Chapter Text
A hot summer night. Fireflies danced on the swaying fields of grass that blanketed the land surrounding a castle. The grass extended no further than the fields, however; no natural plant growth existed beyond the borders. This was because of the extreme heat and inhabitable environment caused by the large amounts of fire and lava. The castle grounds were an incredibly dangerous place to be if you weren’t made of metal. So, it was very lucky that most of the residents were made of metal.
Most: excluding the Demon Bull Family. This was their new castle, manned by bull clones and resided in by the family. Today, though, the Monkie Kid was there too. And he was ‘bothering’ the prince.
“How long have you lived here? I don’t remember there being a massive castle here last week?” MK asked, sitting on one of the chairs in a small lounge on one of the higher floors of the castle.
“Well maybe the bull clones are better than the PEASANT WORKERS you humans use.” Red son returned, clearly annoyed by the Noodle Boy’s presence.
“Yeah but… didn’t you live in a hole for a while? Is this an upgrade?” MK asked,
“Did you come here just to mock me?” he spat, finally growing tired of MK’s antics.
The Noodle Boy showed up unexpectedly with none of his friends. Of course, the family was on the offensive at first, trouble by the successor’s presence and his mentor’s past. However, when they saw no effort to fight from the boy, the defences were lowered, and he was allowed to enter. A bull clone was assigned to guard Red Son from MK if he decided to attack.
“What?! Of course not! I came to hang out!” MK smiled in response,
“Huh?” Red son was taken off-guard. Nobody usually just wanted to hang out. They always wanted something whether it be power, allyship, money or even an attempt to assassinate the Demon Bull King himself. However, the Noodle Boy had no ill intent, “what do you actually want?”
“I genuinely just want to hang out! You’re an only child and seem to be alone a lot. I thought you could use some company!” MK replied, beaming.
People didn’t usually smile at Red Son. They usually screamed or ran in fear. Never smiled. This was a… pleasant change.
“Are you calling me lonely?!” Red Son erupted,
“Well… Kinda?” MK shrugged.
“Ah.” Honesty, Red Son’s only weakness, once again, he wasn’t used to this. He was used to grovelling and begging for their lives. This change, however, was not the most pleasant.
“But I’m here now and you aren’t lonely. For tonight at least.” MK laughed.
The pair fell into awkward silence. The noise of crackling fire and creaking metal from the bull clone filled the thick air that tension draped over. Red Son was trying to process the Noodle Boy’s honestness. MK, however, was starting to feel awkward but being the extrovert he is, attempted to make conversation again.
“It’s a beautiful night, you know.” MK began, “do you usually do anything on nights like this?”
“No. I’m usually working on something for my father or some other project down in my workshop.”
“You have a workshop?”
“How else do you think I made my car?” Red Son rolled his eyes, he really was dull if he didn’t expect that.
“You MADE your car?!” MK exclaimed, shocked.
Red Son looked the human up and down. Was he serious? THIS was the Monkey King’s protégé?
“That’s so awesome. Usually, I just poke some garbage with my staff and it just magically transforms into some kind of vehicle. I don’t really know how it works.” MK explained, smiling from the fact he managed to kindle a conversation.
“Well most other people can’t just MAKE magic cars out of nothing. We aren’t all gifted with that ability.” Red Son chuckled.
“Well you were gifted with fire! That’s pretty cool!” MK tried to take the conversation away from him to avoid any more backhanded comments.
“I mean, I guess. I don’t get to use it much because it just burns everything.” Red Son muttered.
Once again, the room fell quiet. MK silently cursed for bringing up such a dry topic before seeing an old music player in a box. MK suddenly began to grin, a wicked idea building in his mind. He stood and walked over to the box. The speaker was dusty and looked like it hadn’t been used in a good many years. Pulling out an aux cord, MK connected the speaker to his phone and began to play some upbeat lo-fi. This earned the human a once-over from the demon prince.
“What are you doing?” he asked, perplexed by the human’s audacity to just use someone else’s stuff without asking.
“Do you know how to dance?” MK asked, a smile cracking his face.
“Of course I do! I’m a prince.” Red Son boasted.
“Great cause I don’t. I usually make It up as I go… You can teach me though!”
“Like hell I can!” Red Son scoffed, “what makes you think I’ll teach you?”
“Come on. What did they teach you?” MK asked, walking forward and taking Red Son’s hands, “Ballroom dancing?”
The two began badly waltzing around the empty room. The walls were plain, and the room had no decoration. The only things in the lounge were the chairs some Bull Clones had dragged in to make the pair’s interaction more hospitable. This just gave them more room to move around.
“Okay stop. If it will get you to stop swinging me around wildly - I’ll teach you to dance.” Red Son relented,
“Yes!” MK quietly exclaimed.
Red son moved his hand to hold MK’s waist and took his hand. MK was shocked by the sudden movement and began to question,
“Uh- Red Son what are you doing?”
“Teaching you to dance, Noodle Boy. Now place your hand on my shoulder.” Red son replied.
MK hesitantly placed his hand on the demon prince’s shoulder, beginning to regret his request: this was a lot more intimate than he thought it would be.
The lo-fi music seemed to become louder as Red Son tried to focus on the beat.
“Okay, now follow my lead.”
“What does that mean?!” MK tried to ask before the pair began to move.
At first, MK stumbled around, occasionally stepping on Red Son’s feet which caused a burst of flames from his hair and a plume of smoke. Of course, MK apologised after every single time and the demon just took a deep breath and let it go. After getting into the rhythm and a lot of staring at the floor, MK began to sync his feet with Red Son’s.
“I think I’m getting it now…” MK said, still staring at the floor.
“Great. Now look up.” Red son replied, slightly smirking,
“wHAT?! No way man. I will stand on your feet again or I’ll fall over or something-” MK exclaimed, adamant that he would mess up somehow,
“Come on you look stupid looking down.” Red son chuckled.
“Oh yeah?!” The comment from Red Son started a fire inside him, an urge- no NEED to prove him wrong, “Well how about THIS!” MK started, looking up as proudly as he could. However, as he reached Red Son’s eyes, the fire was extinguished, and he was stunned into silence.
Red Son stood with MK in his arms and his back to the balcony that was adjacent from the empty lounge. The gentle breeze making his red hair flow and dance with every step they took. It was almost like a painting to MK. The glow of fire from outside and the lo-fi music seemed to grow, and it caused MK to smile. Both were smiling now and drifted to the music.
As the song came to an end and a new one began, it caused MK to pause. He started laughing and Red Son continued to smile but furrowed his eyebrows,
“What’s so funny?” he asked,
“It’s just… We’re ballroom dancing to lo-fi music. These two genres should not mix but they do,” MK paused to look at Red Son again, softly smiling, “I think it works because it’s just us two right now.”
Red Son began to blush, and small puffs of smoke emerged from his hair. He didn’t know what to say.
“I… agree?” Red Son began, “honestly, you’ve left me speechless Noodle Boy. In the best way.”
Somewhere down a hall, a clock chimed, signifying a late time.
“Damn. Is it already that late?” MK said, “I should really start heading back.” But as he tried to move, he couldn’t escape past Red Son’s grip.
“You’re leaving already?”
“I have to. I’ve got work in the morning.” MK explained.
Red Son’s grip loosened and he stood, thinking of what he could say before the human rounded the corner and left his sight.
“Your dancing isn’t perfect.” Was all he could say, but it caused MK to pause. His eyes traced the outline of the Noodle Boy, “you can come back tomorrow for more lessons if you’d like?”
MK stood for a moment longer before smiling widely, “Yeah! I’ll be back!” he said, cheeks painted a tint redder before disappearing behind the doorway.
Red Son stumbled to one of the chairs and flopped down into it.
“Just tell your parents not to attack me next time please!” MK had reappeared in the doorway to ask before leaving for good. Red Son laughed at the Noodle Boy’s antics before covering his burning face with a hand.
This could only end badly.