MK put a lot of work to make it look as good as it probably tasted. Tart sweetness to satisfy the taste buds of everyone at the table. MK's smile faded as they sat down and started to eat.

"Talk about an idea I had and something I kinda already did." He said as he watched the two of them, "We all know Saya loses her memories when she goes into her hibernation thing. And she doesn't like that. Right? We all know that?"

"Yeah, I talked to her about that sometime last month."

Wukong left it at that for now, watching MK very closely. He obviously did something he knew they probably wouldn't like. But he was also willing to trust that he'd be fully honest about it.

With that in mind, he started eating.

Red Son didn't answer right away, just looking at the both of them because, well, it wasn't his problem to tell.

But there did seem genuine awareness.

"Yes. That is the project I've been working on," he said. "To stop that. Why?" He asked, before taking a few bites of the noodles.

"Weeeeeell...I thought maybe, since she's gonna lose them soon and the project isn't done...something from home could give her back her memories. Maybe. ...So I asked for...the Scroll of Memories to be brought here?" MK said slowly and swallowed. Then ate a dumpling, to keep himself from talking more.

The monkey was out of the barrel now.

"Kid, what made you think of that as the answer?!"

Sorry, MK. Wukong wasn't expecting that of all things. "You know how dangerous the scroll can be in the wrong hands, even with the curse broken. Especially with it broken."

Red Son....

Is just stuffing several dumplings in his mouth.

In the totally most innocent way possible.

(It is not in any way innocent at all.)

"Well the scroll records everything! Like ever. I thought, if we got the scroll, it might like have her slat in it bringing it here. Then she could go inside and get all her memories back. We'd just need you and Red Son to go in with her to get her out again after. And I did think of that...after I made the...request..."

MK trailed off as his eyes shifted to Red Son stuffing his face. "Red Son...? Were you just hungry or...?" He let the question linger. Did Red Son have the same bad idea?

"Her memories aren't gone, she just can't reach them by herself. And even if they were, making her watch them from outside of herself isn't a good way to go about it. And that's assuming the scroll even records outside of our world."

Don't think he didn't notice that suspiciousness, Red Son. He turned his attention to Red Son. "You're being awfully quiet about this."

There is another long bout of silence. Definitely eating more noodles, not meeting eyes.

"It was plan Q."

"Oh..." MK said with wide eyes. So he jumped straight to plan Q. At least one of them didn't seem mad at him. Too bad it was the one that usually was and the one who wasn't...was.

Talk about a role reversal.

"I know we don't know if it'll work and it'll be dangerous. But if all three of us seal it away and don't tell anyone where it is, maybe that'll be enough. We can keep it locked up tight and only bring it out if we need it. And it'll take all three of us to unlock it. That's better than what the Underworld had, from the sounds of it."

Edited 2023-08-15 01:56 (UTC)

"There are less dangerous, and less hurtful ways to do it, MK."

He levelled a disapproving stare on both of them. "Red Son, you were there. You know how that feels. Having been there, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. And I don't think she's going to be okay with that risk or the pain."

"That's why its Plan Q," Red Son said. "And I had....only thought of it after I already....had the tablet I was sealed in," he said.

Since that was the only part of the Memory Scroll that was ever 'his' at any point in time.

He's had this tablet for so long.

"And its Q because I know it isn't a good way to help Saya remember." He knew how terrible her life actually was. She may want her memories, but reliving it in the way the Scroll of Memory operates would be...

Not a great way to go.

"I...you have your slat..." MK said and just felt went quiet for a moment. Then he pushed that way. He had other things to say first.

"Look. I know it isn't the best way. I know it can be painful and hard. But there aren't only bad memories in the scroll. There are good ones too. Happy memories. It has everything. And what if the treatment doesn't bring her memories back? What if it takes longer? What if this is the only way for her to remember? She can make the choice. She can go in and stop whenever she wants. She won't be stuck like you two were. We won't let that happen! We can put that stupid scroll to good use for once! Use it to help someone instead of it being used to hurt people! Fix something instead of breaking it for once!"

The words tumbled out of MK's mouth before he could think of them or even realize the projection in them either.

"MK..."

What does one even do with all that projection? Because that's a lot. He glanced at Red Son again before continuing. Trying to choose his words carefully. But this...it's not his strong point.

"There are still other options. I offered to help remove that block too, Saya doesn't even know if she wants those memories back. It wouldn't be hard to fix between the three of us, and I just don't think it's worth the possible harm for a maybe. We haven't exactly had good luck with powerful items not falling into the wrong hands."

"..." He nods. He had his slat. He hadn't known where anyone was. If there would ever be help, even if they were free. He had hoped by having his slat, he could avoid being trapped when he got home.

That is-

Definitely a lot of projection. He glances at Wukong, to MK, then Wukong.

He sighed, setting down his chopsticks, settling on MK.

"I moved Monkey King's staff," he said, looking at MK seriously. "You think the gauntlet was the first plan? Do you think it was even the hundredth? I assure you, there were thousands of attempts over the centuries. Perhaps you don't fully understand what that means, since you can just pick it up, but for everyone else, it is an immovable force. Memory recall? That is child's play in comparison. There has been many documented accounts of achieving the ability to recall memories of a past life. Saya is still in the body with the memories. It makes it far more likely to achieve just in theory. With me working on it? It is going to happen. There is no if. There is only when. Perhaps not a soon when, but a definite one."

And then his expression softens, only focused on MK. "I know you are worried, but rash decisions won't help her. I'm asking you to trust me to be able to do this."

Other options. Trust them. They can fix it. Easy. It'll be easy. They can do it. Of course they can. He should have known that. Stupid. Stupid MK.

It's just like the Lady Bone Demon said. No matter what you do, it'll only lead to pain and suffering.

He messed up again. Another hasty decision. Another mistake. Now everyone might be in danger. All because of him.

The chaos and destruction we'll bring upon the world will make Wukong's past look like NOTHING!

He should have asked first. Said something first. It's all going to go bad. All his fault.

MK's face shifted slowly. From the desperation he was feeling to something more unfeeling. He looked from Red Son to Wukong and back. After a moment, he smiled.

"You guys are right. We can fix it. I can just go cancel the request. Sorry. Guess I just was being hasty." A beat. "Who wants dessert?"

The way MK's entire demeanor shifted, that wasn't sitting well with Wukong. But pushing the issue never seemed to work with MK. "Your heart was in the right place, MK. You're letting the what the curse said get in your head again."

Another look towards Red Son. "Look, why don't we finish eating, have dessert, and we can talk more. Maybe plan it out or something. You're good with plans."

Oh.

There was that stressed look again.

He was hoping it would be reassuring he could just depend on him, not whatever was going on in his head.

He looked at Wukong again. Doing anything was a lot harder with an audience. But MK was doing that thing again and-

Ugh.

He sighed, standing up and grabbing his chair.

He then moved it to sit right beside MK, moving his food over, and sitting down again. "I told you not to insult my intelligence, Noodlebrain." With the obvious lies to avoid talking. "I had the same idea, I just know more of what's going on."

And then he leans against MK's side because he has always responded well to touch and maybe that would stop his annoying spiral.

MK went silent again. Both were trying to reach him, to stop his spiral in different ways. Wukong wanting him to focus on what he was good at, to put the topic on hold, letting MK reset. Red Son was countering it now to try and support MK and remind him they were there to hear him out. To support him as friends do. Grounding him with physical contact.

Both were different and helpful. MK froze from the conflicting instructions and his own intrusive thoughts. He could hear the words echoing in his head still, in his own voice. He remembered his talk with Saya, about her past, about her being a monster. The talk about masks. Should he say what he was thinking? Actually say it out loud? They'd deny it. Tell him he was stuck in his own head again. What if he was the monster? What if he really was the Harbinger of Chaos? What if the him they all liked was just a mask?

"...I'm...not ready to talk about that yet." He said finally. He leaned back into Red Son. The grounding did help.

"We can talk after lunch like Monkey King said. Come up with a plan. And I'll cancel the request. I think that'll be good."

"Alright. Let's enjoy this food then."

Wukong offered a reassuring smile. He could respect the honesty. They could talk when he was ready. And the food was probably an easier distraction in the immediate.

"I'm looking forward to dessert."

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