A/N: 

I lived ya'll- The ppl with the group chat didn't get in trouble or anything, but my counselors are making it so I don't have to be in classes with them/making it so I have little classes with them and as a joke I told the coordinator to have a pride flag on the flag pole and he's actually looking into it I-

Anyways here's a vinperor fanfic!

Aloha x Mask up next and then Poly S4 for the next oneshots

I don't know how to correctly portray Emperor and Vintage's personalities sooo I hope I did them some justice

____

Vintage's eyes analyzed everything around him. From every corner of the room to every cephalopod who was in the room with him. He wasn't sure why he was at this party in the first place; he just remembered being dragged to Team Blue's new apartment by his team members. Now here he was, in the corner of one of the least populated rooms, trying to sink into the small space. For some reason, he couldn't keep his cool. Something felt wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He had sensed it once Goggles had announced that Crusty Sean's workspace was set up, and everyone could order food. Vintage had made a mental note of all the teams that were at the party. Then crossed off each group that had all gotten food. In his mind, they were all crossed off, but he couldn't shake the feeling away.

His eyes caught something golden.

He didn't understand why the color had caught his attention, but he focused anyways. Vintage raised an eyebrow when he saw the former king of turf standing by the trash can, a plate barely picked at in his hands. What surprised the conqueror next was when the monarch swiftly slipped his plate into the trash can and made a break for the front door. Vintage didn't know why he cared, but he got up from the wall nevertheless and quietly followed behind Emperor, wanting to make sure the king was alright.

From the peephole, Vintage waited until he deemed Emperor far enough and opened the front door silently. A grip on his sleeve made him jump a bit, and his eyes met with innocent golden ones.

"Please...help him."

He didn't understand, but he gave a soft nod before heading into the night to follow the runaway king anyways.
____

For some time, Vintage had been following the king around the block at least three times. The two-toned inkling silently heard the countdown of numbers with each lap completed.

"Two."

Alright, if there was a time for confrontation, it would be now.

"Why have you been doing laps for the past twenty minutes?"

Emperor stiffened, slowly turning around. Vintage internally cursed when the king had to look down at him. Damn his shortness. There was something in the eyes of the golden inkling that Vintage had never seen before. Fear.

"How long have you been following me? Why have you been following me?"

Ah yes, the typical response to a situation like this.

"Since you left the house. As for the second question, riddle me this, why did the king throw away a full plate of food and leave a party without saying anything?"

Emperor crossed his arms and looked away.

"That's...none of your business."

"I'm making it my business."

Woah . Where did that come from? Vintage just felt the sudden urge to want to know what was happening in the monarch's life and help him through it. This was strange, all Vintage had ever cared about was power. Could it be possible that he was changed by Team Blue? They certainly had that effect on everyone.

Emperor 'tch'ed and turned away, his hands gripping at the fabric of his jacket. He said nothing as he walked off, and Vintage kept following. The conqueror groaned internally when he realized he had to jog to catch up to the king due to the height gap between the two. It didn't take long, but it did get a chuckle from the other. Vintage growled at him,

"Shut it."

Vintage couldn't fix his height. He was the shortest out of everyone, even some of the girls! He supposed that's why he wanted power so much, to compensate for the lack of height his genes had given him. The look of terror on the other team's faces when they realized their defeat was always satisfying, you mock the conqueror, and you are going to get knocked down. All are no match for the X.

"Vintage?"

The ballpoint user shook his head and looked up to find the king gazing at him in concern.

"Yes?"

"You seemed a little...disconnected from reality for a second, and you had a bit of a crazed look in your eye."

Carp. He didn't mean for the king to see him that way. Emperor probably thought he was insane now. Stupid, stupid, stu- wait, why did he care about what a fallen king had to say?

"What of it? I didn't pass out, did I? Therefore, I am fine."

"I was just making sure you alright..."

Vintage rolled his eyes and looked at the king in annoyance. He was surprised when Emperor looked like he had just seen a puppy get kicked by a random stranger. Vintage sighed.

"I'm alright, are you? You didn't explain when I confronted you about the food and the party."

Emperor tensed and stopped walking, causing the conqueror to turn and see the fear slowly coming back to those golden eyes he enjoyed seeing.

Wait what?

Vintage shook the thought off and approached the king, he felt his face crack as an expression of worry overcame him. He was surprising himself a lot tonight.

"Emperor, what's wrong?"

The golden inkling shivered and began to walk, muttering to himself as he passed by the smaller inkling. Vintage's face returned to its regular stoic expression as he 'tch'ed and followed after the king, straining his ears in hopes of capturing some of the words he was saying.

"Keep walking. Keep walking. She'll call you lazy if you continue to stop. You need to walk it off."

Vintage grabbed the monarch's hand, causing the other to turn and look at him in shock.

His hand was so warm... Vintage shook his head at himself in his mind. Focus.

"Who Emperor? N-Pacer?"

Emperor pulled his hand away from Vintage's grasp, continuing to walk as he shook his head. Vintage groaned at the king's actions. Why won't Emperor just tell him?

"You saw the scale this morning. She'd be furious if she saw."

Wait...what? Now it was Vintage's turn to freeze. Was Emperor saying what Vintage was thinking he was saying?

"You should've eaten less. Now, look at you."

Vintage watched as the king wrapped his arms around his stomach. He felt his hands curl into fists at his sides. Why was he so angry?

"Unfit to model. Unfit to rule."

Next thing the ballpoint user knew, his face was buried in Emperor's back with his arms wrapped around the other.

"You...you aren't unfit at all, Emperor. You have never been unfit. You've been perfect just the way you are. Cod, you make me feel things, things that I've never felt before. This ...this isn't me at all, and I'm scared. I'm scared and confused about what you're doing to me, so please, don't talk badly about yourself. Never talk bad about yourself."

It was pure silence as Vintage held onto Emperor, both not moving an inch. It wasn't until Vintage heard a small sniffle that he looked at the other's face.

There the king was, softly crying while looking up at the night sky. If it weren't for the situation at hand, Vintage would've admired the king more. It was odd, but somehow... the king looked pretty when he cried. A soft cyan blush appeared on the conqueror's face as he slowly walked in front of the other, unwrapping the golden inkling's arms from his own stomach and taking his much larger hands into his smaller ones. When the king didn't look at him, Vintage guided Emperor's face down with his hand, wiping away a few tears while he was at it.

"Emperor...who made you think this way?"

"...my mother. This five-lap exercise thing...it was her idea from the start, and I let it get into my head...I was able to stop Prince from doing it when he was very young, it pained me when he took it as a game for a short while. I guess I took it too far by eating less or close to nothing, all in hopes the thoughts she drilled in my brain would vanish..."

Vintage felt his blood run cold.

"So when you..."

Emperor nodded.

"When I threw away the plate, it was because I felt those feelings wash over me again, and I had to do the laps. Just to make my mother happy."

"Emperor, that's..."

The king looked away, leaving Vintage's hand holding nothing but air.

"Unhealthy? Believe me, I know, it's all Prince ever tells me."

Silence overtook the two again before Vintage broke it once more.

"You know, you never commented on my small confession. It'd be rude to not answer."

Emperor chuckled as he shook his head, turning back to the other.

"I suppose it would, wouldn't it? I mean, it is kind of ironic, with me being the former king of the turf war and you being the former conqueror of the ranked battle, but..."

Vintage felt a non-existent sweat drop run down the side of his face when Emperor dragged out the "but". Why was he so nervous?

"At the same time, it makes sense, and you are rather cute. Especially with that height. So let's give it a shot."

"Excuse me?!"

Vintage was taken aback by the comment as Emperor covered his mouth to laugh before turning and walking back to Team Blue's house.

"You heard me, now come on, we have a party to get back to."

The whole way back, Vintage kept trying to argue about how he was to be feared with Emperor replying with a simple "sure you are, shortie".
____

Vintage walked in the back of his teammates as Omega and Red Sole helped a semi-drunk Double Egg walk home. When Vintage and Emperor arrived back at the party, the first thing Vintage did was make sure the king had got something to eat, making sure the golden inkling ate it all no matter how many times he said he was full. After that, they both got to know each other better, and the two-toned inkling was surprised Emperor knew an old human language called Spanish, Vintage was always too busy learning how to be more potent at ranked to be bothered with such things. Never the less, he did know a few words from Emperor after a concise lesson. He really only knew cognates such as 'plantas' and words like 'noche', ya know, simple ones. When it was time to leave because of Double challenging Edging and Aloha to a very illegal activity to challenge their speeds, the two exchanged numbers and agreed to text each other later when they both woke up.

Ding.

Vintage's ears perked up. It couldn't be Emperor, and indeed not anyone else for only his teammates had his number. It couldn't be his social media because his notifications for those apps were off. He didn't care about anyone else. An unknown number appeared on his phone, and Vintage frowned as he opened his phone to read the text.

Unknown: 'Thank you for helping him.'

Vintage gave a tiny smile to his phone as he typed back.

'You're welcome young monarch.'

____

A/N: also- HAPPY PRIDE!! 

Make sure to stay safe ya'll, with pride fall and everything happening.

Black Lives Matter! my cod I can't stress that enough- 

I've been having this playlist running in the background of my laptop 

&list=PLRbEKmpIDVq7k28Ka3j8WSR-OyDeHTFVA

(or just look up BLM Donation Videos, I use the playlist created by Marielle)

If you are going to protests, be safe and do research on what you should bring!

Alright ya'll like always,

Stay Fresh Off the Hook!!!

Word Count: 1,868 words