Chapter Text
It was abnormally quiet inside the house for a weekday evening. Even if Sabo was still at work at this time, there was always something going on inside these walls, be it some movie playing in the living room, or Luffy’s muffled laughter coming from behind his bedroom door.
The unusual silence chased Ace away from his seat in front of his computer, as well as the grumbling coming from his stomach, even if he'd just had dinner about an hour ago.
“Luffy?” He called out, coming closer to the kitchen. No response.
Ace shrugged. It was a Wednesday evening, perhaps his little brother was still in class, or had stopped by at Sanji's for a bite. Who knows.
His present task of finding a snack came to a halt by the rattling coming from the front door.
“I'm home!” Came the characteristic cheery voice of his brother.
“Hey, welcome back. I was just wondering where you were at,” Ace greeted, taking in the sight of his younger brother as he walked through the door, “What's up with the bouquet?”
“Ah, this?” Luffy smiled, extending the colourful flowers cradled in his arms close to Ace's nose “Torao gave them to me!”
“Holy shit,” Ace raised his brows, “He's really got it bad for you, doesn't he?”
Luffy let out a sheepish giggle and went into the kitchen to place the bouquet carefully on the countertop. He admired it for a brief moment before turning to his older brother.
“So,” he started, “What do you do with flowers anyway?”
Ace blinked. Of course, this was the first time Luffy had ever received something as corny as flowers from anyone. He snorted and patted Luffy’s shoulder.
“Not much. You get a vase and put them in water, or else they'll wilt and die,”
Luffy gasped, horrified by the new information, “I don't want them to die, they're from Torao…”
Rummaging through the cabinets, Ace searched for whatever could serve the purpose of a vase for his brother. An empty container of yogurt would do.
After all, it was endearing to see this side of Luffy; oblivious to most basic concepts of relationships but still maintaining his eager enthusiasm about them.
“Here,” he said, sliding the container into Luffy’s hand after filling it with water.
Luffy smiled, grateful for the help, and chatted about his day as he tried to fit every single flower and leaf into the container, careful to not damage any of the delicate buds.
“Have you eaten anything?” Ace asked after Luffy looked satisfied with his flower arrangement.
“Torao made dinner, his cooking is so good!” replied Luffy, jumping onto the counter, “...Not as good as Sanji’s tho,” He whispered the last part, a hand guarding the corner of his mouth.
“Good,” Ace nodded between mouthfuls of granola bar, “At least he’s feeding you now, that takes a burden off of me,”
Luffy laughed heartily and Ace smirked, no real heat behind his words. An odd sense of relief flooded him as he eyed the flowers and his brother’s wide grin. Luffy was happy and well taken care of and coming from an older brother… that was more than he could ask for.