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White shimmering manes, glistening lakes, and lovely rustic scenery.
That’s what the site had advertised, and the photos displayed across the screen had certainly fit those descriptions.
When Sanji had signed up for the three month-long riding lessons, he had expected to be greeted by the aforementioned sights and scenery, looking forward to the charming experience and the luxurious vacation. After working endless nights at the restaurant, he was finally convinced to take a well deserved vacation (although it took consistent nagging from his friends, family, and even workers about his health), and horse riding lessons seemed like it’d be a fun hobby to try.
It carried the air of sophistication, and Sanji could finally experience his (not so secret) prince fantasies. The package advertised on the site even included lodging and meals, and although Sanji knew he was more than capable of feeding himself, he supposed he could let himself be pampered for a few weeks.
The entire vacation plan seemed promising, and when Sanji clicked the purchase button, he felt excitement grow within him for the first time in a while. Going to bed that night, he could feel the stress begin to roll off of his shoulders after nearly a year of crushing weight upon them. For once, he was looking forward to not cooking once in a while.
Sanji probably should’ve been more skeptical at the price, considering how cheap it was. Pulling onto the battered dirt road revealed that the location was significantly less than a country club and more… just country.
Whoever took pictures of the place must have had magnificent editing skills, because the rich green grasses and “glistening lakes” all seemed to be tinted a very obvious shade of dirt brown that Sanji grimaced at. Besides the scenery, the closer Sanji got to the fenced off area of the ranch, the worse it smelled. Seeing a small group of cows grazing in the distance, Sanji supposed he had them to thank for the stench.
As he turned onto an even rockier road, he hoped that at least his car would make it through this trip, and he hoped that at any second he’d turn onto a different road and there’d be a completely separate field of white fairy tale horses and comfortable lodging. The second hope didn’t last for long though, as Sanji realized the path stopped directly in front of a shabby cottage, the battered road not extending beyond the driveway.
“This can’t be right…” muttering, Sanji pulled out his phone and reloaded the site’s map. A gentle knock on his window startled him, causing him to snap his head up and meet the soft smirk of a man outside his car. His worn hoodie and the gaudy hat upon his head convinced Sanji that he wasn’t a staff worker, and he had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Rolling down his window, he began apologizing to the man and holding up his phone. “I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to intrude! I think I just took a wrong turn somewhere, I don’t recognize this place at all!”
“It’s no problem, don’t worry yourself about it!” The man’s accent was extremely thick, and his tone made Sanji feel like he was being lulled into sleep. Sanji assumed that the man had been living in the area for a while, and he was probably pretty far from the actual riding club. “Where are you headed exactly?”
Sanji tilted his phone towards the man, explaining that the map- “Hey, that’s my site!”
Sanji paused. There was no way that this man, this place was where he was supposed to end up for his vacation.
“Well, you see I signed up for riding lessons-”
“Yup, I’m the instructor!” The man propped his elbows against Sanji’s window like he owned the damn car, and Sanji tensed in his seat. “I’m also in charge of your rooming, meals, planning- it’s a one man job, really!”
Sanji’s voice fell flat as he attempted to process the information. “Where’s the lodging, exactly?” The man flashed a grin and jabbed his thumb in the direction of the cottage, which Sanji realized appeared to be in a rugged condition up close. “You’ll be sharing the house with me, which works since it’s just you for the few months!” He let out a laugh at Sanji’s mortified look, “don’t worry, I built the place sturdier than it looks, and I shower and all. You just get a bit dirty out here- I hope you’re ready for that, by the way!”
Sanji was not ready for that, actually. He wasn’t ready for any of this, for the dusty shambles that resembled a farm, or living with the man smiling at him with dirt smudged cheeks. He had still paid a good amount of money for the experience though, even if it was suspiciously cheap… Sanji sighed, slipping his phone into his pocket. “Where’s the nearest hotel from here?”
“Ten miles,” the man smirked, as if he knew Sanji couldn’t handle the place. Another sigh left Sanji, and he parked the car as the giddy man stepped away from the window. “I’ll grab my bags.”
“This is the main hallway, you can dump your shit here if you’re too tired to get to the bedroom- I do that a lot, so make sure not to trip.” Sanji haphazardly shuffled through the front door, careful to not stumble on the many pairs of boots cluttered by the door. At least that asshole was kind enough to take my bags, he thought, wrinkling his nose at the sight of even more boots thrown in various places. He followed the man through another hallway, vacantly listening to the details being prattled about the home.
“Here’s your room! All the sheets have been washed and everything, and both the dresser and closet are empty if you’d like to use those,” he set Sanji’s bags on the edge of the bed as Sanji peeked at the room through the door frame. The room itself didn’t look bad per say, it just looked terribly lonely. The walls were bare besides a few shelves containing some books, and the single bed took up a large portion of the room. He almost felt sad as he realized the bed and dresser were the only pieces of furniture. “I know it’s not a lot right now, but I’m working on some chairs and stuff to put in here later,” the man turned and fixed Sanji with a blinding smile, “most people actually take the two hour drive here and back, so it means a lot that you’d stay here with me!”
Sanji let a small grin slip onto his face at seeing the stranger’s joy, “yeah, I figured I might as well stay if you’re accommodating me like this.” The grin was immediately wheezed off of his face as the man slapped a heavy hand onto his shoulder, letting out a bright laugh.
“Alright, well I’m gonna go ahead and get the horses ready to meet you, holler if you need me to help you unpack!” as he left, he grabbed onto the doorframe and swung back into the room with a lopsided grin, “by the way, my name’s Ace. I kinda forgot to give it to you, since I was trying not to laugh at you getting lost.”
The earlier bitterness sunk back into Sanji as Ace’s laugh echoed down the hallway.
He should’ve driven the ten miles.
The site was actually right about one thing, and that was the beautiful white stallion whose picture was put first and foremost on the front page.
What the site didn’t clarify however, was that she was the meanest, bitchiest horse on the entire ranch.
“This is Lilith,” Ace held out an apple slice towards the mare, “my brother named her that because she’s bright and shiny like an angel.” Lilith swung her head at Ace’s arm, knocking the slice yards away from the man. “Turns out she sucks.”
Sanji was desperately trying not to shake as the horse stared him down, loudly huffing and whipping her tail. “And why, exactly, have you decided this is the horse I should be riding?”
“Oh no sweet pea, you probably won’t be able to ride her in just three months,” Ace laughed, and Sanji narrowed his eyes at the nickname. “It’s just important that you meet all the horses during your stay! They all need some exercise and care, and it’s good to see which horse suits you best.” Lilith whinnied as she raised her feet, causing Sanji to jump and move behind Ace. He didn’t even care that Ace was snickering at him, that horse was plotting his murder. “Even Lilith needs to meet new folks every once in a while, it’s healthy for her,” Ace slipped a small apple slice into Sanji’s palm, stepping beside him to guide Sanji towards the horse. “Here, you try feeding her.”
“What?!” Sanji stepped away from him, skepticism drawn across his features, “did you see what that horse did to your arm?!” Ace’s soft smile made Sanji close his mouth, and the way his accent dripped over Sanji, he began to calm down.
“It’s alright, I can hold your arm in case she tries to get feisty again, and I’ll be sure to pull you away if she gets too wild,” Ace held his hand out to Sanji, “you don’t have to feed her if you aren’t comfortable though, I’ll understand. We can start with a calmer horse.” Sanji looked at Ace’s warm eyes, then back at Lilith’s steel ones. Slowly, Sanji placed the back of his hand into Ace’s outstretched one, and let Ace wrap a loose arm around his shoulders as he guided his hand towards Lilith. Sanji could practically feel Lilith’s stare piercing through his soul as he rolled the apple slice to his palm, letting Ace’s hand pull his fingers flat.
Lilith glanced towards the apple, then to Sanji, before huffing and turning away from the pair.
Sanji wheezed out a shaky breath before realizing he was ignored by the mare. “Hey, what the hell? I thought she was supposed to at least try to eat it!”
“No, no that’s great!” Ace flipped Sanji around to face him, and Sanji startled at the light manhandling, “normally she hates people, the fact that she didn’t try anything means she’s alright with you! I mean, you saw how she treated me, and I take care of her every day!” Sanji blinked before letting out a sigh, placing the apple in Ace’s hands before stepping out of his grasp. “That’s good or whatever, but you better not introduce me to any more murder horses today.”
Ace barked out a laugh at Sanji’s dismay, and for the first time since he arrived, Sanji couldn’t help but breathe out his own chuckle.
As the night cooled, Ace unlocked the cottage and let Sanji to shower after introducing every horse (Sanji was startled to learn most of them had names like “Laundromat” and “Meat Pizza”, courtesy of Ace’s brothers and nieces). Ace laughed as he explained the name of another horse, grabbing a towel for Sanji out of the hallway closet. “Yeah, my brother’s little sis tried to name the pony ‘kimono’ like her brother’s clothes, but she was too little to say it correctly, so now her name’s ‘himbo’.” Sanji chuckled at the story as Ace led him to the bathroom, glad to find that it was near his bedroom. “You have siblings?”
“Yeah, probably fifty or somewhere close to it.” Sanji choked on his spit and Ace’s shrill laugh echoed through the hallway. “We’re not blood related, we just call each other family.” Sanji smiled in understanding, “I have a sort of family like that myself.”
“Yeah? You’ll have to tell me about them some time,” Ace opened the door to the bathroom before turning and heading down the hall towards the kitchen. “You go ahead and get clean, I’ll start on dinner and then when you’re out I’ll go ahead and hop in the tub myself.” Sanji nodded and closed the door behind him, sighing and starting the water.
It may be hard getting used to the setting and the animals, but the company was nice for Sanji. Maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible after all.
This was terrible. The worst. Absolutely awful.
Sanji had taken a shower in peace, and was happy to discover that the dirt that had sealed itself to Sanji’s skin was extremely easy to wash off. Sanji even found that the blankets and sheets on his temporary bed were decently comfortable, if not a little thin.
The light quickly drained from Sanji’s eyes however, once he reached the main hallway. There was the noticeable smell of meat, but that was… all Sanji could smell really. Following the smell, Sanji entered the kitchen to find the smallest kitchen he had ever seen in his entire life. The kitchen was no more than a single hallway, containing a fridge and a stove with only two burners. In the corner was a simple cabinet with a rice cooker on top, the cord piled on top of the wood a short distance from the plug.
Was it sustainable? Yes, of course, it was a perfectly fine setup for one or two people, and it was obviously functional. Was it an absolute nightmare to a professional chef? Of fucking course it was. Sanji had no idea how Ace survived this long in this condition, especially considering- Sanji blinked. There was no oven underneath the stove, it didn’t look like there was any room anyway. Frantically whipping his head around, Sanji desperately scanned the room for- a tiny microwave oven in the corner, balanced on the counter between the kitchen and dining room.
“Dinner’s on the stove, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Sanji spun around to see Ace in the doorway, ruffling a towel through his hair with a sleepy grin on his face. Now that the grime from the day’s activities had been scrubbed away, Sanji could see that the grin was decorated by stark freckles that lined Ace’s cheeks and nose like cinnamon. Sanji quickly met Ace’s eyes with a look of terror however, gesturing to the cramped setup.
“What the hell is this?”
“This is a kitchen, you make food here.”
“How. How do you do anything here.” Ace chuckled, draping his towel across his shoulders as he moved past Sanji, grabbing a plate from the small cabinet along with a rice paddle. “Do you not know how to cook?”
“I know how to cook more than most people actually, I’m a professional chef.”
“Ooh, fancy. I feel kind of embarrassed, I normally only have the same meal for a good amount of time.” Sanji blinked slowly, ever so slowly at Ace.
“Same meal? For dinner?”
“Well, all meals actually,” Ace said nonchalantly, serving his rice as if he wasn’t actively giving Sanji an aneurysm, “It’s cheapest to get hamburger meat since it keeps for a while in the fridge, and I can still eat it with rice.” Sanji could feel his soul leaving his body. “Ace?”
“Yeah, sweet pea?”
Sanji ignored the nickname, his eyes finally locking onto the pan of horribly under-seasoned meat on the stove. “Let me cook for you tomorrow, alright? I can run to the store, order it, just- let me feed you something other than this.”
“Aww, what a darling,” Ace crooned, slapping Sanji’s shoulder as he walked to the dining room, “you think I’m incapable of feeding myself, huh?”
Sanji shook his head, slowly grabbing the plate that Ace set out for him. “I think you deserve to eat something nice, is all. Not because I feel bad, but I think everyone deserves to have a nice meal once in a while.”
Ace quietly chewed before giving a warm smile to Sanji. “Thanks, sweet pea.” Sanji smiled back before he sat down beside Ace. “Wait, were you planning to feed us this every meal, for three months ?” Ace paused before talking through a mouthful of food. “Again, most people settle for the ten mile drive to a hotel.”
“I’m going to fall off.”
“You haven’t even gotten off of the steps yet.” Sanji’s knees wobbled from where he stood on the small set of stairs used to mount the horses. It was a few days after Sanji had first arrived, and after Sanji had been properly introduced and instructed on how to treat them, Ace had finally moved him along to the riding lessons. Luckily Ace had provided Sanji with a calmer horse than Lilith (although almost every horse was calmer than Lilith), but it was still nerve wracking nonetheless. “What if he moves though? Or if I accidentally hurt him and he gets scared? Or-”
“Sanji, you’ll be fine. First of all, thank you for being worried about the horses,” Ace smiled and cooed at the horse in front of Sanji, “I’m sure that Cheddar here appreciates it. Second, as long as you’re careful getting on, both of y’all will be alright. Just gently hoist yourself onto the saddle.”
Sanji nodded, carefully grabbing onto the saddle and lifting his leg from the stairs. He almost made it onto the saddle fine, until Cheddar decided it would be the perfect time to violently shake his mane from side to side. As Sanji felt himself slipping, he was totally prepared to meet the ground. At this point, he accepted that he would probably make a fool out of himself today like he did yesterday with Lilith. What he wasn’t prepared for however, was for a large hand to firmly grasp his ass and shove him back onto the saddle with a yelp. He blinked in shock as Ace handed him the reins with a hearty laugh.
“Sorry for that, Cheddar can be a bit dimwitted sometimes,” a hand ran across the back of Ace’s neck nervously, “and that was the only part of you I thought to grab, apologies for the forwardness.” Sanji gave a slight nod as he looked away from Ace’s eyes, tightly gripping the reins in his hands. “It’s fine.”
Ace smiled up at him at the reassurance, and Sanji could feel himself returning the sentiment without meaning to. “Alright sweet pea, I’m gonna go ahead and walk beside you and Cheddar so you can get the feel of walking, and then I’ll let you take control for a sec.”
It turned out that horse riding was not sophisticated whatsoever, at least not when Sanji was learning it. By the time they were done, everything hurt, and Sanji had nearly fallen off of Cheddar at least once. The outfit that was supposed to be for a nice day of prancing at a country club was now covered with dirt, and Sanji wouldn’t be surprised if the condition was permanent. The entire experience overall would have made Sanji reconsider the whole vacation if this was what had been advertised on the site.
Sanji still brushed himself off with a smile though, and even laughed along with Ace when Cheddar whacked Ace in the face with his tail. He gratefully thanked Ace for washing his clothes, not even caring that he’d normally have a fit if they were anything but dry cleaned, and even helped Ace wipe off his face after he got too excited about Sanji’s meal and fell asleep in it (which in reality was a terrifying way to discover narcolepsy).
The cottage felt like it was becoming more of a home than a hazard, and Sanji felt like he could finally stop assuming everything in the area was out to kill him.
He wasn’t completely comfortable though, although for different reasons.
At first, he considered Ace’s attitude towards him to be that of an older brother. He was teasingly condescending when Sanji arrived, and the way he introduced Sanji to new concepts felt like he was purposefully trying to fluster Sanji even though he still guided him through lessons. Sanji can’t say the demeanor was his favorite, but it was easy to quickly adapt to everything through it.
Then it was friendly, or at least Sanji felt it was. Sweet pea was a nice nickname, and Ace was a lot more accommodating towards Sanji’s worries, reassuring Sanji that he’d be beside him during every lesson, every step. It was nice, and Sanji felt that maybe that’s when the actual feelings began.
Because the occasional nickname began to feel like endearments, and Ace’s arm began to find its way on or around Sanji more often than not. He’d give Sanji helpful advice, or inform Sanji that he was letting him use the good coffee mug because I suppose I could spoil you rotten once in a while too, and he’d punctuate every playful statement with a wink.
Sanji had come to terms with his sexuality long before Ace, but he’d never tried to actively pursue anyone as much as he did women. He certainly had never been stranded in the middle of nowhere with anyone, cooking dinner with them and taking care of an entire farm with them. Ace had even introduced him to the cows, saying that he only lets special people see them, and didn’t that strike through Sanji’s heartstrings.
It was when Ace took Sanji to a small shed located behind the cottage, one Sanji couldn’t see on the drive there. Sanji had been nervous when Ace led him to the dark building (namely because he had been joking about it being a murder shed to Sanji, who wasn’t amused considering he was alone with Ace at least ten miles from civilization). When Ace flicked on the light however, Sanji was surprised to see an entire area filled with woodworking equipment. There were multitudes of trinkets, furniture pieces, decorations- and in the middle, was a set of skillfully made armchairs, completed with cushions.
“I’m not too good at needlework yet, so don’t go too wild on those cushions or nothing.” Sanji whipped his head around to Ace, his eyes wide in amazement. “You made all this?”
“Well, yeah. I built the entire house after all,” Ace stated like it was obvious, making Sanji’s eyes swell wider. “Ace, this is incredible! I can’t believe you only do horse riding lessons, you have so much talent!” Ace smiled shyly, and Sanji couldn’t help but feel like he was keeping something from him. “Thanks sweet pea; now c’mon, help me carry these to your room.”
Sanji gladly helped Ace carry the chairs over to the bedroom, leaning back in one of them with Ace beside him. “This is amazing, I want to stay here all week.” Ace chuckled next to him.
“Yeah, too bad you have to go home soon.”
Sanji nearly jumped in his seat, horror washing over him. Not only because he had to leave, but because he didn’t want to. And it wasn’t because he was charmed by the place or anything, although he clearly was.
He realized that he was attached to the domesticity that he had built with Ace, and God did he hate the feeling of wanting to wake up every morning and see Ace already made him coffee. He hated that he’d have to let that go.
Ace eventually let Sanji go to bed, and Sanji’s heart twinged as his “goodnight, sweet pea” rang through the hall. He shuffled himself under the covers, and tried his best to remove himself from the room while he was still in it.
He would go back home soon. He would make his own coffee if he had the time, and go back to work, and he wouldn’t look forward to coming home and finding Ace was getting ready to go shopping for ingredients with him. He would go back home soon, and his home wasn’t the cottage. Sanji nodded to himself as he drifted off to sleep, resigning himself to the fact that this was just a small vacation and Ace was temporary. It would have been easy for Sanji to do that, actually. He was used to wrangling his feelings until they didn’t exist, it wouldn’t have been hard for him to do it again, as sad as it may be.
Until the spider.
Sanji had gotten fairly used to the countryside after a few weeks, and that came with many things that Sanji would normally find unbearable.
He was all too acquainted with the experience of getting dirty, finding bugs outdoors, and the harsh sunlight at midday. It eventually became easy to ignore the small things that pestered him, and if the sun ever became too unbearable, Ace would shove his hat onto Sanji’s head with a gentle ruffle of his bangs. Even the horses’ behavior became slightly regular to Sanji with Ace’s guidance, he learned which horses acted a certain way, and which would sometimes behave differently. He even began to tolerate Lilith, if very warily.
What he wasn’t used to however, was the spiders.
He had experience with house spiders, and even slightly bigger ones from time to time. He wasn’t necessarily okay with seeing a spider in his home, but it wasn’t hard to quickly swat at them and continue with his day.
Ace however, had one strict rule in the house, and it was that Sanji was not allowed to crush the spiders. Apparently Ace’s care for animals extended beyond the farm animals, and Sanji was required to extend his heart to others as well, however many legs they had. “If you’re that bothered by having a roommate-”
“Don’t refer to them like they’re at the same level as humanity.”
Ace snorted, “then let me know and I’ll carry them outside for you, frightened princess.” Sanji had swatted at his head at that remark, but still thanked Ace for the sentiment. Luckily Sanji had been brave enough to carefully carry every spider outside (and if it earned him a smile from Ace, he didn’t see a problem anyway), but he wasn’t expecting the extent to how massive these spiders could get.
The moon shone through the window as Sanji laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had meant to fall asleep long before, but it had been hard to agree with his nightly mantra of leaving the cottage.
I have to go home soon.
I want to stay here.
I can’t stay here, my job is at home.
You’ll make the drive.
You’ve only known Ace for two months.
I want to stay here.
Sanji’s eyes never left the ceiling, barely able to blink much less close in order to sleep. The leaves outside of his window fluttered in the moonlight, almost mockingly waving goodbye to him. Sanji squinted at one leaf in particular, waving slower than the others. Why is that shadow darker than the others?
Then, as the leaf stepped into the moonlight, Sanji saw that it was in fact not a leaf, but the biggest tarantula that he had ever seen.
He had seen them in pictures, at the zoo, even in person at nature centers with Luffy, but they had never been this big. The ceiling was extremely high in relation to the bed, and Sanji could still pick out every detail on its fur.
Especially when it dropped from the ceiling.
Sanji whipped off the covers and sprinted out of the room, slapping himself and shaking his clothing in every way possible as he nearly slid into Ace’s door. His hands were still ruffling his hair and clothing as he called for Ace, occasionally removing a hand from his body to pound on the door. The door eventually swung open, Ace’s features of worry lined with sleep. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you ok?”
Sanji was nearly out of breath with how fast he ran towards Ace’s room, and he was sure he looked terrible with how he mussed his clothing and hair so much. “There-room-ceiling, so scary-” he wheezed, still unable to process how close that monster was to dropping onto his face. His mind didn’t clear any more however, when Ace suddenly pulled him into his arms, softly cooing as if he was trying to calm Sanji down. “You’re okay sweet pea, you’re safe.”
Sanji definitely felt safer for a moment; a moment before he was hyper aware of how close he was to Ace, how he had failed to accept his departure from him, and how Ace was extremely shirtless at the moment.
“Um. Ace.”
“Yes, sweet pea?” Sanji held in a sigh at the endearment.
“I just wanted to tell you there’s a spider in my room.” Ace suddenly became so still that Sanji felt like he made a terrible mistake, before his grip was loosened and he firmly removed himself from Sanji. “I-sorry, sometimes my brothers have nightmares, and- I’ll go get that bug for you.” He walked away from Sanji faster than usual, and Sanji watched his back disappear into the darkness. Sanji just about felt like melting as he stood beside Ace’s bedroom door, unable to process so many emotions at once.
Ace just hugged me so fucking tight. Sweet pea is definitely not a friendly nickname. I almost died from a spider attack.
Sanji felt like he was going to melt into the floor, and become ingrained in the floorboards. He’s always been bad at bottling up his feelings, that’s why he had to accept his sexuality, his health-
I want to stay with Ace.
“Hey, can you open the door for me? There were, uh, more friends than I was anticipating.” Sanji snapped out of his inner turmoil, blinking up at Ace-
Whose arms were covered by three tarantulas.
“Oh my god-” Sanji sprinted to the front door, stumbling on one of Ace’s scattered boots before throwing open the entrance so Ace could remove the “friends”. Closing the door behind him, Ace sighed and started to go back to his bedroom. “I’m gonna go wash my hands real quick. You don’t have to sleep in there if you don’t want to, I’m planning on deep cleaning the place tomorrow to see if there’s any nests or something,” Ace gestured to the living room, “I’d hate for you to sleep on the couch, but it’s open to you along with my bedroom.”
Sanji tensed and quickly stepped towards the living room. “Oh no, I wouldn’t kick you out of your own bed just because of a spider.” Ace chuckled, turning back to his door.
“I’ll go grab you some blankets then, and I’ll make sure there’s not any critters in ‘em.” The wink Ace threw at Sanji made him take another step towards the living room, nearly hurtling himself through the walkway as soon as Ace was out of sight. Throwing himself onto the couch, he heaved out a shaky breath. He can’t live with this, not when he has to leave in what, six days? Five? Sanji lost count, whether it be because he didn’t want to remember or because he had been distracted was hard to say.
His thoughts came to a halt as a pile of blankets was unceremoniously dumped onto him, Ace peeking over the back of the couch with a grin. “Your linens, my liege.” Sanji chuckled as he sat up, arranging the covers on himself before a hand lightly covered his. “My door’s unlocked, y'know. In case you need me for whatever reason.” His hand seemed to linger for an eternity before he finally lifted it from Sanji’s, the sound of his door clicking shut resounding in Sanji’s ears.
Sanji’s legs hung off the side of the couch, and the fabric of the spare blanket was extremely itchy, but he could hardly find it in himself to care as he thought about leaving again. There was no way he could deny that he wanted to stay because of Ace now, and he almost felt childish for admitting it.
Chaining myself to a crush. How stupid.
Sanji didn’t fall asleep until Ace left his room to make him coffee.
The light tapping of rain echoed throughout the cottage, serving as background noise for the bubbling of the coffee machine and spoon clatters.
Sanji stared out the window at the stables in the distance; the horses were locked up for the day since the weather wasn’t suitable for riding.
“I got you the good mug this time, aren’t you lucky today!” Ace winked as he gently set the mug in front of Sanji, sidling himself in the dining chair next to him. Sanji’s hands fiddled with the handle, not lifting it up from the table. “Not really.”
His stay only lasted for three more days, and he was dreading the departure. It was becoming harder to say goodbye to everything; the cottage, the horses. Even if he could finally say goodbye to them, he’d never be able to stop thinking about Ace. His voice broke through Sanji’s thoughts of him.
“If you want, we can still go out to the stables to brush the horses. I’m sure our friends would like a nice brush, especially since it’s supposed to be like this tomorrow as well,” Ace placed his hand on Sanji’s shoulder, “wouldn’t want anyone being lonely.”
Sanji agreed.
“Styrofoam?”
“Yeah, cause she’s white with grey spots.” Sanji raised an eyebrow at the stallion he was brushing, causing Ace to snicker from the pen’s gate. “Brother named him that, it was too funny not to change,” a fond grin spread across his face, “and even if it wasn’t, I probably still keep it.”
“You sound like you love your brother. Well, all of them, actually.”
“This one’s got a special spot in my heart though, he’s been with me since we were kids,” Ace chuckled, and Sanji smiled at the warmness in his tone. “He can be a little shit sometimes, but he’s precious once he settles down. He’s still fun when he’s wild though.”
Sanji let out a breath of laughter at the image, “what’s his name?”
“Luffy, he-” Sanji nearly dropped the brush, and Styrofoam let out a startled huff.
“LUFFY?! He’s a little shit all the time, are you kidding me?! He’s always sneaking into my restaurant’s kitchen, and farting on other people’s stuff, and somehow he manages to avoid trouble for all of it, and-” Sanji choked, whipping his head around to Ace, “-He’s your Brother?!”
Ace was shaking with the force of his laughter, and finally he wiped the tears from his eyes as he wheezed out a response to Sanj. “Y-Yeah, that’s him alright, oh my God you make him sound so stupid.” Sanji grumbled in annoyance as Ace continued to howl with laughter.
“He is stupid, but…” Sanji thought about Luffy’s persistence in becoming Sanji’s friend, how he believed in Sanji from the very beginning that he could pursue his dreams of a restaurant. “He’s amazing, sometimes.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ace slumped against the gate as Sanji moved to Styrofoam’s other side, now being able to see Ace’s wistful grin. “Both my brothers are great, I love them to pieces.”
“Another one?”
“Sabo,” Ace nodded, “He’s a lawyer. Both of them have good jobs. I’m sure you’d know.”
Sanji could feel the shift in Ace’s tone, but he couldn’t place the emotion Ace had. He didn’t interrupt when Ace began talking again.
“We didn’t grow up in a particularly well-off house. I stayed behind while my brothers went to school, just because we couldn’t afford it. I don’t remember why, but it just- never happened.” Sanji brushed the same spot of fur twice over, losing concentration. “While they were in college, I figured I could at least get a start out here where I could make my own living, since most city jobs didn’t hire anyone without a highschool degree,” Ace absentmindedly gestured to the cottage, “I built a house with my mom, my brothers all helped too, but I did all the electrical, the planning, everything. I felt like I could be at least proud of that.” Ace patted the wall beside him, “Built this too, later.”
Sanji offered an impressed hum, not wanting to distract Ace. His hand was inching along the fur he was brushing now, barely doing anything.
“I got most of these horses at auction for cheap, and then after I got ‘em all fixed up I figured I could open a ranch business on the side! Start doing riding lessons, maybe even get something worth selling at a market, all that mess. I even got one of my brothers to help set up a site” Sanji sat down on the ground beside the horse, the stallion long having been brushed. The only sound in the stables was the rain hitting the roof, silence stretching between him and Ace for an eternity.
“It isn’t worth shit, Sanji. Everyone who comes here is disappointed. I’m just some letdown attraction for rich people who want the watered down version of a ‘rustic atmosphere’. I can’t even do anything about it because this is my main income, I’m just kissing these assholes’ shoes for spare cash.
“I wanted to do all of this to prove I was worth something without an education, but I’m just scamming people into visiting my hick farm.”
Sanji’s lungs hurt from holding his breath, and he didn’t comment when Ace’s sigh was watery. He blamed it on the rain.
“Sorry-I didn’t mean-well, you’re leaving anyway, I suppose.” He shuffled off of his feet to close the gate when Sanji spoke. “I think this is amazing, all of it. I’m sorry if I was rude before.” Ace didn’t face him for a moment, but finally turned and held out a hand to Sanji. The smile across his face was worn, and Sanji could see the sadness that finally showed itself to him. “I’m glad Luffy has a friend like you, Sanji. You really are a sweet pea.”
Sanji didn’t let go of Ace’s hand after he got up, not until Ace had to unlock the cottage door.
The next day was spent removing all traces of Sanji from the house. Sanji cleaned out the closet and dresser (after Ace agreed to investigate for spiders. They laughed a little too hard at that, like they were trying to squeeze every last bit of it out before Sanji left), and soon the only thing left in the room was a pile of sheets needing to be washed and Sanji’s last change of clothes. The last of the ingredients bought for Sanji had been used for dinner, and he smiled when Ace joked about having hamburger meat and rice for breakfast again tomorrow. Sanji noted how he avoided saying “before you leave”. Ace kept suggesting that they might go outside and pet the cows again, or brush the horses, or even go riding despite the freezing rain, but Sanji assured him that it was fine, that they had done everything he wanted to. Both of them knew he was lying. They ended up spending the evening rested on the couch, curled up with blankets and tea Ace made for them. With Ace’s legs laid across his lap, Sanji knew he was never going to want to go home, even after he got back to his apartment. He was never going to want to go home years from now, after he forgot this place.
“Hey, sorry about all that mess yesterday,” Ace mumbled into his cup,rocking his foot against Sanji to grab his attention, “I shouldn’t have dumped all that shit on you, I guess you were just the first pleasant person I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in a while, and I kinda lost it there at the end.”
Sanji chuckled, patting Ace’s leg. “It’s fine, we all have baggage like that. If I got the chance to chew out every rude customer that walked through my doors I would,” he gently shook Ace’s leg, “plus, I like talking to you. You’re interesting, you know. And-”
“Do you want to buy more lessons?”
Sanji jumped at Ace’s interruption, and his eyes widened as he kept rambling. “Sorry, that sounds like I’m trying to take your money-do you want to stay? Here? Longer, I mean, for… for the lessons, we can…” Ace looked at Sanji with desperate eyes, and Sanji stared back into them. “If you want, you can stay here for another month. You don’t have to pay the full amount, we can work out something, maybe through the groceries or- I’m sure the animals would love to have you stay a little longer too, and I was gonna let you try milking the cows…” Sanji couldn’t hear anything besides Ace’s breathing, and it hurt to finally open his mouth.
“I think I have to leave.”
Ace’s features contorted for the shortest of seconds before he pulled his legs away from Sanji. “That’s alright, I know you got a business to run and all, and I’ll let Lilith know she doesn’t have to force her good behavior anymore,” Ace stood from the loveseat, “I’m going to go ahead and… go to bed. Goodnight Sanji.” Sanji flinched at the finality of it before he flung his arm across the back of the couch to turn towards him. “Will your door still be unlocked?”
Ace stilled at his door, and Sanji could see the white from his knuckles as he gripped the frame.
“Always, sweet pea.”
The floor was cold when Sanji’s feet made contact. He gripped the edge of the loveseat, as if it was the only thing anchoring him to the ground. He had no idea what boundaries he was crossing, what boundaries there were in the first place- letting go of the cushions, he carefully stepped towards the doorway. His footsteps were kept as quiet as possible, just in case he wanted to turn back.
In case he wanted to leave this home.
Reaching for Ace’s doorknob, he paused.
Do I knock? What if he actually locked it? What if this isn’t what he meant?
He clutched the doorknob before turning it slowly, cringing at every miniscule squeak it uttered. Opening the door at a painstaking speed, Sanji slipped his head inside. The entire room was dark save for a single square of light illuminating the floor.
“Ace?”
The room was completely silent.
Sanji began to shut the door when a sleepy voice called out. “Sanji?” The doorknob shook in Sanji’s grip. “You alright sweet pea? You need me to move any spiders for you?”
Sanji meant to say yes, to laugh it off, but his mouth moved on its own.
“I want to stay here with you.”
The quiet was deafening to Sanji’s ears before a weak voice shattered it.
“Stay here as in you enjoy the lessons, or as in you feel bad about earlier?”
Sanji’s voice was shaky, and he tried to ignore the way it cracked.
“Stay here as in, I’d really like if I could join you tonight.”
Sanji tried not to laugh at the immediate sound of blankets rustling, but the thud of Ace presumably falling out of his bed made him snicker. “Oh shut it, like you haven’t spent the past three months yearning either.” Sanji quickly slipped inside the room, shutting the door behind him before tiptoeing to Ace’s bed. He yelped when Ace’s hand shot out and pulled him under the covers, but it was quickly covered by giggles as he nuzzled his way under Sanji’s chin.
“You really want to stay here because of me?”
“No, I’ve fallen for one of the cows,” Sanji flicked Ace’s nose as he snorted. “I knew I shouldn’t have introduced you to Milkshake.” The two fell into silence for a moment, finally taking advantage of the fact that they were allowed to feel each other for once, Sanji running a hand through Ace’s hair as he squeezed their hands together. “I have baggage, you know. It’s hard to share, and my health might not be the best at times. I need you to know that before you decide.”
“I’ve already decided; it’s not like I’m not carrying my own, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if I couldn’t handle baggage.”
“You wouldn’t be cuddlin’ a cute cowboy?” Ace chuckled.
“The cutest, idiot.” Ace leaned forward to catch Sanji’s lips in a kiss, laughing at how he missed the first few times in the dark before Sanji finally held Ace’s grin in place. Sanji couldn’t even care that it was still the dead of night, he blinked away his sleepiness in order to finally convince himself that he wouldn’t have to say goodbye.
“Are you sure I’m not going to die?”
“‘Course not, sweet pea. She trusts you more than anyone.”
Lilith stared Sanji down with ice cold eyes. “A year’s not that long to bond with an animal though, I mean I haven’t even gotten to properly clean her hoove-” Sanji’s complaint was cut off with a yelp as Ace scooped his lover up and deposited him onto the horse’s saddle. Lilith let out a displeased whinny and shook herself, but to the men’s surprise she remained perfectly calm after her small fit.
“Wow, you really did it. You’ve tamed the beast.”
“I guess she finally lives up to her name, huh?” Sanji ran a hand through her mane, smiling as Lilith flicked her head back towards him. “Looks like she just needed a sweet pea like you to warm up a little,” Ace grinned, climbing the small set of stairs up to Lilith’s saddle to meet Sanji in a kiss.
A kiss that was abruptly broken as Lilith smugly stepped away from the stairs, causing Ace to go tumbling into the dirt. Sanji cackled as he leaned down to brush dirt from Ace’s hat after he recovered, snorting at the evil eye his boyfriend directed at the horse.
“Listen here asswipe, I’d like to remind you who raised you for five years-”
Ace was once again interrupted by Lilith’s tail smacking him across the face, causing Sanji to go into a fit of hysterics even as Ace slapped his knee in retaliation. “I was wrong, both of you are still fucking demons.”
“You love us,” Sanji giggled.
“Mmm, I love one of you.”
Sanji laughed into Ace’s grin as he slid down into his arms, finally giving his boyfriend a proper hug.
Sanji had finally come home.