Chapter Text
The Spine peeked into the 235th room that day, groaning inside of his head with boredom. Rabbit and Zer0 had somehow lost GG’s blue matter core after it was taken out for a checkup. He had enjoyed the peace and quiet at first, as had Rabbit and Zer0, but Peter VI had expressed that he missed the small, metal giraffe (for some reason) and had ordered The Spine and his siblings to find her core so he could fix her.
So now, The Spine was looking through every room in the manor, as Rabbit and Zer0 didn’t (or refused to) remember where they stashed it. He turned the corner, sighing in frustration. And then he tripped over something he assumed to be a roomba, crashing to the floor with a loud bang. “Dammit, roomba,” He grumbled, rising to his knees and inspecting himself for dents.
There were none, but his neck was jammed at a weird angle. He grumbled, feeling around his neck vents for the jammed joint. He eventually found it and shoved it back into place, freeing his neck from the awkward angle. He looked down, but was surprised when he saw that it wasn’t a roomba he had tripped over.
It was one of his roller skates. He shrugged, moving to step over it before his brain finally processed it. ONE OF HIS ROLLER SKATES-
The Spine whirled around in a panic, picking up the skate gently. It wasn’t any worse for wear, the only damage being a small scuff of grey on the pastel blue paint. His brain was going ten different miles a minute as he frantically scanned the roller skate for any underlying damage that he might have missed.
“Hey, Spine, any lu-ooh what’s that!” Zer0 said, bouncing over and staring at the roller skate in The Spine’s hand.
The Spine let off a puff of steam and lifted the skate out of the shorter automaton’s reach. “It’s one of my roller skates and I’d like to not have it damaged,” The Spine said, his voice firm even though he was still panicking about invisible damage.
“Ooooh, where’d ya get it?” Zer0 asked, his mismatched photoreceptors still fixated on the skate.
“I-” “He got it from me,” A voice cut off The Spine, silvery smooth and extremely ( I can't believe I’m going to write this ) groovy.
The Spine turned sharply in the direction of the voice, his optics widening and his vents releasing a large burst of steam. The Roller Skate King rolled over, his skates soundless on the carpet and a grin on his face.
His hair was in a fluffy afro, neon purple glasses set on his forehead. His eyes were a dark brown, as was his skin. He had his usual suit on; purple with a jaguar print trim and matching purple bell bottoms. His smile was as magnificent as always, immediately sending The Spine into a mental panic as he tried to figure out what to say.
The Roller Skate King came to a stop, flicking his sunglasses down. “Who’re you?” Zer0 asked, obviously confused.
“Why, I’m the Roller Skate King,” the Roller Skate King explained calmly.
The Spine couldn’t think. He couldn’t even talk. He stupidly attempted to say something, probably a greeting, but what came out was just one long beep.
“Peter called me up, asking for me to come visit and help with a missing blue core. I had nothing to do at the time, so I thought, why not? Now, Spine, you can pick your jaw up off of the floor,” the Roller Skate King explained, shooting The Spine a grin.
The Spine snapped his jaw shut, steam hissing out of his cheek vents in embarrassment. “Oooh! Sp-Spine, is that th-the Roller Skate King?” Rabbit suddenly asked, popping out of one of the vents.
The Spine squeaked, jumping back at the sudden intrusion of his older sister. The Roller Skate King laughed, his grin infectious. “You must be this Rabbit that The Spine spoke so much of. And, indeed, I am the Roller Skate king,” He answered, bowing in Rabbit’s direction.
Rabbit scrambled out of the vent, falling like a rock and landing on her feet. She dusted her dress off before bowing, taking her hat off and pressing it to her chest. “Your Roller-Skateness,” She said, a grin materialising on her face.
The Roller Skate King grinned again, setting The Spine’s core fluttering. “I may be a king, but we are still equals, Rabbit,” He said, putting his hands in his pockets.
Rabbit righted her stance, fixing her hat on her head. “Oh, I know. It’s ju-ju-just The Spine would have died if I didn’t add-address you like that,” She said offhandedly, a devilish glint in her eyes.
The Spine gaped, more steam hissing out of his cheeks. Zer0 had wandered off by now, obviously bored. “No-Now, Rabbit!” He cried, his voice unnaturally high.
“No-Now, The Spine!” Rabbit replied, making her voice higher to match his.
“Now, you two! Don’t fight in front of our guest!” Peter Ⅵ’s voice came, cutting off both of the automatons.
Their heads turned to see Peter walking down the corridor, a small device in his hand. “Oh, hey, Peter! How’s the job?” the Roller Skate King asked, rolling forward to meet him.
“Oh, it’s the job. How's the leg?” Peter asked, lowering the device.
“It’s fine. Been better, but there’s not much I can do about that,” the Roller Skate King said, flexing his right leg with a creaking of gears.
“Does it need repairs? Did you break it again in another accident?” Peter asked, tilting his head.
“No, it’s fine. I thought I was here to help you find a rogue core, not get a checkup!” The Roller Skate King protested playfully, rolling back from Peter.
Coincidentally, he rolled back into The Spine’s chest. The Spine started sputtering, steam hissing out of his cheeks as he gently caught the man from slipping. “Oh, thank you, The Spine! I didn’t see you there,” the Roller Skate King said, giving The Spine a smile before he righted himself.
The Spine couldn’t say anything, so he just smiled giddily. The Roller Skate King pushed himself off of The Spine’s chest and said, “I’ll take the next floor; with all of us looking we’ll find it in no time!”
“Yeah, that sounds right. Spine, take the basement. Rabbit, find Zer0 and search through the kitchens. If you remember where you hid her core , do NOT hide it again, ” Peter said, waving a stern finger in Rabbit’s face.
“Ehhhh, you-you’re no fun,” Rabbit said, pouting and then stalking off to find her younger brother.
The Spine turned and started walking away, his steps faltering when he was joined by Roller Skate King. “So, The Spine, how’ve you been doing since your knighting? It’s been a while since I’ve last seen you,” the Roller Skate King commented, his eyes flicking to The Spine.
The Spine gulped, hoping that his vocoder wouldn’t malfunction. “Well, it’s been fine. Rabbit was redesigned, as you saw, The Jon’s in Kazoo Land with Upgrade, and Hatchworth is Gold Fishing. Zer0’s in the band now,” The Spine explained.
If he had been human, sweat would have been pouring down his brow. The Roller Skate King laughed, the sound almost making The Spine stumble. “No, not your siblings! I’m asking about you , The Spine. It’s rare for any of my knights to pursue a life outside of anything to do with skating, I want to know how you’re doing,” He said, swatting at The Spine’s arm and smiling.
The Spine gulped, hissing a jet of steam from one of his spines. “I-I thought you were searching the n-next floor?” He commented meekly, trying to cope with the fact that the Roller Skate King wanted to know how he was doing.
The Roller Skate King dismissed it with a wave. “I did that before I found you. Now, spill. How’s life?” the Roller Skate King said, flashing a mischievous grin at The Spine.
“I-I, uh, I’ve been good-FINE, I’ve been fine,” The Spine stuttered, cringing at how he was tripping over his words.
“Mhm. I see you’ve got an upgrade,” the Roller Skate King noted, pointing at The Spine’s neck and face vents.
The Spine smiled shyly, a hand straying to his cheek. “Y-Yes, I have. This was to solve an overheating problem I had. It’s not exact, but it reflects the style in which my original faceplate was designed,” He explained, a small glow of pride bubbling up in his chest.
“That’s sweet. Say, wouldya mind if I searched the basement with ya?” the Roller Skate King asked, his brown eyes meeting The Spine’s green optics.
The Spine gulped, more steam hissing from his neck vents as he frantically tried to not overheat. “I-I… uhm… s-sure?” The Spine squeaked, mentally cursing himself.
- ・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●
“Do ya think it could actually be down here, The Spine?” the Roller Skate King asked, looking under the umpteenth box in the last ten minutes.
“Possibly. Rabbit and Zer0 sometimes hide things down here when they know they'll get in trouble if they have it. They once hid an entire refrigerator down here,” The Spine answered, his optics scanning for the telltale blue glow of Blue Matter.
“An entire refrigerator, huh? How long was it until you found it?” the Roller Skate King asked, rifling through a box full of paper.
“A few weeks, and that’s only because we noticed the cheese was going missing,” The Spine admitted ashamedly.
The Roller Skate King laughed, the sound stirring up a burst of joy in the automaton’s chest. “I remember when I got my leg put on; you never left my side until I smacked you with that sandwich,” the Roller Skate King giggled, the memory a slap in the face for The Spine.
“You remember that?!” The Spine cried, mortified.
“I couldn't forget it even if I tried! You were absolutely adorable,” the Roller Skate King replied, his smile still bright on his face.
The Spine froze, steam hissing out of his cheek and neck vents. “Ad-Adorable?” He stuttered, flustered.
“Yep, adorable,” the Roller Skate King confirmed, slamming the top of a box back onto its counterpiece.
The Spine froze, gaping at the monarch while he desperately tried to gather himself enough to make up a reply. The Roller Skate King noticed this, though, and shot a smile his way. “Oh? Did I break you, The Spine?” He hummed, rolling over and stopping just in front of the titanium-alloy automaton.
The Spine was still frozen, his processors lagging and stumbling over each other. “Seems I did. Want me to get Peter?” He asked, crossing his arms and leaning forward.
“I-I, uh, no? No,” The Spine stuttered, tiny bursts of steam spilling from his cheek vents.
The automaton’s optics flickered to the man’s lips. He felt something bubble up inside of him and he desperately tried to push it down. He failed. He pressed a quick kiss to the Roller Skate King’s lips and then ran off, steam pouring out of him like he was a steam engine.
- ・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●
“I fo-found it!” “No, I found it!” Rabbit and Zer0’s cries came from Kitchen #67.
The Spine had been walking past, trying his damndest to forget or wish away the events that had just taken place. He had kissed the Roller Skate King. He had kissed the Roller Skate King . He had kissed the Roller Skate King.
“Oi, gi-gi-give it back!” Rabbit cried and Zer0 rushed out into the hallway, holding the core carefully to his chest.
“Never!” Zer0 cried over his shoulder just before he crashed into The Spine.
The core went flying and The Spine gasped, making a mad grab for it. He didn’t catch it. Just before it hit the floor, the Roller Skate King appeared and grabbed it. “That could have been worse,” He commented, surprisingly nonchalant.
The Spine froze, his eyes wide. He was still splayed over Zer0, who made a noise of frustration. “Get offa me, The Spine!” He groaned, pushing the taller automaton off of him.
The Spine retracted his fins just before hitting the floor, saving him from an extremely long repair session. He scrambled to his feet, dusting himself off and trying very hard to not look the Roller Skate King in the eyes. “Why’d you run, The Spine? I didn’t even get to give you my gift,” the Roller Skate King said, sounding disappointed.
“Wh-what? What gift?” The Spine asked, still not meeting the king’s eyes.
The Roller Skate King rolled up to the automaton, the light from the lamps overhead glowing through his hair, making it look like a dark cloud. “This,” He said simply before he grabbed The Spine’s vest, pulling the shocked automaton into a kiss.
The Spine’s eyes went wide and he froze, still bent down when the Roller Skate King let him go. “I-I-I-I-” The Spine stuttered, steam hissing out of as many vents as it could simultaneously.
“Yep, you. I’ll get this core to Peter and then I gotta split. Was nice seeing you all!” The Roller Skate King said, rolling down the hall and out of sight.
“Are you dating the Roller Skate King now?” Zer0 asked innocently from somewhere to the side, breaking the silence.
“OOOOOO, The Spine’s being mushyyyyyyyyyy,” Rabbit teased, finally emerging from the kitchen.
The Spine’s optics fluttered on and off, his vocoder scratching as he tried to collect himself. Eventually, through his flusteredness, he managed to groan in exasperation, “ Rabbit! ”