The first time King tells Gold he loves him, is when he holds his precious bundle of joy for the first time.
He isn't sure how he manages. He's the splitting image of his mother. When he opens his eyes to look at his father, its her eyes he sees instead.
It's her young and beautiful face he sees instead of his child's.
It's just...her.
All he can see is her instead of him.
The baby lets out a small giggle, a smile on his face as he reaches up for his dad.
It tales all of his willpower to not break down and cry in the middle of the hospital. He can do that in the safety of his home, where nobody can see him fall apart.
He can't fall apart here. Not now.
Instead, he holds the precious little joy holder, as he giggles and plays with the loose hair falling down King's shoulder. He must love the soft touch.
The little boys free hand(thats not attempting to yank out a baby fist full of King's hair) takes a hold of King's finger, holding it as tight as his little hands could.
It makes the poor man's heart melt from how adorable it is.
"I love you, my little sunflower."
It comes out a whispered breath, but it still reaches the baby.
And the boy gives him a cheeky smile and little giggles.
"Always and forever, Gold."
The last time King tells Gold he loves him is the night he loses his precious sunflower.
Gold stares up at the Minecraft booth in absolute wonder as King reads over the waiver. He signs it, and Gold practically jumps through the roof with his unrestrained joy.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Gold tackles King, his arms wrapped tightly around King's waist, that cheeky little smile on his adorable little face.
King chuckles, wrapping an arm around Gold's shoulders and using his other hand to ruffle the kids hair.
Gold jumps out of his arms, skipping towards the machine as the workers set it up.
Gold gives him one last hug. "I love you, dad."
King hugs him back. "Love you too, Goldie. Always and forever, right, sunflower?"
Gold nods his head in agreement, letting his dad ruffle his hair again.
Gold looks up at him, gives him a heart melting smile, and he steps into the machine.
He steps into the game, giving King a wave. King waves back at him, a small smile on his face that Gold definitely sees.
Because he returns it, a bright and radiant one that matches him perfectly.
And it all goes wrong from there.
The first time King tells Purple he loves him is the day Purple stands up against his father.
And almost dies in the process.
Hell, those three words are the last ones he says before certain death.
But before that happens, Purple tosses Navy into a wall before collapsing to the ground, shaking, sobbing, and panting from the strain and stress of what was probably the worst battle of his life.
King ignores the danger zone that is-or was-Navy's base and rushes to Purple's side.
Purple is propelled into his arms, and King doesn't waste any time returning the kids tight embrace, carding affectionate fingers through his hair.
"Hey, buddy. It's okay. I got you. I'm here now. He can't hurt you anymore." King hugged him close.
"You're the best thing that ever happened to me." Purple sniffled. The tears are still falling down his cheeks, but his breathing has slowed and he's not longer shaking.
King calls it a win.
"You and me both, kid," King smiled, tightening his hold on Purple. "I love you."
He barely realizes he's said the words until their out in the world. He lets them linger, let them fester into Purple's head.
It just makes Purple cry more when he finally realizes what he said. King holds him tighter.
"I love you, too."
King holds the kid as long as he's able to until everything goes to shit.
Purple survives the ordeal, and the many to come, but the three words are what keep them together, no matter the circumstances.
The last time King tells Purple he loves him is before Purple heads off towards potential certain death.
They'd made an absolute shitshow of a plan, but the kids knew for a fact it would work.
Even if they'd based it on Green chasing a truck.
Purple sighed. "Green, whatever the hell you have gone through since I got thrown here, it's apparent you have lost your mind."
"Nah, it's just me thinking of a decent plan to defeat Navy and his cohorts. Now, who's with me?"
The others stared at each other for a moment before deciding on a plan.
"The Color Gang, Purple, and Sunny will chase them down."
"Figures." Blue grumbled.
"Lemme guess," Red added. "We're along for the ride while Second and Purple drive themselves into danger for our sake."
"Partially."
"Seriously?"
"They have powers! And Purple is clearly the strongest between all of us!"
"Which will lead to our downfall! If Navy gets his hands on him-"
"Guys, go with Sunny's plan," Purple interrupted. "She knows what I'm doing, and I know how to deal with them. Night Shade is the weakness, and the sooner we get rid of him, the easier the others will be to take care of. Let's go with what she has and go from there afterwards."
King had little idea on where the hell Purple had gotten most of these ideas from, presumably from how long he'd been stuck there, working things out in The Great Above with Sunny and Willow.
And it was this because he'd barely spoken a word to King since they'd gotten there.
And it kind of hurts.
One simple word would suffice, King just wanted to know that Purple was okay.
As much as he looked it.
Either way, King drags Purple off when they finally catch a break. Second and the others are catching everybody up on what's been going on.
"King, what-"
"Chillax, flower. I'm not trying to kill you or anything. What am I, a monster?" King asked.
Purple glances at the army of Minecraft mobs they'd brought with them. "You got our old Piglin army to work with you, after you said that you knew for a fact they either hated or were scared of you."
King followed Purple's gaze. "Yeah...you'll never know how hard it was for us to get them on our side."
"It was bad."
"I didn't even have the goddamn staff and they were still scared of me!"
Purple stared at him incredulously.
"Okay, point taken," King didn't want to change the subject, but he kind of had to. "On another note, are you okay?"
Purple's smile faltered just slightly. "Could be better. I'm alive, and mostly unharmed. Head hurts like a bitch, but that's it."
King double checks his arms for anything Purple could have missed, and sighs in relief when he discovers nothing. "Your lucky you're alive."
Purple's smile brightens just slightly at King's relief. King returns the smile, ruffling the kids hair.
"Hey!"
King pulls him into a side hug. "Come on, flower, your hair is a disaster, and you know it."
"Why do you think it's in a ponytail and not a braid this time?!"
King lets go of his hair briefly to crouch at his level and fix it. "It's a shit ponytail."
"Well, were you just thrown into a tree after getting your ass kicked?"
"Fair argument."
Purple smirks victoriously. "Got you."
"I hate you."
"Love you too, dad." Purple's smile doesn't falter this time around. It only brightens.
King pulls Purple closer, hugging him tight. "Please be careful."
"I will, and you know it."
King gives him one last squeeze, keeping one of his hands in his own. "I love you, kid. Always and forever."
"Love you too."
King hugs him one last time before he lets go.
And watches Purple leave with the others.
He can only hope it's not the last time he sees Purple.