More Priceless than Gold - Emperor x Reader

The Meeting

<Your POV>

I woke up feeling well rested. As I was stretching, my hand got caught on something. I pulled on it and one of my earbuds popped out. Right, I thought. I went to sleep with my earbuds in. My phone was playing Maritime Memory on loop and needless to say, it was hot to the touch.

My face was pretty hot as well. Did I have a fever? Or...no. Only my cheeks were hot. Was I blushing?? I opened the front camera on my phone and sure enough, I was blushing. For what reason though?-

Then I realized. I shook my head in disappointment. You've only encountered him once, I told myself. It's too early for this.

I took out my other earbud, threw off my duvet, and sat up. The time was 8:32 AM. It was still pretty early, so I stood up and went to the bathroom.

After I had done my business, I decided to text the others to see if they were awake yet. Ember and Ian were awake, but it didn't seem like Levi was.

>Hey guys! Is anyone awake?
>Meee!!
>I've been awake. Levi's probably still sleeping hah...
>Nice. Can't wait to meet you all later!
>Same here!

I set my phone down and went into the kitchen. I was about to open my fridge to get something to eat, but then I remembered I didn't buy any groceries yesterday. All I had in the fridge were just water bottles.

I panicked, not knowing what to do. I took one of the water bottles out and started to drink it. I tried to think as I drank. Then I thought of Ember.

She did live two doors down, after all. I could probably ask...it'd be embarrassing but it's worth a shot. I hesitantly texted her about my situation.

>Hey Ember, since I was so caught up in seeing IS for the first time, I didn't buy anything to eat...Is it possible that I could have breakfast with you?
>Yes of course!! It's probably my fault since I got you so excited about it heh...but my room's always open to you! Come on down!
>Thank you so much! I owe you big time for this...
>No no it's fine I assure you!!

I giggled when she insisted. I had just met her yesterday and she's already treating me like her own sister.

I got dressed, grabbed my (F/W) and room key from my dresser, and stepped out of my room. After locking the door, I made my way down to room 404 and knocked. Ember opened the door and cheerfully greeted me. "Hey there (Y/N)! I just finished making some french toast for you!" She held the door open for me.

I walked inside her room. A pastel pink color was applied to the walls, giving the room a whimsical vibe. "You like it?" Ember asked me as she shut the door. "Yeah! I love the color you chose!" She smiled and gestured towards an open chair. "Thanks. Now come over and eat!"

(timeskip brought to you by the uwus yet again)

<3rd Person POV>

After breakfast, the duo made their way over to the square to wait for their teammates. They took a seat at one of the tables and started playing Squidjump on their phones. A few minutes later, they both heard a silvery voice saying "You're here early." The two girls looked up to see their teammates walking up to them, Levi still half-asleep.

(before you ask me what they look like just look at this picture that I sketched at 1 am)

(it looks horrible I know aaahh...)
(Ember wears the Half-Rim Glasses, Gray Hoodie, and Neo Octoling Boots.)
(Ian wears the King Flip Mesh, White Sailor Suit, and Punk Whites.)
(Levi wears the Annaki Mask, Navy King Tank, and Navy Enperrials.)
(...okay back to the story)

Levi rubbed his eyes and almost ran into Ian in the process. Ember took notice of this and yelled "GOOD MORNING LEVI!!" to wake up the sleepy boi. He jumped in shock and shook his head. "You don't need to do that, you know," Levi snapped. "Really now?" Ember asked while raising her eyebrow. "Because it seemed like you desperately needed it."

At this, Levi narrowed his eyes and was about to make a retort, but Ian spoke up. "Alright alright, no need to get into a fight in front of our new team member." He looked at the other female and smiled warmly. "(Y/N), was it? It's nice to finally have a full team now. Let's do our best to get to know each other!" Ian stretched out his hand for (Y/N) to shake, and she shook it eagerly.

Ian and Levi sat down and began to talk to the newer inkling. (Y/N) noticed that Levi was indeed not a fan of talking. Every time she asked him a question, he'd reply with few words and go back to dozing off. After a while, they decided to go into a turf war together to see how they did.

As they were walking into the lobby, (Y/N) felt a pair of eyes watching her yet again. She stopped for a moment and looked behind her, but all the inklings roaming the square seemed to be focused on other things. Ian noticed her halt and asked if she was alright. (Y/N) shrugged it off and confirmed that she was okay. She caught up with the others and they queued in for a turf war.

After they were inside the lobby, the golden inkling chuckled to himself from atop the Shoal. "She's part of a team already, huh? If they do decide to enter the tournament, then this should be fun..." Emperor said to himself as he super jumped back to his house.

A/N: this chapter was shorter than the others but oh well-
I really need to break the habit of staying up after 12 to write these...
that way they won't be so crappy- *falls asleep*