Chapter Text
Nerves swelled in Macaque as the elder went down the line of young monkeys and dipped a finger in the magical water before swiping it across a young monkey’s brow. There were only a few monkeys left before it would be Macaque’s turn, and the gazes of the entire Flower Fruit Mountain monkey tribe staring him down were starting to make him uncomfortable. He wasn’t one of them originally, so it was something that would cement his place in the tribe, even though the Monkey King had declared him to be a new member of the tribe years ago.
This moment felt different, though. This felt like everything before this moment would become a ‘before’ and everything after would become…‘after’. Macaque felt a tail wrap around his, and he turned to glance beside him at his best friend. The Monkey King himself, or Sun Wukong at this point, gave him a lopsided grin before nudging his shoulder into the white-furred monkey. The elder was speaking a chant and the golden-haired monkey mimicked him speaking while crossing his eyes. The face made Macaque snort, and he nudged his friend to get him to stop.
This was an important day, and though it was funny to see the Monkey King mocking the dull word-filled ceremony, there was an undercurrent of tenseness that meant it was serious. And it was. Today was the day that the young monkeys’ second genders would be revealed to the tribe, and courting could begin shortly after each had presented and had their respective heat or rut. When the elder came closer to the two troublemakers, Macaque and Wukong released each other’s tails. Macaque’s heart pounded in his ears, and even though he had six of them, he couldn’t hear anything that the elder was saying. The beta elder touched his forehead as he spoke in chant, calling upon both the power of the gods and the universe as his thumb dipped into the water before wiping the water across the white-haired monkey’s brow. Unfortunately for Macaque’s nerves, that was the day that changed everything. How ironic.
Shortly after the ceremony, Macaque sat alone while celebrations rang throughout the mountain. It had been a good Dousing Ceremony this year apparently, as their Monkey King had been revealed to be one of the strongest breeds of alphas, a Prime Alpha. Macaque’s own luck had not been so fortunate. When his own second gender had been revealed by the coloration of his mask appearing through the water on his face, the entire tribe had gasped and the elder who had been running the ceremony had to pull out a very large reference book to verify the coloration.
Macaque’s tail curled tighter around his stomach which was already churning with regret, nerves, and a general sense of fear. He’d been named an omega. If that already wasn’t one of the worst second genders he could get, his odds of survival got even worse when it was revealed to him that male omegas were exceedingly rare and that male Prime Omegas were a percentage even rarer. He shivered in the night air that had once been comfortable. He shivered under the shadowy gazes of the entire monkey clan that had whispered awe and reverence once it had become apparent what he was. What he would become in a few days.
He had seen it in a few of the young, unmated alphas' eyes, had seen the hunger, the desire. He knew the stories of lone omegas in large groups of alphas and betas that turned horrific. The ones traveling human women would use as warnings to their young, the ones that history made sound like love stories and were anything but. Would he become a statistic? Just another story in history about a woeful omega?
“Remember no matter what happens up there, or whatever gender the waters give you two that you will always be you. First and foremost, it doesn’t change who you are. It doesn’t change that I will love both of you equally, now and after.” Wukong's self-proclaimed mother, General Ma, had squeezed both of their shoulders in comfort before ushering them onto the stage. Her words echoed in Macaque’s head and he glanced up at the heavens, wondering why it had to be him. He’d been a good monkey, hadn’t he? Had always been polite, patient, and headstrong? Sure there were times when his mischief had gotten the better of him, as it always did whenever he was with Wukong, but that didn’t mean he deserved the fate of his inevitable future, did it?
The inky black sky was covered in stars, and the moon hung brightly in the sky. He stared at it like it would give him the answers to his countless questions of ‘why me’, but it remained silent and stoic. Quiet and cold just like the night air around him was becoming. Even now, he could still feel eyes on his form wherever he went as if the shadows the moonlight cast had ears and eyes of their own as if they were sentient beings that had heard the news and had come to gawk at him. Macaques’ ears twitched signaling the tentative steps of someone approaching cautiously.
“Mac?” a soft voice called.
“Leave me alone,” he answered, and curled tighter into a ball, hiding his face in his knees.
“Yeeeah, I don't think so,” Wukong’s brow furrowed as he sat down next to the black-furred monkey.
Macaque hid his face in his knees and turned his body away from his friend. He didn’t feel like being comforted right now by the one whose gender had caused the immediate celebration raging far behind them. The two monkeys said nothing for a while, both testing out the uneasy tension that had wormed its way between them.
Macaque hadn’t been the only one who noticed the way the tribe’s gaze changed when Mac’s second gender had appeared as a bright red, feathered marking on his face. A stark difference from his own light pink color that had marked across his eyes and underneath his brow. For the white-furred monkey, there had been gasps and whispers, and for Wukong, there had been cheers and excited screeching. He had noticed the way his friends’ shoulders had sunk, had noticed his stiff movements as the final proceedings ended, and had noticed when the monkey had immediately vanished when the celebrations began.
But what could he say that would comfort him? What could be said to reassure his friend that he’d be here for him no matter what? How could he tell him that if anyone hurt him he’d beat them up for him without question of who it was? How could he say all those things without sounding like he’d accepted what the heavens had decided for his friend? The news clearly made him feel uncomfortable, but Wukong didn't understand why. Macaque is this strong, untouchable, snarky wind spirit monkey while Wukong is just...well, Wukong. The only thing special about him was the title the monkeys had given him, and for what? Finding the source of a waterfall and stumbling across a cave behind it. He'd boast about it sure, say that he'd meant to find it and that he'd known about it all along, but at the end of the day 'The Monkey King' was just a name given to him by others, a standard, a pedestal that he hadn't wanted but was now forced to sit upon. Like he was a doll. A trophy.
Wukong wrapped his tail around Macaque's and squeezed it to comfort him. His felt his heart squeeze along with the pressure that was returned to his own tail. He didn't speak, he didn't reach out, he just sat next to his friend as if his presence alone spoke volumes. He supposed after all they'd been through together that it just might. He’d accepted his own secondary gender easily, a Prime Alpha was rare and of course, he’d expect nothing less of himself, he was the Monkey King. But Mac’s…he's watched his friend be this tough, hardworking monkey, and he would gladly admit that he surprised him by being one of the most intelligent and skilled monkeys he’s ever met. When they first met, it had felt like they’d always known each other, and the deep trust they had instantly gained with the other had only grown over the century. It had felt like nothing could stop the two of them, not even the heavens themselves. It seemed like the heavens disagreed.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked the white haired monkey next to him.
Macaque sighed, his moping interrupted suddenly. "How everything is going to change. I don't want to be a prime omega. I don't want to be this, this weak object that someone will-ugh-use and flaunt around!"
"It feels like you're suddenly nothing even though society is telling you to be everything," Wukong sagely spoke as he stared up at the full moon, basking in its glow.
"Yeah. I'm a person, not an item. They-every single one of them-their eyes changed when my stupid second gender was revealed." the monkey's fist clenched and his nails poked into the palms of his hands, drawing blood.
Wukong shuffled over and placed a gentle hand over his, opening his hand and replacing the nails with his palm. "You're hurting yourself,"
Macaque scoffed, "Maybe I should," and when he saw Wukong's face turn serious, he amended his statement, "I don't care,"
"I do, and you should know better than to start thinking like that. General Ma would kill you,"
The white furred monkey winced and rubbed a sore spot on the back of his head. The two monkies had been rough housing and were late to the Dousing Ceremony because of it and Ma had smacked the two of them senseless. "I'm just--" the monkey held Wukong's hand tightly, "I'm scared, I think."
"Of my people?"
"I've heard a lot of bad stories during my travels, and I refuse to become one of them,"
"You're plenty strong. You're one the fastest out of all of us, you're the smartest for sure, and you've won hundreds of sparring matches against me."
Macaque shook his head, "You don't get it. All of that means nothing if I enter a heat. It'll decrease my awareness akin to unconsciousness, and if I'm alone and an alpha walks by..." he shudders at the thought. "I've heard that even out of heats, that an omega's smell can cause an unmated alpha to go into a rut. I-I don't want that,"
"Then we'll practice more. I'll teach you everything my master taught me, including each of the 72 different forms. If you transform into me, they wouldn't dare to touch you. And! You'll be able to summon clones of yourself if you need to escape. I don't think any of us will let it get to that point though." Wukong turned as he spoke, and waived at two monkeys who were watching from afar.
The betas of the group, Ba and Beng cautiously stepped up and joined the two light furred monkeys, and they all wrapped their arms around each other in a large group hug. Macaque was a little surprised at first, but he raised his arms and hugged back with a small smile. "So what, you guys are all gonna be on omega duty forever? Becoming helicopter friends isn't any different then slapping me in the face and calling me weak,"
Ba snickered, "Who'd want to follow you around 24/7?"
Macaque stuck his tongue out at him, "You know what I mean. Privacy is important, and I really don't want to change anything in my life just because of it. I don't want it to control my life,"
Beng shoved Ba's face away before the dark brown beta could open his mouth, "Then for now, show them that you're not an option. Learn how to get stronger with Wukong, and until you find a mate you approve of, we'll make a promise to look out for each other. If there's an alpha or beta that's been bothering you, let us know, or better yet: Spread the word. No one's gonna want to mate with a pushy monkey,"
"Like an arrangement?" Wukong queried, as he pulled back slightly from the group hug.
Ba pulled Beng's hand away from his face, "How do you mean?"
Beng paused in thought and then spoke slowly as if the thought was still forming, "Well, we're all going to be going through either heats or ruts soon. We could spend them together for safety, at least this first one. Then whenever if needed, no questions asked."
"You want us to fuck," Ba deadpanned.
"That's dangerous, isn't it? I mean if any of you were to spend it with me while I'm mid-heat things could get...risky. Besides, no offense: ew." Macaque's face wrinkles in disgust.
"Oh please we've all seen the way you look at him when you think nobody's looking," the tanned monkey, Beng pointed out without naming the monkey who had captured Macaque's interest.
The simian who just got called out felt his soul escape from his body as he realized that he was still holding hands with Wukong, and their tails were still wrapped tightly around one another. "Ahah, no idea what you're talking about," his voice was strained and monotone, and he avoided several gazes.
He didn't notice the golden-haired monkey's frown deepen beside him as he spoke, "Things don't have to get sexual,"
"Yeah Ba, it's just so we know that the other is safe. You know, as friends do," Beng emphasized and nudged the dark-brown furred monkey.
Ba snickered as Macaque glared at him. "As long as it's consentual, I'm open to it," Ba teased, only stopping when a small gust of wind messed up his fur, causing Macaque to smirk in victory.
A loud sigh exited from Wukong, and the white haired monkey turned to see what he thought of Beng's idea. The golden-haired monkey was staring right at him, an unknown look in his eye that made heat rush to Macaque's cheeks as he smiled gently, "I'm in if you're in. After all, this plan is to make sure you're comfortable and safe,"
The stars behind him blanketed Macaque in a dark cape, but the monkey's white fur gleamed, and a soft breeze blew through his fur as he smiled back easily. "If you're in, then I'm in."
"Then we have an arrangement," Wukong nodded at the group, and they all started finalizing what that would entail.
Little did the four monkeys know, this would be the moment that their relationship would change them forever, leaving them altered by time, the heat of the sun, and the glow of the moon.