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The pen glided on the page as Deuce wrote his week’s adventures. An arm wrapped around his neck. “Come on Deuce ! Live a little,” said Skull while sliding a drink to him. “It’s Banshee’s birthday !” Deuce put his pen down to grab the drink. “That’s my vice-captain !” he laughed. Deuce watched him leave before looking at the rest of the room.
The bar was lively. Most of Whitebeard’s crew were inside to celebrate a member’s birthday. Although, Deuce was half-sure that it was just an excuse to drink at this point. The fleet was too big to actually celebrate everyone’s birthdays like this. From his seat, he could see some of his original crew members—from the Spade Pirates—and, most importantly, he could see Ace. He was leaning on the table, flirting with a giggling woman. He sighed. Ace loved flirting wherever they went. Every time they ended up in a bar, he would find Ace wooing whoever was open to it.
It didn’t matter if he kind of wished that person was him. Ace seemed to have fun and that was all that mattered. He will have the privilege to at least poke fun at him for that in his book. Speaking of which, a man leaned next to him on the table. “Hey, this book yours ?”
Deuce turned to him, drink still in hand. “It is. I wrote it actually, why ?”
“A writer ? Damn, you got everything for you, huh,” the man chuckled. Deuce hummed in confusion as he finished his drink. “Well, pretty face, good brain, great body. What’s more to ask ?” That got a smile out of Deuce.
“Maybe a drink ?” He decided to entertain the man. He wanted to see what was so great about flirting that made Ace and the rest of the crew do it so much.
“That I can do.” The man sat down then called for the bartender.
✦✦✦✦
Ace laughed at the girl’s joke. Just as he was asking for another tour of drinks, his eyes fell on Deuce. He could see a few empty cups sitting between his first mate and a man he had never seen before. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, Deuce had a smile on his face while the other guy was smirking. The latter’s eyes shifted to Deuce’s mouth for a split second before returning to his eyes.
He looked back at the girl in front of him. What Deuce did was none of his business. He had his own life. Who cared if he flirted with a random guy ? Not Ace. He was brought back to reality by the cups being set on the table. The server left with a nod. Ace was about to take a drink when she spoke.
“You’re burning.”
“What ?”
“I said, you’re burning.” She pointed to his hat.
Ace looked up to, indeed, a show of flames. He shook his head to put them off. “Sorry, sorry. Anyway, where were we ?” He took a sip.
“I think we were looking at your crush.”
He choked.
He spent a good minute coughing and wheezing before catching his breath. “What?” he croaked.
“That blue haired guy over there.” She pointed at Deuce. A knowing smile was painted on her face.
“He's not–” “You're on fire, again. This time it's the shoulders though.”
He patted his shoulders while cursing under his breath. She simply laughed at the show. “So does your hat burn when you’re jealous while your shoulders burn when you’re flustered or is it random?”
“None of your business.”
“They're getting real close.” She looked over his shoulder. He followed her gaze to the ‘couple’. The other guy had scooted closer to Deuce who was grinning like a child as he was talking enthusiastically. He seemed to be having a lot of fun with that hot guy.
He heard a sigh escape from her lips. “It’s random, isn’t it ?” She sounded disappointed. “You’re not even on fire this time.” She leaned her head on the palm of her hand, pouting. “Anyway, is he a crush? A situationship ? An ex?”
“He was my first mate when we had our own fleet. He was our doctor. And he's my best friend.” He nodded proudly. She had noticed—after a quite long monologue about his brother—that he has a tendency to show his pride quite easily.
“Best friends,” she mocked quietly.
He glared at her but with no real heat behind it. “Anyways ! Did I tell you about how my brother once beat a big bear by hand on his own ?”
“You did. Right before falling for the second time in your food.” She leaned back on her chair. “Do you want to hear about how I broke my arm when I was 12 ?”
✦✦✦✦
Ace and she had spent almost two hours chatting. Ace, alone, drank at least three bottles until a waitress had to forbid him from buying any more alcoholic beverages. She, however, only drank a few cups. She was distracted from his babbling when she saw the blue haired man sneaking to the back door with the man he had been chatting with. Unfortunately, Ace noticed her distraction and followed her gaze. He spun back around the moment he saw them, fast enough to almost knock down the empty bottles. He stole a bottle from a waitress’ tray and drank it in record time. He retched. His shoulders shook as he tried to get his stomach to calm down.
Meanwhile, her hands hovered in between them. She didn’t know if touching him was the right decision. She decided on moving her chair closer to his and stroke his back in an attempt to help. Her fingers nervously tapped on her knee as she watched him wheeze.
When he got his breathing back in check, she told him that he should confess. He refused without a second thought.
“Oh come on. Look at how you're reacting to him having a little fun with someone else.” She sighed. “No. You're right. I don't know your love life nor your life in general. Sorry.”
“No, you're– cough –you're good. I... I never actually told him.” Her eyes emanated pity. He hated that. “I don’t deserve him. I’m not telling him and I’m also not going to keep him from going to see other people. It’s not fair.”
“Well, I, for one, don’t think it’s fair for you to decide for him. He should be able to choose and, from what I heard from you, he doesn’t seem like the type to think that you are undeserving of him.”
He didn’t answer but she could see that he was thinking about it. Suddenly, a man with blue hair and a mask approached them. “Captain,” he said. “It’s getting late. We should go back before our fleet worries and causes a rampage. Again.”
She could understand what Ace saw in him. His voice was soft spoken and melodious and his smile warm. However, by now, she knew what really caught the attention of the man sitting next to him was the way his breathing was slightly heavy and the way he readjusted his jacket. Ace still accepted the help to stand up. He tried walking on his own and all but crashed into the other man’s chest. Deuce (she believed that was his name) thanked her for taking care of him and bid his adieu, dragging Ace along.
She hoped the latter would remember her advice.
✦✦✦✦
Ace woke up with a rough headache and a dry throat. He tried to open his eyes and was directly blinded by the sun’s light filtering through the window. The muffled sound of waves crashing against the boat and the light rocking of it helped him get grounded. He was back on his ship. The soft touch of the cotton against his skin let him know he was on his bed.
Wait.
He could feel the blanket but no clothes. In a panic, he lifted the blanket to see his naked body. Shit. The bathroom’s door creaked as it opened and Deuce stepped out of it. He smiled when he saw Ace awake and threw him his clothes. “Good morning, captain.” Ace caught his clothes without a word. He drank the cup of water placed on the night stand before speaking.
“Hey, Deuce ?”
“Yes ?”
“Did we... uhm” His cheeks reddened. His grip on his clothes tightened. “Why am I... naked ?” he tried instead.
“Oh yeah. You threw up all over yourself. And all over your clean clothes.” The clean clothes he was talking about were another pair of shorts, a white t-shirt, and a yellow shirt. Anything else he had was bought for harsh weather conditions. So, weirdly enough, it did explain why he was naked. “We need to buy you more clothes by the way. Just saying.” Deuce sat down by his desk and opened his book. Ace stared at it as last night’s memories came back.
The bar. The girl. The advice. Deuce and a random man. Him and Deuce sneaking away. Deuce coming back tired while readjusting the jacket that had slightly slipped off his shoulders. He shuddered at the memories.
“Did you have fun last night ?” he coldly asked. His tone surprised both men. He hadn’t meant to sound like that. “Sorry,” he gently added. “I meant with the guy you were with.” Deuce studied his face for a little while before he leaned on his hand.
“I got jumped.”
“What.”
Deuce groaned in what seemed to be embarrassment. “Yeah, apparently he only wanted my bounty and whatever money I had on me. I got duped pretty easily too.” He resumed his writing. “I should’ve seen it coming.”
Ace only nodded as an answer. He didn’t know why he was feeling happy about that. He would definitely beat up those guys if he ever saw them again, no doubt. Yet, he couldn’t help but be content that he hadn’t been making out with another guy.
While he got dressed up, Ace stared at Deuce as he grabbed the meal Banshee had brought them before sitting down on Ace’s bed.
This wasn’t even the first time Deuce had taken care of him during a hangover. Every time he was sick, sleep deprived, hurt, or was feeling weak after falling into the sea, Deuce was there, waiting for him to get better. If Ace was honest with himself, he’d fallen in love pretty quickly. He’d found him attractive back when they first met—of course he did, look at the guy—but had really fallen hard when he figured out that Deuce knew who his father was. They had had a long conversation about it. One that had mainly consisted of Deuce affirming that he would follow Ace anywhere, no matter who his parents were. Ace knew he wasn’t like his father ; he wasn’t stupid. A child isn’t a copy of their parents, Sabo had been a pretty good example of that. However, hearing someone else say it so surely, like it was a reality that couldn’t be denied, had reached and pulled something deep inside his heart. He had cried so much that night. Deuce had never once mentioned it and had simply let him sob into his shoulder.
The sudden resurgence of the woman’s word to the front of his memory was the push he so desperately needed.
“I think I’m in love with you.”
Deuce froze, his mouth half open like he had been in the middle of speaking—which he might have been, Ace had stopped listening at some point. The former slowly closed his mouth. He slowly opened it again to ask : “What ?”
“I’m in love with you.” For a while, Deuce simply stared at him. No answer, no yelling, no laughing, nothing. The longer the silence stayed, the more Ace regretted his words. He shouldn’t have confessed, advice he received from a random woman in a bar while piss drunk be damned. He was about to take it back and apologise when Deuce asked him if he was serious. At first, Ace thought he had offended him but he only found genuine confusion—and hope ?— in his eyes. He was tempted to lie but decided against it. He nodded, not trusting his voice.
In an instant, Ace was wrapped in a hug. He barely heard the tray of food fall on the ground, the entirety of his attention focused on the man hugging him. His hands hovered over Deuce’s back. “Deuce ?”
“I love you too.”
Ace hadn’t expected that. He returned the hug, gripping the other man’s jacket. His eyes stung with unshed tears. He tightened his hug, wanting to feel his body warmth and make sure it wasn’t another dream. A small chuckle escaped his lips. A minute later, it had turned into a full laugh, relief flowing inside his body. Soon enough, Deuce’s own laugh accompanied his.
Ace crashed his lips against his first mate’s. He tasted like mint and coffee and it should have been disgusting but it wasn’t because he was kissing Deuce and it was heaven. He broke the kiss to look at him. His breathing was heavy and his jacket had slightly slipped off his shoulder, and he looked so beautiful with the small smile that adorned his face. Ace leaned in again to kiss him—when his stomach screamed hunger.
Deuce stifled a laugh while Ace groaned in annoyance. His eyes fell on the food now sprawled on the floor. “Well, time to eat then.”
“Don’t eat things off the floor !”