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"Your eyes are closed, right?"
"Yes, Deu, I promise my eyes are closed."
"Ok, no peeking!"
Ace is dying of curiosity right now. Deuce had texted him to say he had a surprise for him this morning and it's been driving him crazy all day, wondering what it could be.
Now that he's finally home, Deuce is practically vibrating with excitement. He had Ace sit on the floor and close his eyes, and now he's just waiting to see what Deuce has in store.
Something is dropped onto his lap, starling him a bit. And it's moving around!
"Ok, open them!"
Ace looks right down towards his lap and there's an adorable little orange striped kitten with the biggest blue eyes. "Holy fuck!" He scoops it up and holds it up to his face. It places one paw on his nose and makes the cutest little mewing sound. "You got me a kitten?!"
"Not exactly," Deuce says, looking a little sheepish.
"What do you mean?" Ace asks, trying not to sound too disappointed. Does he not get to keep this kitten? It's so cute, he doesn't wanna give it up. But surely Deuce wouldn't bring home a kitten he can't keep just to taunt Ace, right?
Deuce reaches into the cardboard box right behind him—that Ace is just noticing now actually—and pulls out another kitten; this one is cream colored with dark brown on its paws, ears, and face, it still has those same big blue eyes though. "I accidentally got two, but it's not my fault, I swear!"
Ace switches to holding the first kitten with one hand so he can take the one Deuce is holding with the other. The sets them both down in his lap and internally coos at how cute they are as they settle down and start kneading his legs. "How do you accidentally end up with two kittens?" he asks, amused at how embarrassed Deu looks.
"Ok look, what was I supposed to do?" He looks a little defensive now and Ace is struggling not to laugh. "I found the ad that said they had free kittens and called to ask if I could pick one up, they said yes and I made plans to go get it today."
"Alright, still doesn't explain how there's two," Ace says when Deuce pauses. He chuckles at the sheepishness on Deuce's face, earning him a dirty look.
"I'm getting to it, ok?" He continues on. "So anyway, I got there to take one kitten and saw both of them. That's when the owners started talking about how they were glad I called and they hadn't been getting many calls and the local shelters are all full right now, followed by how sad it is that it's not looking good for them finding a home for the last little one."
Ace feels a pang in his chest at the thought of the little unwanted kitten. He's pretty sure he knows where Deuce is going with this now, but he lets him go on.
"And seeing the two of them playing together, thinking about leaving one behind when it has no one who wants it, I just couldn't do it." He reaches over to give one of the kittens some head scratches, the little thing purring up a storm on Ace's lap still. "Besides, I figured you'd agree with my decision." He gives said kittens a pointed look.
"Well you're not wrong," Ace says. He's definitely not opposed to having both kittens. Plus it'll be more fun for them to have a sibling around to play with, he's sure.
"So what're you gonna name them?" Deuce asks.
Ace has the perfect idea, and he opens his mouth to say it, "How about—"
"No, you aren't naming one Meat." Deuce cuts him off before he can finish. "Aside from being a terrible name, you know Luffy wants to get a dog and name it that, so he'll absolutely get mad and accuse you of 'stealing his awesome idea' or something."
"I wasn't gonna say that!" Ace pouts. Stupid Deuce being such a joykill. Meat would be a great name and so what if Luffy wants to use it, Ace got a pet first.
Deuce gives him a look that says Ace isn't fooling him in the slightest. "How about Achilles?" he suggests.
"Is that a book thing or a medical thing?" Ace, who already knows the answer, asks him, smirking in a way he knows will make Deuce make that one face and smack him. And sure enough—
"Shut up!" Deuce lightly smacks him in the arm, probably more carefully than normal to avoid disturbing the kittens. He turns away, his face slightly red, and mutters, "It's sorta both, ok?"
"Ok, but if we go with your idea for one, then I get to pick the other without argument." Another thought pops into his head. "Wait, I forgot! Are they boys or girls?"
"One of each actually, the orange one is a boy and the other one is a girl," Deuce replies. "Guess that makes him Achilles and you get to name her."
"Uh, ok." Girl names, girl names, Ace is wracking his brain trying to come up with a good name for a girl. "Oh, I know! Ann!" He exclaims, proud of himself for thinking that up so quickly.
"Wasn't that gonna be your name if you'd been a girl?" Deuce asks. "Your mom told me back when she was showing me those baby pictures," he explains after seeing Ace's puzzled expression. Oh God, the baby pictures. Why did his mom have to show Deuce those? Wait, nevermind that right now.
"So? That just means it's a good name, right?" He argues. "Besides, you picked his name—" he points at the orange kitten, "—now I'm picking Ann for her!" He scratches the girl on her head, making her purr even louder than her brother.
"Alright, fair enough," Deuce concedes. "Could've been worse anyway," he adds, "I should just be glad you picked something kind of normal in the end."
"Unlike Achilles?" Ace can't resist teasing.
"Achilles is a great name, it—"
"Hey, Deu," Ace interrupts the oncoming rant about the history of the name, "Thanks for the kittens."
"Oh," Deuce says, derailed from the argument he was about to have. "You're welcome. We did kinda talk about it before, I just thought it would be something nice for us to have together."
"It is nice." He leans forward slightly, not wanting to dump the kittens off his lap. Deuce catches his drift and meets him the rest of the way, kissing him softly.
A much louder trilling meow interrupts them. They both look down at Ann, who's now standing on Ace's lap looking a bit put out that her head scratches have stopped.
"Her highness has spoken," Deuce says, jokingly. "Guess we should spend some time with them, let them get used to the place and us. I got some toys too, we can try them out and see what they like."
"Sounds like fun!" Ace is back to feeling excited. He's always wanted a cat. Roger's allergic, unfortunately; so his mom always said they couldn't have one. Now he's got two!
He also just really likes having pets together with Deuce, it feels a bit permanent, like Deuce is thinking about spending the future with him. Ace thinks about a certain jewelry box hidden in the garage. Maybe he'll feel ready to pull that out sooner than he thought.
For now though, it's time to get to know their new kittens. Deuce is already pulling out those toys and trying a feather one out that Achilles is going nuts over. Ace sees a little mouse on a string that he just has a feeling Ann is gonna love. This is gonna be so much fun!