Emperor and Prince might be out of character idk man, neither of 'em are even the main focus so I don't really care😎
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The results came in. Gloves' Team lost by a landslide. This wasn't the first time that had happened this week, especially since the team they were challenging was the Monarch's team. That's right, they were taking on Emporer himself. Even though they were pretty strong, Emperor made a fool of Them
The green guys n' gals were sitting just outside the lobby, taking a breather from their last match "that was a good play back there Straps!" Clips complimented her friend.
"You too! Remember when...
...
"Duelling a monarch. How foolish. The King never loses a fight~"
Gloves was slumped back against a wall, panting heavily. He had just lost a fight with his long term idol, Emperor
He watched as the blonde started to charge a curling bomb. Holding it until he was sure it would go slow enough to hit his target. Emperor then dropped the bomb and began to walk away, not without a quick menacing glare back at Gloves
'N-no, come back. Please. Look! I can keep going! I can still fight!' He thought to himself, desperately trying to push himself up, to no a avail. His duel had completely worn him out
Gloves saw Prince glance at him from afar just before the bomb exploded in a flurry of shimmering golden ink
...
"Gloves! Oh my gosh, finally! You alright?" Straps said aloud. He hadn't been paying attention. His mind was preoccupied with... other matters
Gloves blinked a bit, making sure he was actually where he saw he was "Yeah" his reply was short and simple. A bit too short and simple, considering who it came from
"Aw c'mon! what's wrong?" Clips chimed in
Gloves turned away from everyone, and looked to the ground
"Gloves?"
"I'm sorry!" Gloves shouted, running off into the streets of the square.
"Gloves wait!" Straps jumped up out of her seat. Looking over at Half Rim, who was leaning back on one of the nearby walls. Scrolling on his phone
"Rim, aren't you worried?" She asked
Rim then took a glance in the direction Gloves took off in, before grabbing his bag from the floor and walk away. Presumably heading home for the day
"Rim!? Not you too!... Eughhh..." Straps sighed defeatedly, plopping back down on the bench next to clips.
"Wonder what's up with those two?"
[timeskip because you can't stop me]
Gloves concluded his long walk home as he stopped in front of the door to his apartment. He rummaged through his bag for a bit before pulling out his key. And finally making it home.
He locked the door behind him and made a beeline straight to his room, only stopping to take off his shoes. He could finally let go everything he'd been holding in. Flopping down on his bed, he did just that. There he laid, thoughts racing. clutching a pillow like his life depended on it. The evening sun just barely peeking through the gaps in the city. Leaving the seemingly hopeless boy alone in darkness. Holding his now slightly dampened pillow
Suddenly, a faint knocking was then heard from Gloves' front door. Snapping him out of his thoughts "J-just a second!" He called out to whoever was out there as he tried to quickly recollect himself. He took a couple of shaky deep breaths to calm himself before opening the door, coming face to face with Half Rim, one of his teammates, but more importantly, his boyfriend. "Oh hey Rim! What brings you here? Shouldn't you be at home, resting or something?" Gloves cocked his head slightly
Rim stared blankly at his face before speaking "Have you been crying?"
"What?! Me? No, of course not! Don't worry about me" he forced out a laugh and tried his best to pretend
He was met with another short-lived period of silence
"Can I come inside? I wanted to talk to you one on one"
"Sure!" He stepped aside to let Rim into his apartment. Making his way to the couch in the middle of the room, Rim sat down, crossing his legs. His hands resting on his knee, staring off into space
"So" Gloves sat beside him "what did you want to talk about?"
"Why did you apologise after our match earlier?" Rim spoke almost immediately after the previous sentence ended, looking the green squid kid in the eyes, patiently awaiting his response
"Oh. That's what this is about..." he trailed off, looking away towards the floor. The bad thoughts returning
"W-well, you see" he paused "I sorta... feel bad for costing us so many games. I just wanted to let you all know. It wasn't anyone else's fault but mine" Gloves tried his best to not choke up
"And— you'd a-all be probably be better off finding a new team l-leader. One that doesn't constantly drag his team down" he added, misty eyed
Half Rim sat in silence. Staring at Gloves, trying to comprehend wether what was said actually came from the boy before his eyes. His usual confident, peppy attitude had vanished completely
"Gloves..." His demeanour shifted, showing a bit of worrisome sympathy
"Please don't say that" Rim scooted a bit closer to his partner. The boy in question still wouldn't face him
"Hey" Rim snapped his fingers to grab Gloves' attention, hopefully for the last time "Look at me"
Once the shorter boy turned to face him. He put his hands on his shoulders. Adjusting his position to better face his partner. Now on his knees, he stared into Gloves' eyes. Furrowing his brows slightly, he spoke "It wasn't your fault. You're not dragging us down. Why would any of us ever even dream of finding someone else when we have you? You're more than enough, perfect even. That's all we ever need. Just, you"
Gloves knew Rim wasn't the best with words. But he was trying, and that's all that mattered. Hearing this from his partner, and the fact he took time out from his evening to see if he was ok, finally broke him
"You were crying..." Rim muttered, showing visible worry on his otherwise blank canvas of a face
Rim began to cup Gloves' cheeks in his hands, wiping away any of his newly formed tears. The shorter boy then shuffled towards Rim. Wrapping his arms around his waist, catching him off guard in the process. Gloves then let his tears fall. Only a mumbled "thank you" and the occasional sniffle escaped the boy
Rim returned the embrace and nodded in response. Gently pressing his lips against the top of his boyfriend's head. closing his eyes, he started caressing Gloves' head.
It wasn't long before Gloves' had seemingly calmed down. Rim opened an eye to check on him, only to find him half asleep. No wonder, turfing and having a rough day can take a lot out of you. Especially Gloves, as he's already so active during the day outside of battles. Rim spoke in a whisper "feeling any better?". Gloves hummed and nodded slightly. "You should get to bed. It's starting to get late" Rim stood up and held his hand out towards Gloves. Upon taking it, he pulled himself off the couch and balanced himself before starting to walk to his room. Rim following behind. Gloves hesitated opening the door "sorry, the floor's kind of a mess" he walked in and sat on the edge of his bed. He let Half Rim tuck him under the covers and give him a quick peck on the forehead as a goodnight. But, just as Rim turned to leave, Gloves called for him "Wait" Stopping in his tracks, he turned around "yes?"
"Could you maybe— stay over? No pressure or anything though" "sure, I don't see why not" "here" Gloves moved over to make room beside him for Rim, "hold on a sec" the taller boy then removed his glasses, setting them on the small table beside the bed, taking his ponytail out soon after, slipping the hair tie over his wrist. He then slipped under the covers, next to Gloves. Gloves then pressed his body close to Rim's before closing his eyes, and later falling asleep to the soft sounds of his lover's heart. Finally, for the first time today. Gloves looked peaceful
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Spoingus
Word count: 1406
