2 Monkos? Make it 3!

There’s a pair of green eyes staring right at him right now and Youyi is staring right back at it. 

He raises a hand and the cosprout does the same. He raises his other hand and it mimics him again. He snorts.

“Where’d you guys find this guy?” Youyi questions, shifting his attention to his two cosprouts sitting on either side of the unfamiliar monko. 

“Uu-uu-aa!” Meijing waves both of her arms in the air, then turns to Lizhi for assistance in acting out the scene in which they encounter this fellow monko.

So, the curtain rises.

There Meijing was, enjoying her stacks of bananas on a peaceful evening. While she was reaching for another bunch, she belatedly realized that… her remaining bananas are gone! But she was sure she brought more than she had eaten, so where did they– 

And there it is. From the corner of her eyes, she notices a trail. A trail of banana peels. At the end of that trail, Meijing would find… 

A monko, with her remaining bananas! The thief!

Meijing feels herself rage and she pulls out her sword, ready to charge when Lizhi steps in and their swords clashed.

Seeing this, Meijing stomps her foot and raises both her sword and shield in the air. Why’d you stop me?! She growls. 

In response, Lizhi crosses his arms in front of his chest after putting his sword away and shakes his head. We are knights, we must not hurt others. 

The monko thief, on the other hand? Instead of cowering in fear, it had snuck up behind Lizhi and poked its head out from behind him. It tilted its head, stared straight into Meijing’s eyes and blinked.

Meijing, still angered by the fact that her bananas were stolen, huffed and stomped her feet. Lizhi sighed, then turned to the monko behind him to chide it for stealing things that didn’t belong to it. For a moment, the monko looked confused, but Lizhi’s scolding did set in eventually and its expression morphed into one of guilt.

The monko glanced over at Meijing, then back at Lizhi, and at Meijing again.Then, it turned around and ran off. For a moment, Meijing thought that the monko was unapologetic and was about to chase after it, but then she saw it turn right back around and ran right up to Meijing with a banana in hand.

It offered it up to Meijing and chattered up an apology.

Meijing couldn’t say that her anger was quelled, considering the fact that it’s offering up a stolen banana, but well… She sighed. It’s a step to forgiveness, she supposed. Lizhi looked pretty proud of her when she accepted the banana (albeit sulkily) and nodded in approval.

That was how Meijing and Lizhi met this monko. How exactly did it end up here with them? Well…

“You’re saying it followed you?” Youyi raises an eyebrow and Meijing nods.

The monko in question simply sits there and scratches its chest. Then, it tilts its head and stares at Youyi in the eyes.

Youyi laughs. “Really? It just followed you back after all that?”

Meijing huffs while Lizhi geckers and nods to back her up.

There’s a silly grin on Youyi’s face as he looks between them and the monko. Then, he hums. “Think it might’ve gotten a crush on you, Lizhi?”

The dark knight monko blinks, then shakes its head, as if to say no way. Meijing, on the other hand, stares at him and then the monko with a look of suspicion.

Youyi hasn’t really thought about taking in another cosprout, to be honest… But, well, if this monko plans on following them around, then he can’t really just ignore it, can he?

So, he walks up to the monko and crouches down to its level. Then, he extends a hand out to it.

“You with anyone, lil guy?” The monko lifts its head to stare at him, blinks and takes a good moment to understand what’s being asked of it before shaking its head. Youyi hums.

“In that case, wanna come with us?” He offers. Meijing’s jaw drops in disbelief.

“Uu-aa!” The monko jumps up excitedly, immediately begins to climb up Youyi’s arm and perches itself on his shoulder. It then points in a random direction in front of it and chatters enthusiastically, as if to say march forth!

Youyi can’t help but laugh at this, thoroughly amused by this monko’s antics and personality. “I like this guy!”

While the merchant looks pleased to have a new companion, Meijing doesn’t seem all too enthusiastic. She stomps her foot and is about to complain about it when Lizhi taps on her shoulder and shakes his head. He then points at the monko on Youyi’s shoulder, who wears a bright and happy smile on its face.

Give it a chance, Lizhi pats her back. I’ll give you my snacks for the next few days. He offers, trying to appease the other monko.

Meijing huffs, then pouts. She crosses her arms and seems to consider the offer for a while before eventually relenting with a sigh. A week, Meijing negotiates. A week of bananas and I’ll put up with it. 

Lizhi exhales a defeated sigh and tells her to at least try to get along with it, then it’ll be a deal. Meijing grunts in annoyance, then lets out a defeated fine.