Work Text:
Ace was a lazy ass and he damn well knew it. Dressing himself up in a tux, repeating his lines to try and woo some ghost girl, then promptly scrapping everything for a speech he didn’t even know he was gonna go for—none of that was his style. At least it all ended up fine… until Crowley made the freshmen clean up the whole cafeteria, regardless of whether they were on Team Tux or not…
So yeah, everything was going perfectly well.
By the end of it, Ace was SO ready to just collapse on his bed and pass out of a million light years. He took the liberty of complaining the shit out of the situation to Deuce, walking with the boy back to the Hall of Mirrors, glancing up at the moon and grumbling.
“ Sevens, why did Ortho have to fucking replay the whole scene right then and there! He could’ve at least given me the chance to, like, skedaddle out there and go cry in my room with how cringe all of it was.”
Deuce rolled his eyes. “You’re starting to sound like Idia now, talking about ‘cringe’ this and ‘cringe’ that.”
“I do NOT sound like him. He’s the guy that got dumped at the altar and I’m the guy that set things straight. Get it right.”
“The fuck? Weren’t you complaining about yourself just 5 seconds ago? Now you’re patting yourself on the back for your achievements—”
“HEY, I was NOT patting myself on the back—”
“YES, YOU WERE!”
“NO, I WASN’T?? Ugh, forget it, I’m gonna go on ahead. No point in arguing with a dumbass like you.”
Deuce got quiet, slowing his walk and nodding slowly, any of his snappiness or energy fading away as he put a finger to his chin. “‘Kay, see ya at the dorm then…”
Ace could immediately tell something was wrong, with how frustrated Deuce seemed and how his voice wasn’t quite what it was just a second ago. The feeling was contagious, the anger that Ace had slowing to a halt as he looked back at Deuce. Then he stopped walking. Right then and there, he stopped, staring Deuce straight in the eye with a scowl, those cyan orbs glowing under the moonlight as beautiful as ever, just with that sad look in them that irritated Ace so much.
“Okay, what the fuck’s going on with you, Deuce?”
Deuce’s eyes widened. “Huh? What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong.”
“Cut the crap. You look like you’re about to say something really stupid and dumb and then get really sad about it.”
“The fuck are you talking about, ‘stupid’ and ‘dumb’—”
“Cuz you’re always thinking of stupidest and dumbest shit when you get all sad like this. No, your mom’s not mad at you; no, you’re not gonna fail the next history test; no, you’re not—”
“SHHH! Why are you always so… blunt about this stuff!?”
“Dude, have you met me?”
“Oh, shut up, it was a rhetorical question. ”
“Surprised you even know what that is.”
“Hey—!”
Deuce seemed to be back to his old bickering self, balling his fist up and punching it against his hand, his scowl so deep it could kill Ace with how simultaneously threatening and hot it was (okay, maybe the hot thing was just in Ace’s mind, but how could he not think that??). A laugh escaped Ace’s lips as he ran off, hollering an ‘eat my dust’ to Deuce before snickering and sprinting toward the Hall of Mirrors. The other boy, of course, gave chase, easily catching him (track stars, ugh) just as they were rounding the corner to the hall, roughly grabbing his arm and tugging it backward with a large huff.
“Fucking finally you caught me,” Ace said with a smirk. “Missed me that much?”
“Fuck off, you were the one that made me chase you.”
“Ooooh, how romantic. Eliza would’ve loved it if you did that to her~”
Ace thought he would fire back another retort like he always did, or just say ‘shut up’ since he lacked the kind of good responses Ace had, but instead, Deuce’s face crumbled, and he pushed Ace away, walking off. Ace’s own face lit up in surprise as they reversed roles, Ace getting up to chase after Deuce, who only ran further away.
“DEUCE, what the—why are you running!?”
“Just…! Just go away, Ace!”
“Hah??? After all that, you want me to go away? Hell no.”
But Deuce, being the maniacally fast runner he was, had already disappeared from Ace’s sight, causing him to stumble to a stop, frantically searching the area for Deuce’s dark blue hair and cyan eyes, cursing when he realized the boy’s hair already blended into the dark night sky, making it harder for Ace to try to find him.
Ace didn’t give up, only increasing the pace he was searching at, looking behind trees and even in the bushes, but Deuce wasn’t anywhere he looked. It was only when he stumbled upon a familiar-looking cauldron by a tree that he realized what was happening.
“Deuce, are you… you’re in your cauldron again?”
A rumbling sound came from it, and Ace took it as a positive sign, sneaking closer and peering into the hole in the center. A small laugh flew out of him as he realized Deuce was pouting, knees up to his chest to fit in the cauldron.
Deuce scowled at the sound. “Stop laughing at me.”
“Hey, I’m not laughing at you, I’m just—! Okay, never mind, that’s pretty much the same as laughing at you.”
Deuce groaned. “I hate you.”
“Love you too. Now will you get out of this so we can get back to the dorm? The dorm leader would be mad if we missed curfew.”
Mentioning Riddle seemed to have done the trick, as Deuce uncurled himself, slowly rising to his feet and stepping out of the cauldron, which disappeared upon his exit. Seeing Ace’s smug smile, however, Deuce punched him lightly in the shoulder, walking ahead and shoving his hands in his pockets.
But Ace didn’t stop bothering him. “Why are you mad?”
“Dunno.”
“Is it cuz I mentioned Eliza?”
“No.”
“Seriously? I’d be totally embarrassed if I couldn’t say a word to her like you’d done—”
“Ace, would you please just stop talking??”
“Okay, okay.” Ace put his hands up. “I’ll stop.”
“Good.”
“…But seriously, I don’t know how you’re still standing—”
“ Sevens, do you not listen to anything I say??? And how do you know if I’m not already embarrassed…”
“So you are embarrassed?”
“ Yes! Yes, how could you not see that?”
“What would you be embarrassed for, though…?”
“What—you were just talking about it a few moments ago!”
“Haha, I’m just kidding. But dude, was that seriously what you got mad about?”
“…Yes.”
“…Dude.”
Deuce scowled. “Don’t look at me like that. Didn’t you say it was perfectly fine to be embarrassed?”
“Yeah, but getting mad about it is kinda…”
“…Fuck you.”
“Dude, we’re both 16.”
“THAT’S NOT what I— ugh, Ace. I never should’ve talked to you about this… How would I expect you to understand when you were the total opposite of tongue-tied, saving the night like that…”
“That was nothing, why do you gotta keep bringing it up—”
“That’s the reason!” Deuce exploded. “That’s the reason right there! You keep acting like it’s no big deal, like anybody could do what you did, but clearly, I couldn’t do anything, and clearly, it was only you that could pull it off!”
A moment passed, Deuce’s face still red with a mix of emotions—embarrassment, anger, annoyance. Ace didn’t say anything, stunned, only watching as the boy lost his red color, calming himself and sighing, sliding his hands down his face once he realized what he’d said.
“Just… just ignore that please…”
That was when Ace snapped out of his daze, the fury from Deuce transferring over to him as he scowled. “Nah, I’m not ignoring that. Did you just accidentally say you were useless?”
“What—No! …Yes? Maybe!?”
“Queen’s roses…” Ace’s scowl deepened. “I can’t really say you weren’t useless cuz you kinda were—”
“Gee, thanks—”
“I’m not done, so can it! So you were kinda useless today, that I can’t deny, but that’s cuz flirting with girls isn’t your strong suit! I mean, if shooing Eliza away involved beating ass and swearing and summoning cauldrons, boy would you eat that shit up—”
“NOT helping—”
“Okay, okay! Sorry, ‘was just messing around. But seriously, though.” Ace offered Deuce a small smile. “You’re actually good at a lot of things; you just don’t see it like I see it.”
“Name one thing I’m good at that isn’t… whatever you were talking about before.”
“Uh…??” Ace went red, Deuce’s face so close to him with that frustratingly cute frown of his, the same one that he always had when he was thinking about something deeply. You’re good at being cute. You’re good at making me stare at you all day long. Fuck no, I’m not saying all that! “I mean, you’re good at a lot of things! I just can’t really think of one thing in particular—”
“So I’m not actually good at anything—”
“NO! No, I mean, what was it you were mad about again?” Ace fumbled over his words, unsure of what to say for once in his life. “Not being able to get bitches? Cuz wow, you’re so wrong, you already pulled me—wait, shit, I’m not— hah?!? Sorry, just please ignore that—”
“Wait, wait, wait. …You’re saying you’re a bitch?”
“NO, PLEASE just ignore that for Seven’s sake—”
“Then… you’re saying you like me?”
“What? What— huh? ” Ace’s mouth opened and closed, little sounds coming out of it, but nothing more than unintelligible signs of confusion.
Deuce, as slow as he was in school, was surprisingly quick, drawing closer, looking at Ace with a small flush on his cheeks. “Do you really mean it?”
Ace swallowed, looking at Deuce’s lips that were so close to his, looking away, then looking back, unable to stop himself from voicing his real thoughts. “ …Yes. ”
“Then… you won’t mind if I…?”
“ …No. ”
What happened next, Ace wasn’t sure of, but all he felt and knew in his mind was the rough press of Deuce’s lips against his own as they shared their first kiss together, under the moonlight.
Romantic.
Ace kinda liked it.
(Though he would never admit it.)