Work Text:
“Have I ever seen you without your mask on?”
Ace's head turned slightly in curiosity, like he were a dog. Deuce shrugged looking down at his notebook that he jot down notes for his book in. He’d never described the captain’s quarters to his audience so he was trying to now.
“Suppose not.”
Deuce looked up from his notebook momentarily to find Ace’s face closer to his than it had been before. His heart beat a little faster.
“Hm..”
Ace mumbled as he studied the other’s face. Deuce felt a hand set on his thigh for support as Ace inched his face closer. His hand raised towards the other’s mask, stopping before touching it.
“Could I?”
Deuce’s heart pounded as he stared at his captain. He could feel a bead of sweat run down his body as nervousness took over him. He barely managed to mumble out “I- Yeah..”
Ace’s calloused hand brushed his cheek as he removed Duece’s mask, carefully setting it to the side before leaning back a bit and returned his hands to his lap. He spent what felt like forever watching his second in command’s face, seemingly enamored.
There’s lots of pretentious things deuce could say to explain the pit in his stomach and the nervousness he felt. He could even blame it on his acne or mask-tan-line, but that wouldn’t be the whole story. In reality the thing causing him his nervousness sat right before him. Ace’s eyes seemed to trace all of the new details he could see behind his mask, even though there wasn’t much. The time this man took to process his friend’s face without a flimsy piece of fabric on it was incredulous. Ace Smiled.
His hand returned to the other’s thigh and he brought their faces together again, gently placing his hand on his jaw and turning his head slightly. His eyes peered through his eyelashes to watch deuce.
“Could I do this too?”
Deuce immediately connected their lips together, placing both hands on the sides of Ace's jaw. He could hear his heartbeat loud in his ears as he felt his cheeks heat up. The two separated for a moment before returning to their kiss trying to force both of them closer to the other out of desperation. Ace’s hand reached up from Duece’s thigh to his hair, threading through it and pulling him even closer. Deuce let one of his hands trail down to his partner’s neck and his hair.
They separated for a moment, Deuce could feel Ace pant for a moment before he opened his eyes and a sudden wave of dread overcame him. A bout of nausea filled him as the room seemed to turn. It was newly very dark in the room, all the candles they had lit had died out. Was this even the captain’s quarters? Where am i? He could still see Ace’s outline in the darkness but the heat from him was gone. They weren’t touching anymore but the heat normally radiating off of Ace had disappeared. Deuce felt his heart start to beat faster than before and suddenly the bed the two sat on was cold, damp even. The air smelled of metal. Deuce quickly grabbed a candle off a nearby table and lit it, fumbling and dropping his lighter a few times. Why did I even have it on me? What the light shone was horrific.
Ace sat like he had been but through his torso was a hole, a giant gaping hole. You could see his gnarled ribs just barely showing through, having been bent out towards the front of him. The injury gushed blood, trying desperately to repair it, as the rest of his body became more and more pale. Ace’s eyes were open. There were tears streaming down his face as he sat still staring at him. The man’s blood stained the off white sheets beneath him. The mark crept towards Deuce, staining his paints with red.
Deuce could feel himself moving but he was not controlling. He laid the man in front of him down and went to press down on the wound as you’d do with any piercing wound, before stopping not sure where to press on. The wound was the size of his hands. The new perspective gave Deuce a look into the hole, into the walls of it, viscera kept in shape by a partially burnt layer. You could smell the skin cooking. Blood started to pool within the hole now out of places to escape to. Deuce put his head to his partner’s chest, begging for a beat but his chest was cold. His whole body was, his skin tone now almost entirely a papery white. The only color left being his clothes, hair and pupils, still aware.
Deuce just stared. He expected to be crying, to feel tears start running down his face but none were there. There was no emotion in him. Why can’t I feel anything? The room spun as the hole in his torso continued to fill, Deuce just watching. Why aren’t I waking up? This is when I should wake up? Why aren’t I waking up? Deuce couldn’t feel any feelings but the cold blood infecting his clothes, causing them to stick to his body. I should have already woken up if this wasn’t real. Standing up he turned to the desk— Who’s desk is this? —And picked up the letter opener, rased it to be in line with his throat until…
Deuce felt his body jolt awake, shaking violently, tears pouring down his face, and screams filling the room. It was his screaming but he was barely able to notice. His voice gave out for a moment giving him temporary leisure. His throat burned from overuse. He couldn’t even see around the room with how many tears streamed from his eyes. He sat for a moment recovering, a long moment. He studied his belongings in the dark, waiting for the nightmare to reveal it wasn’t over yet, but after two hours he was sure it was. He let himself fall back onto his pillow, and stared up at the ceiling. He spoke to himself until he could fall back asleep.
I am Masked Deuce. I am a writer, not a doctor, but occasionally a doctor. I was a pirate for three years until my captain joined another crew. We continued pirating for two more years until my captain died, which is when I retired. I now live in an ocean side town we’re i write for the news and occasionally write books. I am safe now. I am safe now. No one else is going to leave me. No one else is going to die on me.
and..
What was my captain’s name again?