Three inkling were waiting for their fourth member, as Army tapped his fingers on the table. "Is he late again?" Army asked, irritated about how late the other was. This caught the attention of Mask and Skull, making them break away from what they were doing. "Well, he's been acting strange for the past few days Army", Mask replied, putting his squidphone away after noticing the battery power was getting low. "That's true" Skull agreed. Army muttered an agreement, remembering how odd Aloha was acting, from avoiding being close to not eating.
"Should we check on him?" Skull asked, and before anyone could reply, Army's squidphone went off, catching his attention. "Huh? It's Aloha!", Army said quickly answering the call, "Hey where are you? You're late for the meeti- huh?" Army turned away from the other two, listen to the other one on the line. "What do you mean you- are you sick? I could come over after my errands- what? Aloha you just can't-" Army sighed when he heard the call click, putting his squidphone away. "It seems like he's sick or something", Army stated, "he didn't explain anything other than he's unable to make it."
"Annnd you think he's sick?" Mask asked, a bit suspicious. "He sounded like he was sick", Army replied, sighing," I guess we should end our meeting."
As Mask and Skull were about to leave, Army stopped Mask. "Mask, could you stop by and make sure Aloha is alright?" Army asked, getting an annoyed look from the other. "Haaaa~? Why should I do that?" Mask replied, getting a small glare from Army. "I have errands to do and Skull might get lost like the last time. You're the only person who is able to" Army said, hoping Mask could agree.
"Fiiiiine"
The walk to Aloha's place was quiet, not that Mask didn't mind. He sighed bitterly, wondering why he did agree to check up on Aloha. 'Army made it sound like he doesn't get sick at all' Mask thought to himself, walking up towards Aloha's front door. At first, he was going to ring the doorbell, but decided to knock, waiting for an answer. A minute passed by before Mask knocked again, this time louder.
Mask heard a bit of shuffling behind the door before it opened, seeing Aloha's shocked face. "Mask?! What- no why are you here?!"
The first thing Mask noticed was how pale the other looked, before answering to Aloha's question. "Army told me to come check up on yoou. Not that I didn't want toooo", Mask replied, adding, "Are you going to let me in or are you gonna leave me out here?" Mask noticed Aloha look hesitant letting him in, before he silently agreed, opening to door all the way for him. As Mask entered Aloha's house, he got a better look at the other. 'Why is he so pale? Maybe he is sick or something' Mask thought, remembering Aloha didn't look so pale the last time he saw him. "Arre you sick Aloha? You're pale." Mask asked, deciding to check Aloha's temperature. Aloha quickly moved backwards the moment Mask's hand touched his forehead, surprising Mask.
'He's ice cold!?' Mask thought to himself, grabbing Aloha's wrist. "Hey, why are you ice coooold Aloha?" Mask said, as Aloha pulled back. "Mask, you need to leave, please", Aloha replied fumbling with the front door. Mask heard him muttered something under his breath about a package, before he put his hand on the other's shoulder. "Aloha, I'm not going annnywhere after coming all this way just to check on you. I probably won't hear the ennnd of it from Army and Skull either, but you've been acting strange ever since I entered yooour home," Mask said, feeling Aloha freeze at his touch, "I need-"
"I can't tell you Mask!" Aloha growled as he turned to face the other, "it's something I don't want to even talk about!"
It surprised Mask to see Aloha get angry like this, but what confused him was something the other said. What didn't he want to talk about? As much as he dislikes Aloha, Mask decided to question him. "Haaaa? You don't want to know? Yooou've been worrying the others a lot lately." Though it clearly wasn't a lie, Mask needed to know, unless he wants to hear Army complain and Skull irritating him.
"H-huh?", Alola stumbled a bit, confused, "what do you mean?"
"You didn't knew how much you've beeen worrying others?" Mask sighed, hoping maybe he could get an answer from the party squid, "you've been avoiding us and haven't been eating. There muuust be something, and I'm not leaving until you're better", Mask replied, 'Unless I'll never hear the end of it' he thought, getting Aloha's full attention.
"Damnit Mask, you're making this hard on me!" He heard Aloha say, hearing his breath hitched a bit and covering his mouth. He heard Aloha cursed slightly under his breath, before putting an hand on his shoulder. "Listen, if you're not feeling well, theeen you should-"
"Mask, stop! I'm a vampire, nothing would work!" Aloha yelled, before clasping his mouth, his eyes widening.
'What' Mask thought to himself, taking a couple of steps back. 'There's no way he could be a vampire. They're don't exist' Mask thought about it more as Aloha slowly lowered himself to the ground, shaking a bit. He just blurted out what he was, what he hated. He wanted to cry out and scream, but not if Mask was here. 'No, he shouldn't have been here' Aloha thought to himself, shaking. He was so hungry, and with his package being late, it was becoming harder for him to keep in control.
Mask noticed the way Aloha was acting, his eyes widen a bit. 'Then he spoke the truth?' Mask thought, remembering the way Aloha was acting before. He thought about his manga he had with vampires, all of them being different. His mind went to a certain one with a vampire different than the rest of their family, being able to go in the sun and not minding anything vampires are weak against. Maybe he was like that vampire, but he needed to confirm his suspicions.
"What's wroooong?" Mask decided to ask, trying to comfort the other inkling, putting his hand on the other, noticing his discomfort the moment he put his hand on Aloha's own hand. Aloha quickly pulled away, shuddering a bit more. "Mask, stop", he slightly breathe out, "you're making it worse."
"Haaaa?" Mask was annoyed by the answer, "if you're nooooot telling me what's wrong then I-"
"Mask, I'm starving! And with you here is making it harder to keep myself under control!" Aloha replied, groaning a bit. He thought about biting himself, but he wasn't too sure if that'll be a good idea.
'So that kinda confirms my suspicion' Mask thought to himself, sighing. What was he supposed to do? He definitely shouldn't leave, knowing Army would say something of him not visiting the other but at the same time he didn't want to be bitten. However, if Army does come over after he finishes his errands, to check if Mask did what he was told, it'll probably make it worse for Aloha. With a deep sigh, Mask decided what to do. "What if I let yooou bite me?"
"H-Huh?!" Aloha replied, shaking his head, "N-no Mask, I-"
"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to" Mask interrupted Aloha. 'No I shouldn't bite him! I need my package, I need it! But I'm-' Aloha's thoughts were cut off when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "As muuuch as I love to see you suffer, thiiis isn't the type of suffer I don't want to see." He heard Mask say. 'Wow, thanks Mask' Aloha thought to himself, slowly getting up from the floor. "Fine", Aloha mumbled, adding, "it'll probably be better on the couch than the floor."
Both inklings moved to the couch, feeling a bit awkward. As they both sat on the couch, Aloha fumbled with his hands a bit, as Mask noticed. "I guess we should get this over?" Aloha said as Mask nodded. Mask didn't know what the bite was going to do, but neither did Aloha. As Aloha leaned over towards Mask's neck, Mask closed his eyes, expecting pain.
Nothing came as he felt Aloha pulled back. "Whaaaat is it?" Mask said, as Aloha moved away. "Your gas mask is kinda in the way, Mask. I know it's important to wear though it's hard to-" Aloha stop mid sentence when he heard an annoyed sigh coming from the other, watching Mask taking off his Gas Mask. "Is that better?" Mask asked as Aloha nodded. It was odd that his hay fever wasn't acting up. 'He must have kept his house clean from pollen' Mask thought to himself.
Aloha leaned to Mask's neck and breath slightly, getting a go from Mask. He softly bit down on the other's neck, shuddering a bit when the other's blood entered his mouth. He slowly gulped down, tasting the the flavor. It was quite different than what he drinks, the artificial blood he always ordered, Aloha noted, as he took small sips.
"Ngah" Mask shuddered, as Aloha drank. It felt strange to Mask, as the only thing that hurt was when Aloha bit down. He started to feel a tiny bit of lightheadedness, as Aloha remove his mouth from his neck, feeling the other's tongue licking where he bit.
"Shit, I didn't mean to take too much", Aloha said as Mask sighed. He looked up towards Aloha, noticing part of his pink tentacles turned to a cyan color. "It's fiiine" Mask mumbled, watching Aloha quickly leave to the kitchen.
Aloha went and look for some food for Mask, as he stop by the pantry. 'I didn't mean to take much, but his was delicious, more than the artificial blood I've been drinking' Aloha thought to himself, licking his lips a bit. He could still taste the flavor in his mouth, as he shook his head, returning to Mask with some cookies he bake before all this. "Here" Aloha said handling some cookies to Mask, as he munched on his own. He was feeling better, more so than ever, as Mask went for another cookie, before asking him, "How long?"
"Huh?" Aloha replies, confused on what Mask was asking. "How long have you been a vampire?" Oh. "I've been one my whole life?" Aloha said, leaning back in the couch, "though you're actually the first person I've bitten."
"Haa? What do you mean by that?" Mask was confused. "Well, I've been drinking artificial blood, something I've been ordering and waiting to come. And being one my whole life, I mean I was born like this. You're the first person to know too, other than my parents," Aloha explained, taking another cookie.
'He's like that Vampire from one of my mangas, except he drinks blood' Mask thought himself, noticing Aloha didn't look at pale as before, 'he can eat.' There was one thing that came to mind, as he asked, "You're alright in the suuuun?"
Aloha nodded, nibbling on the cookie, "I'm fine with the sun. Besides it's perfect weather when I go surfing~ " Aloha replied, as Mask noticed he was going back to his normal self. He seen Aloha eat dishes with garlic before, and with him surfing so he knew those didn't affect him either. There was one thing, however, that is quite troublesome. 'I'm the only person who knows. Is it right for him to keep this a secret?' Mask thought, noticing Aloha was looking at his neck.
"Yooou're not thinking about biting meee again, are yoou?" Mask asked, hoping it wasn't the case. "Huh? No! It's just, I never bit anyone until now, but I kinda left a mark", Aloha replied, catching Mask's attention. Taking out his squidphone, he look at his reflection( surprised he could see Aloha's too), seeing the two pinpoint needle like bite mark on his neck. "Figures, Alohaaaa. Bites don't disappear in an instant!" Mask grumbled, "besides, you can't keep this a secret anymore. Whaaat if this happens again, hmm?"
Aloha slowly nodded, "I do want to, though I wasn't sure how to explain." Mask sighed, knowing Aloha did have a point. How does one explain that they're a vampire? "We both could explain together to Army and Skull, then explain to the others", Mask replied, as Aloha was surprised by his answer. "Thanks Mask~ You're the best~!" Aloha smiled, as Mask muttered something. "You're feeling better?" Mask asked, as Aloha nodded, "Mmhm~ You really helped me!"
"I shooould leave" Mask said, getting up from the couch, as well as Aloha. "Wait a minute Mask, could you turn around for a sec?" He heard Aloha said. "What now, Aloh-"
Mask was cut off, his lips meeting Aloha's. His eyes widen as he pulled away, his face blushed cyan. "Thanks again " Aloha said as Mask grabbed his Gas Mask, putting it back on. "Yeaah" Mask replied, a small wave goodbye as he left Aloha's house.
Was today tiring for him? Yes it was, but did he mind? Not at all.