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“Ace! Get your ass back- ”
Ace snickered as he launched himself into Striker, fire licking at the edges of the waves that protested against the sudden addition of mass in the water.
Blues, it felt like it had been years since he’d been able to go out on Striker by himself, just him, the wind in his face, the ocean beneath him, and Striker.
“Missed you girl.” He whispered, stretching his arms as wide as they could go. It was good to be out of the ship.
He’d been confined to the medical bay for months and months, had to have a short stay on the weird emo pirate’s submarine for a checkup, back to being forced to stay on the ship. It was AWFUL.
Deuce had made it slightly more bearable by staying with him most days, either as his boyfriend, or as his doctor. Doctor Deuce was less fun than Boyfriend Deuce, but it was better than weird emo pirate doctor.
The one good thing about weird emo pirate doctor was his crew, especially the polar bear mink, who was the absolute BEST place to collapse when he had narcolepsy attacks.
But he was now cleared for leaving the ship, so he was going to make the most of it by taking Striker out for a ride before he got to the island they were set to dock at for a couple of nights to restock things.
It took about ten minutes of enjoying the feeling of being free again before he saw the ship begin docking at the harbour. Deciding that Deuce and Marco might actually kill him if he’d accidentally done anything to set back the healing process, he quickly manoeuvred Striker to sit next to the ship, tying her up for safekeeping.
Striker secured, he climbed up a couple ropes that were hanging off the side of the dock, pulling himself up onto it. He was immediately face to face with Deuce, who was looking a lot like ‘Annoyed Doctor’ Deuce, and not his boyfriend.
“Are you alright? No chest pains? Cramps?” Ace retracted his former statement. This was a combo of ‘Concerned Boyfriend’ Deuce and ‘Annoyed Doctor’ Deuce. Perhaps a touch of ‘Very Pissed Off First Mate Deuce’ in there as well.
“My arms are kind of sore, but it’s no big deal.” He shrugged, and Deuce’s eye twitched, moving his mask minutely.
“Ace, my love, light of my life, it might be a big deal.” Deuce hissed the last words, hands coming up to lightly touch and examine Ace’s bare arms. “Did you sublocate your elbow again? Do you need me to get your brace?”
“Deu, babe, it’s okay. I promise.” He took Deuce’s hands in his own, pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles. “It’s just because I haven’t stretched in a bit, I’ll let you know if there’s anything really really wrong with me.”
His boyfriend sighed and leaned into his chest slightly.
“I know, I’m just worried. This is your first proper trip after recovery, and I don’t want you accidentally overdoing it, or getting sick, or-”
Deuce’s anxious ramble was cut off by Ace’s lips meeting his, a soft and fleeting kiss that quieted some of the noise in his brain.
“I promise that if anything happens, I’ll go straight to you or Marco, and we can go back to the ship, okay?” He smiled, and had to slap himself internally to stop the well-meaning laugh that threatened to bubble up at seeing Deuce so flushed after just one kiss.
“Alright.” Deuce sighed as he stepped back and grabbed Ace’s hand, interlocking their fingers. “But I’m keeping an eye on you, okay?”
“Ohhh nooooo whatever will I do, my beautiful boyfriend must stay by my side while we explore this new island, what a terrible fate I have been cursed tooooooo.” Ace slumped onto Deuce’s side dramatically, throwing his free arm over his face as he pretended to sob.
Deuce rolled his eyes, but allowed Ace to drag his feet until they got into the town.
“Looks like there’s an event on or something. There’s a heap of food stalls.” Ace snapped out of his faux distraught trance when Deuce mentioned his second greatest love after him, food.
“Y’all from the crew that just docked, eh?” A voice from behind the pair called out, making them spin around.
“Ah! Didn’t mean to startle ya.” A tall man nodded his head at them. “Just thought y’all might want some details on the festival, that’s all.”
“Yes, we are, and that would be excellent, thank you.” Deuce smiled politely.
“It’s the annual harvest festival, ‘ll be hard to find another island in Paradise who has the best variety of crops. Great time for y’all to stop by, ‘specially if you’re lookin’ to stock up on supplies.”
“That’s amazing, thank you for letting us know.”
The local man smiled back and nodded his head once more before picking up a sack that contained a grain of some kind, and continued on his way.
Ace’s grin was bright and he could feel Deuce squeeze his hand slightly.
“No booze, not as much fatty foods as you’d usually have, and if you enter any competitions, please let the kids win.”
“Mother hen” Ace laughed and kissed his boyfriends cheek, pulling him into the now bustling town.
xXx
Ace was having a great time at the Harvest Festival. He knew Deuce was having a good time as well, even if he kept using the excuse of having to keep an eye on him to join in on the festivities.
And letting the kids win, bull shit . Deuce had a competitive and petty streak as long as the Grand Line, and currently was the reigning champion of the sack tossing game after some kid made a comment about how the foreigners wouldn’t be able to do it.
He had given some of his winnings (one of the three plush sea king toys) to a kid who hadn’t done so well, and Ace had to fight every urge in his body that was yelling GET THAT MAN PREGNANT!!!
“What are you thinking about?” Deuce handed him the remaining two plushies, eyes suspiciously regarding his face.
“Nothing!” Ace flushed and hugged the toys to his chest.
“I know that look, you were plotting something.” He narrowed his eyes, leaning forward into Ace’s personal space.
“Oh look at that!” He pointed wildly at the edge of the town, where a competition of some kind was starting. “Let’s go try that!”
“Ace, hold on-” Deuce stopped trying to talk to his boyfriend and followed him quickly as he speed walked towards the small circle of people that were lighting torches.
“What’s this event?” Ace tapped the shoulder of a passer by, who smiled in return.
“Oh! You’re not from around here are you? It’s the fire fighting competition, it’s one of the big attractions for competitors from nearby islands.”
“Thank you kindly.” He grinned evilly, and turned to Deuce to nod, before walking straight into the crowd, disappearing from view.
“Ace, that’ll be cheating if you don’t tell them about the- Ace!” Deuce hissed, elbowing and apologising his way through the crowd behind him.
“I’d like to enter in the fire fighting competition!” Ace declared as he reached the inner circle, putting his fists on his hips dramatically.
“You sure kid?”
All of the other people in the centre of the circle were at least two times his size, and were not impressed with Ace’s sudden declaration of wanting to join their competition.
“I’m so sure.” He grinned, slipping his thumbs into his belt loops as he walked forwards. “Scared you’re going to get beat by a random guy from the East Blue?”
“Ay, hotshot. No jewellery.” A firm hand on his shoulder stopped his movement. The tall muscled woman pointed her thumb at a small box to the side of the clearing. “In the box unless you want it all to go up in flames.”
“I don’t think that’ll happen, I promise.” Ace chuckled, but the hand tightened slightly.
“Those are the rules kid. In the box.”
He sighed, once again dramatically, and walked to where his beloved boyfriend was barely making it through the squeeze of the crowd to get into the front row.
“Take care of these for me, will you?” He grinned, slipping his necklace and hat off to tenderly place them both on Deuce’s neck and head.
The crowd gasped, and Ace rolled his eyes before pecking Deuce on the cheek and walking back into the clearing.
“So, who’s first?” He flipped his hair away from his face and smirked.
xXx
Deuce winced every time one of the competitors nearly got Ace with a flaming baton, even though he knew that it wouldn’t actually hurt him. Or at least he hoped it wouldn’t hurt him. The idiot might forget to turn to flames in time, or-
“I can’t believe he did that!” A woman whisper shouted beside him, and Deuce ignored it.
“I know right!! So romantic!” Another woman whisper shouted back, and Deuce suddenly felt the hem on his shirt being tugged.
“What?” He tried to keep his tone neutral, he didn’t need to start a fight while Ace was being reckless right in front of him.
“We were just talking about your partner! It’s rude not to include you too!” The woman smiled widely, nodding her head at his incredibly foolhardy boyfriend.
“Oh, uh, thank you?” He leant forwards slightly to be able to hear the women clearly over the shouts of the crowd of spectators.
“I think I’d just die if Julie did something like that! Julie’s right there!” The second woman clutched her shirt before pointing at the very tall woman who told Ace to take off his jewellery.
“She looks like she’s doing well?” Deuce nodded along awkwardly. Apparently fighting in this fire fighting event was a big deal?
“Oh she is! She’s been the champion for the last four years, but oh goodness, I do think I’d probably lose my mind if Hiroki had asked me here, before going in to fight!” The first woman fanned her face, giggling “I’d have probably hit him and tell him not to fight though, but your partner seems to be really holding his own!”
“Asked-” Deuce was jostled by the crowd, his hands immediately coming to his head to make sure Ace’s hat was safely on his head. “Asked you what?”
“Asked me to marry him! Oh it was absolutely lovely last year at the Harvest Festival, he gave me his bracelets after he finished selling at the grains stall. You’ve probably seen him if you were at the grains stall today, he’s pretty tall, tan skin, absolutely gorgeous face,”
“Lilian!” The other woman playfully slapped her friend’s arm, and Deuce could see that she was wearing three delicate bracelets, two silver and one gold. “Don’t make this poor boy’s proposal all about Hiroki!”
“I’m sorry darling, I just get so excited when I see all the lovely ways that people are getting engaged today!” Lillian pet Deuce’s shoulder softly, laughing. “I’m sure your partner’s proposal will be the talk of the town until next year’s festival! Hopefully Julie picks up a thing or two, eh Ima?”
“Don’t say that Lil! I’m sure whatever Julie decides to do will be just wonderful- and that’s if I don’t get there first.” Ima rolled her eyes, hands coming up to brush against a beautifully engraved earring that dangled from her right ear.
Deuce’s brain only registered half of the words that the women were saying, partially because it was so damn loud up in the front, and secondly because several parts of his brain ceased functioning after they told him that Ace had just proposed.
Because.
WHAT.
He had just given him his hat and necklace, there was no ring to speak of, and by the blues, if he was getting proposed to, he would have liked it to be somewhere quiet, and just NO WAY.
Flashes of the day came to the forefront of his brain, of couples exchanging jewellery and kissing, and people who saw it generally ‘oooh’ing and ‘awww’ing over it.
Oh holy shit, they came to the island where people proposed by exchanging jewellery, when the festival they proposed was on, and Ace had just given him his necklace and hat like it was nothing.
His face flushed red, and he accidentally met Ace’s eyes as he was dodging a swing from the champion, and the second woman’s girlfriend, Julie. Ace winked and did finger guns at him, because of course he did, and continued to fight.
“Oh my gods.” Deuce buried his face in his hands.
He had just gotten proposed to, albeit accidentally. And Ace had no clue.
Deuce screamed silently into his hands, and prayed to whatever god that was out there that Ace would NOT find out about this, and that he would propose in the future, preferably on a date in nature, with a picnic or something.
But his luck was abysmal, so he thought about hitting his head against a wall, and hoped that Ace was knocked out so he could get out of here without anyone congratulating them on their proposal.