MK sighs, completely tired after having just defeated more of what remains of the demon bull army. Well, and delivering noodles to customers on time, but that happened after the delivery and as such played only a small part in why he wants to pass out right now. Though, he has to make it back to the shop first. As he drives along, he sees stores that have gotten rebuilt. From more food joints to a flower shop, people are getting back to their lives. He waves to a few people, finally arriving at his place of work. Getting in, MK practically collapses at the counter. He's tired and it's not the best day. Red Son comes in not long after, also tired.

"You fought some bots too, right?"

"Yes, unfortunately. My mother doesn't know when to quit it seems..."

Pigsy walks towards the two, seeing them absolutely exhausted.

"Tired?"

"We both just fought the demon bull clones, we're exhausted, Pigsy."

"Hmm... tell ya' what, I don't have any orders right now, and business is slow today. How about you two go to the ice cream parlor down the street for a break. Don't take too long, alright?"

MK gasps, having a wide smile.

"Really?!"

"Don't take long."

MK grabs Red Son, practically rushing to get to the shop. Red Son, though, is confused. He's heard of ice cream, but never actually tried it. Maybe he did once, but... not that he can remember. Within seconds they're in line and MK looks like he was never even tired to begin with.

"This is gonna be good! What are you getting, Red?"

"Um... what is... 'ice cream'?"

MK stares at Red Son in disbelief, completely shocked before blinking and realization taking his face.

"You're a fire dude! It makes sense that you haven't had ice cream before! I think Salted Caramel should be good for you... and I'm getting the Chocolate Fudge ice cream!"

"Okay...?"

The lines moves and the two are in front, and Red Son is a bit confused about the "toppings".

"Okay, I want a chocolate fudge ice cream on a waffle cone with peanut butter monkey sprinkles and my friend will have a salted caramel ice cream on a waffle cone with regular sprinkles."

The girl at the counter signs "alright" at the two, charging them and quickly getting them their ice cream before once again signing "have a great day!" at the two.

"You have a great day, too!"

"When did you learn sign language?"

"We had a deaf regular a year ago. It seemed convenient to learn."

They sit down, and Red Son looks at his. It's strange, to him at least, why anyone would need to cool down. But, he might as well try something new. He tastes some and notes that it has an extremely sweet and wonderful flavor, but it's unnecessarily cold. He eats some more, dealing with the cold for the sweet taste of the ice cream. As this is happening, MK can't help but smile at his reactions. The surprise of the taste, the way he analyses the ice cream like it's a threat or something, and the way he's trying to eat the ice cream without it dripping. Then, he notices something. His ears... wiggle. He can't help but snicker and that.

"What's so amusing?"

"It's just, every bite you take your ears wiggle! It's a bit funny that I never noticed that."

MK would tell him it's adorable to his face, but they aren't in that kind of relationship where he can say that in that tone of voice. It's not like they're dating or anything... even though they cuddle and watch movies together and work together and take down the same bad guys and--wait, this is way too much like an actual date. But it's not though, right? It can't be a date! They're just two guys, hanging out together! Guys can get ice cream on a hot day! It's nothing major. Well, of course, MK thinks that Red Son is a decent guy and really, really cute, and honestly completely wonderful but...

"Oh, MK, I forgot to ask, what are we having for dinner tonight? I'm kind of tired of fast food, to be honest."

Ah, they've been living together for months. MK has now realized how much of a couple they seem like. Actually, this is kind of like a date...

"I really don't want noodles for dinner again... or pizza. I wish we had a proper kitchen."

"Oh! About that! My apartment can be lived in again! At first, it was just the bed breaking, then the oven and stove stopped working and so did the a.c., so I just lived at the base to keep it simple. But now that stuff is fixed and I have a new oven! We can have a good, home-made meal!"

Red Son sighs in relief, thankful that it won't be takeout again.

"Thank you, buddha, for being ever so merciful."

"Well, we'd need to go shopping and also need to clean out my fridge, but I think that's doable."

"What I'm hearing is we order groceries and clean out the fridge while waiting."

"Sounds like a plan."

The two finish their ice cream, Red Son being pleased with himself now that he's tried a new thing. While walking back to work, MK orders groceries.

"I'm thinking about having chicken tonight."

"I'll make chicken and rice then."

------------------------------------------------

Getting home, Red Son and MK know that it's going to be a long day of cleaning. Red Son more than MK.

"Was it a mess like this before?"

"Umm... yeah?"

"No, no, no! You get started on cleaning the fridge, I am going to straighten out this apartment!"

Red Son starts to pick up shirts and other laundry around the house, going over to the washer and seeing the mountain of clothes that's yet to be cleaned. Thankfully, nothing's been forgotten in the wash, but the clothes in the dryer have collected dust they've been in there so long. He puts them back in the pile of dirty clothes and gets the first load started, noting the terrible smell as if something died and is rotting. He puts a generous amount of laundry soap in, knowing that smell has to be killed off. He continues looking around, picking up trash, when he finds MK's room. He takes the sheet and covers off, knowing everything has to be washed. He puts it in the laundry pile, grabbing the vacuum that's nearby. The room should be first. He picked up the trash, dusted a few surfaces, and already it's looking better. He waters a plant that's dying of thirst and decides now he can start vacuuming. He turns it on, going through the room before noticing that wherever the vacuum goes the floor gets significantly lighter. Red Son quickly realizes that the floor is so dirty it's changed the color of the floor, he can only imagine how long this apartment's gone without cleaning. After thirty minutes or so, this room is now spick and span. He gets to the rest of the apartment, knowing that this will be hell.

-------------------------------------------

After two hours, the apartment is clean and the two went through the fridge to clean it out. The amount of moldy and old food was unholy, and the stench was deadly, but now they're okay. The fridge is clean, the apartment is clean, and now they get to rest. At least, until the doorbell rings and the two get up. It's the groceries they ordered. They bring the groceries in Red Son organizing the Food as he does. Now the apartment is good.

"Now we're okay. It's taken a while, but we did it!"

Red Son turns, glaring at MK.

"We?"

"Umm... I cleaned out the kitchen and took out the trash? I mean, more importantly, I did the mountain of dishes that were in the sink. So, I helped a bit."

MK laughs nervously, and the nervous smile breaks Red Son's anger.

"From now on, you'll actually help to maintain the apartment. The color of the floor changed after I vacuumed it! So, do the laundry, maintain a clean room, and don't be lazy."

"That sounds fair."

"Alright. You take a shower first, I'll go after. And no, I'm not making dinner until after I've clean myself."

"That's fair, that's fair."

----------------------------------------

Finally done with dinner, Red Son sets two plates down on the table in front of the TV. Chicken and rice with some broccoli because he knows MK needs to eat some vegetables.

"Food's done."

Within seconds MK appears, already sitting down and looking at his food in awe.

"This looks so good!"

"Well it is, so eat before it gets cold."

The two begin eating, MK putting on a TV show they watch. They finally rest, starting to relax after a long day. Which, upon the thought of relaxing, Sun Wukong smiles. He's currently a ladybug, watching the two. After all, bots have been after them all day. In fact, they wouldn't have even been about to enjoy their ice cream if Sun didn't step in. He and his clones have been fighting the bots all day for them, giving the two the chance to actually clean their apartment and make dinner. Part of him thinks that the two aren't safe where they are, but he knows better. As long as he's present, they're safe. He'd never let anything happen to his kid, whether it be injury or heartbreak. The heartbreak part he's a lot less worried about though.