A King's Tears.

King's feelings.

Emperor looked into the mirror. He applied his makeup slowly onto his eyes. 'A king's makeup must always be perfect...' he thought to himself. He slammed the eyeliner pen on the counter. "A king... I am far from a king." he muttered, clutching his fist to his face. He then mentally slapped himself. "Shut it. Your pride is all you have now. Y-your pride..." He whispered the words into the mirror, his eyes darting to an old picture on the wall. It was his brother, Prinz. Oh, how he cared about his brother.

How... How he used to care. His brother had gotten into an accident a few weeks ago, he sadly didn't make it. Prinz was all Emperor really had left. His team tried to help him feel better, but it didn't work, so Emperor did what he did best, acted confidently and pretended everything was perfect. Yes, that was right. Prinz was probably at Laceless's house, maybe tending to the garden.

Prinz was safe. He was okay. He repeated these phrases in his mind, as the faucet dripped. He started shaking a bit, muttering his self-assuring words to himself.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door. "Hey man... Uhm you've been in the bathroom for an hour now. Are you good?" Squidkid JR said, from the other side of the door. "I'm fine." Emperor retorted back; his voice was shaky. "Look... Emperor, if this is about Prin-" Emperor stopped him. "DON'T say his name." He was leaning against the counter of the bathroom. "Emperor, you can't keep pretending. Dude, it seriously isn't healthy..." Squidkid JR muttered back, leaning against the door. "You know me, and N-Pacer are here for you, right? Please don't isolate yourself." He sighed. "I am clearly not isolating myself. I'm just.... Fixing my face." Emperor said, clearing his throat.

He then opened the door, seeing Squidkid Jr standing there. His face looked worried, and serious, unlike his usual chaotic demeaner. "Emperor..." He frowned. Emperor just stared back, unaware that his eyes were puffy and red, his makeup smothered. Squidkid jr walked closer to Emperor, his expression serious. He wiped a tear off Emperor's face, as Emperor winced. "We're here for you, Emperor. I'm here for you." He slowly gave Emperor a light hug. Emperor stayed still like a stone, shocked. He went cold for some seconds, then hugged back, hesitating a bit. "I know I'm not the best at comforting, that's N-pacers job. But... It's going to be ok, Emperor.

Prinz... Prinz would hate to see you cry." He choked on those last words, trying to hold back tears, for the sake of appearing cool. Emperor, on the other hand, felt his heart ache at that. He tried holding back tears but failed. The tears fell uncontrollable, as emperor let out what he really felt. Oh, how he missed his brother so much. His smiles, his hugs, his happiness. He kept sobbing into Squidkid Jr's shoulder, hugging him tightly. Squidkid Jr rubbed his back sympathically, telling him it would be ok.