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Specs laid on the massive four poster bed, his hands outstretched above his head onto the mattress. He looked to his side, to it sat Emperor, who had been looking at Specs, “Emperor, you're staring!” He teased.
Before he could make any faux arrogant statements, something like ‘I guess you can't help it,’ or ‘I would stare at me, too’, really anything to make Emperor's face all red, the taller inkling leaned in.
Specs let out a muffled noise at first, before leaning into the kiss. As they embraced, Specs tugged on the back of Emperor's neck to drag him closer. Eventually, Emperor's body was sprawled on top of Specs’, pinning him deeper into his mattress’ cushions, and placing his hands onto his chest, creasing the fabric of his suit ever so slightly.
The items around Emperor's room adorned the embrace; the crystals gifted from his older sister reflected the light from the windowsill, the white and golden-yellow trimmed blankets beautifully framing their bodies, and the door-
The door creaked open.
“Emper-”
Before Prinz could process, or even really notice- the two of them's positions, Specs shot up, pushing Emperor to his side, his head hitting a pillow with a ‘thud’.
“PRINZ!” he exclaimed, his face rivaling a tomato as he sat up in a pretzel position.
“Oh, hello, Specs.” Prinz waved before turning towards Emperor, “Why is Specs here, brother?”
Emperor tilted his head up in irritation and arrogance, “That is none of your business, Prinz!” He huffed, “You need to knock before you RUDELY enter my chambers!”
Prinz gave a look of confusion, “I… did?”
“Oh.” he paused, “...why are you in here?”
Prinz looked around the room. “What's the definition of ‘sarcastic’?”
Specs rose up, pointing his finger in a gesture of excitement, “Sarcastic is defined by sarcasm, mocking, contemptuous, or ironic language intended to convey scorn or insult!”
“Ah! Thank you!” He jotted the words Specs spoke down onto a notebook. He looked up again around the room, “Now, why were you two on top of eachoth-”
“OUT!” Emperor threw the pillow under his head at Prinz, Prinz let out an ‘Agh!’ Before scrambling out of the room, the pillow now resting near the door.
He heaved a sigh, leaning his head onto Specs's collarbone.
“He's definitely gonna have questions…” Specs bit his lip.
Emperor lifted his head up, before collapsing backwards onto Specs's lap, his back touching Specs's thighs and his head hanging off of his leg, he reached his hand up to adjust Specs's glasses comfortingly from below, “When can we tell him?”
Specs took Emperor's hand and guided it to his cheek, leaning into his palm affectionately like some kind of cat. “...Not yet. I… I don't think I'm ready for people to know I'm…” he trailed off, almost like even after all the realizations, the conversations with HP, he still couldn't say it.
Emperor rubbed Specs's jawline with his thumb, “You can say it.”
Specs looked down, before meeting Emperor's gaze, “I know I can… but…”
Emperor took back his hand, away from Specs's face, so that he could wrap both of his arms around him and pull him into a hug, gently caressing circles into Specs's back as he nuzzles his face into his chest, barely propping himself off of his lap.
“It's okay,” His voice was muffled a tad by his suit, but Specs made it out quite clearly.
Specs sat there for a bit, listening to Emperor's heartbeat in the otherwise quiet room. He shifted a bit, leaning back into the bed, but still upright, using his outstretched hand to steady his position, and he looked up towards the ceiling.
Emperor followed Specs's gaze, tilting his head up as well, his nose just brushing Specs's chest.
“We should go camping together one day.”
Emperor paused, his face morphing into an expression of mild discomfort to say the least, “...with… dirt?” he scowled.
“Yeah, with DIRT.” He snickered, finally falling back into the mattress, Emperor landing directly over top of his chest, his head below Spec's shoulders before rolling over beside him. Specs let out a contented sigh, “Think about it! You… and me…” he hummed, “...watching the stars…”
Emperor gently touched his hand, his fingers intertwining with Specs's.
Despite his usual elegance and his pampered nature, the look in Specs's eyes, not just now, but at any time at all, was enough to convince Emperor to jump directly into a mud puddle so long as it made Specs smile.
“I'll see to it that I acquire the grandest cabin for us.”
“You… you mean tent, right?”
“Absolutely not. I will not sleep on the floor, Specs.”
“...We could share a sleeping bag…”
Emperor slowly looked at Specs, then back to the view in front of him.
“...a...a tent it is.”
Specs practically collapsed onto Emperor and let out a series of warm, breathless laughs into his chest, the sound vibrating into his T-shirt.
The rhythmic sound of Emperor's heartbeat started to lull Specs to sleep, his eyelids heavy as he pressed himself deeper.
Emperor lifted his hands and wrapped them around Specs, pulling him closer towards him. He tucked his chin over Specs's face, lightly pinching the temple of his glasses and putting them on the bed stand beside him.
He brought a hand up to the back of Specs's head to stroke until Specs fell asleep.
…
As Specs slept, Emperor just sat there. He loved every second of feeling the leader of Team Blue's chest rise and fall with every little breath, he loved holding him in his arms, he loved the way he tossed around a bit in his sleep, he loved everything about the man.
The door started to open again, “Hey, Em-?”
Emperor didn't even look up at Prinz, simply putting a finger to his lips, gesturing for Prinz to quiet himself and leave.
Prinz stared at the two for a second, confusion starting to pile on his thoughts before stepping out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Unfortunately, the noise was enough to start to stir Specs awake, “Hmm…?” He started to open his eyes again, his vision blurry and his eyelids still drooping.
Emperor moved his hands to Specs's waist, watching in absolute adoration as he yawned, his voice full of sleep.
He pressed his lips against his forehead, his heart feeling as though it might explode from the little noise that Specs made in reaction to the kiss. He then moved to Specs's eyelids, kissing them with a level of care that no one but Specs had ever seen from him… or ever will see.
Specs leaned into the affection. “How long was I asleep for…?” he murmured, pulling himself up more.
Emperor looked up at a gold plated clock in the corner of the room, “About an hour. It's 8 pm at the moment.” Emperor lowered his hand to Specs's jawline and rubbed his cheek with his thumb.
Specs sprang off of the bed, Emperor starting to panic.
“Crap- I-I gotta go, HP is gonna start worrying where I am…!” he started to pull out his phone from his pocket.
“...Tell them you are staying here for the night.”
“Right, yeah, I-” before he could open the messaging app, he processed Emperor's words, shooting a look of utter bewilderment at the suggestion.
“Tell her that the King needed you to look after Prinz! Please just…” he started to extend his hand to reach out for Specs's sleeve, but reeled it back in, pressing his mouth shut.
Specs looked at him wide-eyed, his face flushing slightly.
“I-I can cook you dinner- anything you'd like! We could work on puzzles together with Prinz! A-and after that, we-” he let out a sob he didn't know he was holding in, his body starting to shake.
Specs darted back over to Emperor, and sat on his lap, his knees kneeling against both of his legs, and kissed him on his lips.
Specs wrapped his hands over Emperor's back as he deepened the kiss, tilting his head slightly and grunting softly as the kiss intensified.
Emperor was momentarily taken aback, before collapsing into his arms, his hands falling flat onto Specs's chest.
Just as Emperor started to lick the seams of Specs's lips, Prinz opened the door again.
“Wait, Emperor-”
“PRINZ!” Emperor's voice cracked as the sound of his brother's voice cut through the room. Specs scooted back, but he was still kneeling on Emperor's lap. “I TOLD YOU TO KNOCK, YOU-”
“Prinz…!!” Specs drawled, he forced a cough as he cleared his throat, “…I-I'm going to be staying over!” he pulled together a small, stretched out smile.
Prinz looked between the two of them for a moment, squinting down ever so slightly before speaking again, “Okay.” He said, then focused on Emperor, “Do you want to do a puzzle with me?”
Emperor nodded, “Specs will be joining us.”
“He will be?” Prinz blurted, looking back at Specs, then his gaze met Emperor's look of absolute seriousness. “He… will be.” He nodded back.
…
As the three left the room, Emperor led. He went ahead, and the other two followed along. They started to walk down the hallway to the living room.
Specs started to wipe his mouth off with the back of his hand as Prinz steered over to him, “Why were you on my brother's lap?”
“...let's talk about something else, Prinz.”
“Okay.” He looked down at his feet as he thought, “So, are you staying for the night?”
Specs nodded, “Mhm. Actually, I should text HP now…” as he pulled out his phone again, Prinz prepared another question.
“Where will you be sleeping?” He tilted his head in curiosity as he asked.
“Well, I suppose a guest-”
“The King's chambers.” Emperor answered for him, not turning around.
Spec's face flushed as they reached the living room, the flooring going from a carpeted layout to a wooden floor with a large, white rug in the middle. There was a cabinet under a TV in the back of the room, and a low table in the middle. There were two large couches behind the circular table.
Emperor sauntered over to the cabinet, opening the doors of it with an involuntary whoosh of air and squeaky noise, revealing a few sets of puzzles. Emperor examined the options before pulling out a box with a picture of Inkopolis plastered on it.
He placed the box on the circular table, which was more of a slab on the floor, and opened the lid. A bit of dust puffed out at the movement. He poured out the contents of the puzzle onto the table.
Prinz walked ahead first, used to the system that he and his brother had for this, then Specs. Prinz and Specs sat on the ground, opposite sides of each other. Emperor sat down besides Specs.
“So, Prinz, how has your team been? That's a lot of responsibility, y'know,” Specs asked, looking up at Prinz, who was already examining the pieces.
“They've been well, but we haven't won any tournaments yet…” he didn't look up as he answered, starting to grab a piece with part of a cloud on it.
“I'm sure you will eventually…” he turned to Emperor, and held his hand under the table, “-you take after your brother, after all…”
Prinz looked up at the two for a second, his expression blank and a bit unreadable before looking back down, clicking a few pieces together already.
Specs lifted his hand back up and started to grab a corner piece, placing it with another spare corner piece, and he started to make a pile of edge pieces.
Emperor lazily clicked together an obvious pair, he was clearly much more focused on something- someone else.
As Specs put the last edge piece into the pile, Emperor leaned his head sideways, onto Specs's collarbone, Specs leaned into the movement, just a bit.
Meanwhile, Prinz had already finished a good half of the puzzle.
As the three worked on the puzzle, the doorbell was being rung, interrupting them. Prinz got up to answer it, leaving Emperor and Specs alone.
“Your brother… is… very polite, Emp,” Specs looked down at the ground.
Emperor pulled back to see his face, “What's wrong?” He frowned, putting a hand onto Specs's cheek.
“It's… well… I…” he let out a shuddering breath, trying not to make direct eye contact with Emperor, “I don't think… he likes me,” he finished and started to fidget with his fingers.
“Oh, no, no, no, no. Specs, no-” he pulled Specs's face to his chest, holding him into his arms. He started to rub circles into his back, a familiar motion, “Of course not, Specs!”
“But-”
“He looks up to you.”
Specs blinked, “he does?” He pulled away to look up at Emperor's face.
“Yes! He was telling me just the other day that he wanted to be like you…” his eyes lidded with certainty as he kissed Specs's forehead.
Specs sniffed as he let out a soft, lopsided smile, “...I-I was worried,” he admitted, his eyes starting to look a bit too sparkly.
Emperor started to panic at the sight, he immediately started to use his hand to caress Specs's jawline, “He adores you, Specs… he takes after his brother.”
Specs practically tackled Emperor to the ground in an aggressive hug, nuzzling his face into Emperor's T-shirt. Eventually, he calmed down, lying flat on Emperor's chest, and started to get up.
…Before Emperor pulled him back down.
His lips finally met Spec's once again, and he flipped their positions, gently rolling the two of them over to pin Specs onto the ground.
Emperor shifted his head as he deepened the kiss, placing a hand under Specs's head to protect him from the ground.
Specs let out a muffled sound of anticipation as Emperor's tongue started to dance on his lips-
“EMPEROR! YOU GOT A PACKAGE!”
Emperor jumped and Specs frantically crawled back to the table as Prinz's footsteps started to echo closer towards them.
Specs fervently wiped his mouth with his sleeve, clearing his throat as Prinz walked into view.
Prinz arched an eyebrow just slightly, taking in the way Emperor and Specs were now a foot apart and staring far too attentively at him, “...Why are-?”
Emperor quickly grabbed the cardboard slip, his face red, “A ROYAL THANK YOU, PRINZ!” He hardly looked at the package as he stumbled back to his spot.
Spec's attention shifted to the package, his nerves dying down just enough to not start shaking. “What's that?”
Emperor paused as he looked at the box, before darting to his room without replying or answering the question.
“Emperor?!”
Before Specs could get up to follow him he ran back.
He tilted his chin up haughtily, though it didn't take a genius to see how he was in a cold sweat, “Let us finish the puzzle.”
Specs tentatively nodded, “Okay, but-”
“PUZZLE.” His voice cracked spectacularly.
As they worked on the puzzle, Emperor seemed especially anxious, every time Specs's and his hand would accidentally brush he would let out a squeaking noise, then would force a cough.
Eventually, the puzzle was almost completed, and they could make out the scene of a quiet day in Inkopolis plaza, with the sunsetting in the back. The only thing missing was the piece that belonged directly in the middle, Specs handed the piece to Prinz, “You can do the finishing touch.”
Prinz softly smiled in gratitude before placing the piece in.
Specs yawned and started to stand up, covering his mouth with his hand.
“I think it's past my bedtime,” Prinz said as he looked at the time on the corner of the TV, 9:45 PM, then back at the puzzle.
Specs wiped his eyes, “Don't worry, Prinz, we can clean up for you, you can head off to bed.” He stretched his neck, tilting his head side to side.
“Okay, good night,” Prinz headed back down the hallways to his room, his footsteps softly squishing into the carpet.
“Don't let the bed bugs bite!” Specs started to put the pieces back in the box before looking back up to Emperor, “I think I'm a bit tired myself…” he murmured, “would it be okay if we went to bed soon as well?” He reached out for the last heap of pieces before being jolted back with another yawn.
Emperor kneeled down, draping a hand on Specs's back, wrapping him towards him. Spec's head fell to Emperor's shoulder as he let out a long breath. Emperor finished putting the pieces in for him, and started to lift Specs up, holding him bridal style as he closed the box and brought it into the cabinet, Specs still in his arms.
“Emperor, I can walk-”
“You… could. Yes.”
“...So-”
Emperor was already walking down the hallway, though.
…
Once they were in the bedroom, Emperor let Specs onto the bed, holding onto him for just a few seconds longer than necessary on the mattress.
Specs propped his elbow onto the mattress to hold up his head as he looked at Emperor, “So, what was in your package?”
Emperor bit his lip and stared intently towards the gems on his window, before finally just hitting the hammer on the head and taking out a book-like object he had stuffed under his bed.
Specs let out a confused, “huh?” Before seeing it closer. A gold trimmed white notebook. “Oh my god, Emp-” he covered his mouth with his hand.
“D-DO YOU NOT LIKE IT?!”
He pulled Emperor towards him and hugged him, “I love it.” he buried his face into him.
“G-good! I-I thought of you when I saw… that you… th-...the king knew you would like it!” He sat besides Specs, before scooting behind him and wrapping himself around him, letting his head fall onto Specs's collarbone.
“Anything you want…” he muttered into his neck, “...Tell me and I'll get it, Specs… anything at all…”
Specs rolled over to face Emperor, who seemed half asleep already, he tucked himself further into Emperor's arms, snuggling up against him.
Emperor used what was left of his consciousness to sleepily pull the duvet blankets around the two of them, and rested his hand around Specs.
…
They both dreamed of camping together that night.
…
Knock Knock
“Emperor, where do we keep the-” he paused in the doorframe, looking at his brother and his brother's… friend cuddled up next to each other, still sleeping at 8:30 in the morning, “Uh…”
He walked backwards, taking the sight in before turning around and fully exiting.
<3