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Love is complicated, and lately it has been very complicated around the campfire as Claudette could only sigh in mild frustration as David was once again spacing out while talking to her. Talking is an overstatement, considering she walks up to speak with him, and he spaces out behind her or himself whenever Ace Visconti was in the area. The first couple of times, Claudette hadn’t quite pieced together what was happening, but once she caught on, the bigger step was getting David to confess.
And that step was like trying to avoid a bear trap, but stepping right into the trap.
Claudette sighs again, seeing if she can catch David’s attention, which seems to happen as his eyes slowly return to looking at her “..Oh. Sorry ‘bout that. What were you saying again, Claud?” David’s slight smile faded as he returned to his seemingly tough-guy self which only causes Claudette to stifle a laugh before shaking her head. “David, if you like him so much, why don’t you just say something to him?”
Like every time before that when she encouraged him, David dismissively shrugs away her comment as he crosses his arms next to her on the log in front of the fire “Dunno what you’re talking about.” He’s quick to space out again, hearing Ace laugh while talking to a seemingly disgruntled Bill and Claudette swears she wishes telling him to confess would be easier than this. “I mean it, you could try asking him. I think he likes you back.”
No response.
“It came up in conversation, I think. I overheard him with Meg.”
Still no response. He’s going to ignore her.
Claudette sighs as she gives up with trying to push David, giving him a pat on the shoulder that he merely grunts at, eyes still focused in the direction of a cheery Ace. Well, she thinks that she might just have to bring this up to the other person instead.
David hardly pays her any attention as she gets up and heads over to the direction of Ace and Bill, giving Bill a nudge and a shoulder pat which the man is quick to take his escape out of the conversation with Ace, who looks all too smug. “Aw, I was just teasing him a little. I do really think green is his color.” Claudette watches Bill go before looking at Ace with a raised eyebrow. “You tease him a lot, you know. He’s pretty quick to get out of conversations with you because of it.” Ace shrugs, pushing up his sunglasses after a wink to Claudette “Alright, Alright.. Tease him less.. I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.” Claudette smiles, opening her mouth slightly to speak, but Ace is quick to continue. “You needed something, right? Something Bill doesn’t need to hear, but not something bad since you don’t seem skittish. What’s up, kiddo?” Claudette has to hand it to Ace, for always talking about his luck and charm, the man is quite observant of people.
“I did have to talk to you about something, actually..” Claudette sighs, giving a look over to David, who seems to be in a conversation now with a curious Nea. “..I think David has a pretty big crush on you, and not everyone knows because he’s good at hiding his feelings, but he does. Meg mentioned to me that you called him cute once, so I suppose I was just wondering if you were interested in him? And, well, if you were.. Why haven’t you said anything? You’re usually so bold about talking to people you like. What’s so different now? N-Not to assume that you like him or anything..”
There was quite some silence after her questioning, and Claudette could only watch Ace’s face. At least, as much of his face she could see. His pushed up sunglasses don’t help in reading his eyes, and his mouth is in a serious scowl for once instead of his usual smile as he rubs at his chin in thought, occasionally rubbing fingers against his beard. Five minutes must have gone by before Ace let out a soft laugh, tipping the lid of his hat down slightly as he looked at the ground before speaking. “I’m.. Kind of glad you confirmed that for me, kid. I really couldn’t tell if he actually liked me. I would catch him staring sometimes, and I thought maybe he was looking at something else, so I always dismissed it.. But, really, David’s a nice guy. As surprising as that sounds, he’s always quick to throw himself into a fight to help out his friends, and I really admire that about him. I did start getting a bit of a liking for him after seeing all that.. I would give him medkits and things that I wasn’t planning on using in trials. I’ve actually flirted a couple of times, but with how you make it sound, he was pretty oblivious to my attempts. If you really says he likes me.. Should I be more forward with him? I’m not really sure what to do here, Claud, and it’s kind of torture to not know what to say for once to someone.”
Embarrassed confessions became an unamused frown from the conman as Claudette could only smile big at Ace. While she laughed and then eventually stuttered out “Sorry- Sorry.. I can’t help it, that was probably just one of the sweetest things I think I’ve heard you say.. In my honest opinion? Yes, Ace, be forward with him. Let him know how you feel and that you mean it. You two might actually mesh well, since you can read his emotions so well. You knew he liked you, you just expected him to make the first move. So.. Go over there and make your first move, alright? I’m sure there’s no way he can deny your natural charm.”
It was Ace’s turn this time to smile as he nodded to Claudette and patted her head in an affectionate gesture, which really caused her to swat at his hand. “Thanks, Claudette. You’re a real smart girl, I hope you know.” He looks over at David and sighs, watching the man shoo off Nea with some crude comment that made her walk away, then looked at Claudette again to shoot her a finger gun and a grin “Well, here’s hoping Lady Luck is on my side getting this loot, huh?” The comment causes Claudette to snort a laugh and she shoves at his arm, slightly pushing him towards David. “Oh, enough with the cheesy comments and go over there already!”
The stroll over to the log was hardly eventful, but as Ace got close enough to David for the man to shoot him a curious look, Ace managed his best smile despite how nervous he felt, gesturing to the log. “So.. The seat next to you taken? Should I look somewhere else?” David snorted at the comment, simply patting the log in gesture that Ace can only take as a go ahead, which he sits down next to him, feeling his stomach tighten. He’s never felt this nervous before, he feels like he’s a teenager all over again. Ace’s foot taps the ground lightly and he pushes up his sunglasses, glancing over to David “..What are you up to? I saw you talking with Nea and she kinda stormed off, I’m guessing you said something-” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence that was only going to feel like a year long with how nervous he feels, David glancing at him with a raised eyebrow “D’ya need something, Visconti? Not tryin’ to sound rude, but you seem tense like you've got something to say.” Ace swallows nervously as David can only side eye him in confusion, fingers tapping on the wood of the log as Ace looks into the fire, deep in thought as he’s trying to think of the right words to say before closing his eyes and heavily exhaling as he tries to calm himself. There’s brief silence, and as David tries to speak, Ace cuts in before him.
“Look, David.. We should talk, I think. This isn’t anything bad, it’s just something we need to clear up. I often.. Catch you looking in my direction, and sometimes I think I see a rare smile on your face when I do. I’m not sure if it’s from too many zaps from the Doctor frying my brain and making me see things, but.. I’m guessing you like me? In a romantic way, like you love me, really. I hope me coming out and saying this doesn’t upset you, but I want to talk about it because.. I love you, too. I think under your gruff personality, you’re not so bad of a guy. You care so much about the people you consider friends, and I’m sure I’ve caught you laugh from a few of my corny jokes. So.. I guess, in the end, what I’m trying to get at here.. Is that.. Would you.. Maybe..” He swallows thickly, his heartbeat ringing through his ears as he shakily sighs from his nose. “..Would you maybe want to go out with me?” His hand has to cover his face slightly as it heats up, feeling embarrassed as his voice cracked through most of those words, practically cursing himself in his head as he believes it just blew it all. Ace’s eyes nervously glance around at anywhere but David, he sees everyone else in the distance chatting, not too far from the fire but not close enough or paying attention to these two. He kind of wishes they were, it would help ease his anxiety about all this. As his mind thinks far too quickly for him to process, he’s snapped back to reality by a warmth over his other hand still resting against the log.
Ace looks down to see David’s hand over his own, slowly looking up to look at David’s face. The other man’s face is it’s own decent shade of red, usually slightly angry expression with it, but Ace can see the faint curl of a smile tugging at his lips. Ace’s heart is racing, expression starstruck until David actually speaks. “Ace, calm down. Your heart is gonna explode if you don’t breathe, old man.” After the whole confession, that’s what is said, and Ace can’t help but get more red in the face as his embarrassment grows. It’s not a spoken yes, but as David’s hand curls around his own, he can only assume what the answer is. “I.. I know that..”
The brief, calming silence as the two sit together, listening to the fire crackle and try to ease their excited minds over what their hearts feel is completely warming. That is, of course, until the gambler speaks. “..And I’m not that old, damn it!”
And David can’t help but laugh away from the man pouting, which can only cause Ace to laugh along as well.