Work Text:
As happy as Ace wished he could be right now, the party felt like the worst idea yet. Tonight was Halloween and for whatever plotwise reason, they were now the creatures they had dressed up in. He and his brothers had all dressed up in the cheesiest and classiest characters they could think of, and right now Ace wished he had thought of something other than a zombie with a bloody hole in his chest. His companions on the other hand were pretty excited of their new bodies, those lucky bastards. For a moment they had been bawling their eyes out at the sight of the hole but when the panic had settled down, they found it hilarious and suddenly Ace was the joke of the party.
Sabo had chosen to be a vampire; his blond hair was swept back with half of the jar of gel they had found home and the usual blue coat switched into a black one. The white cravat had a drop of blood on it to add more character. His friend grinned at him, his long, sharp fangs mocked him, and for a moment there Ace wanted to eat his brains. A small line of blood ran down from the corner of his mouth, he hoped it wasn’t real blood but the paint they had used back home.
At his right, Luffy was looking around and ran off to the large dinner table. The boy’s tail almost wagged in excitement at the sight of all the food and Halloween themed desserts. He had chosen to be a werewolf, only because he’d wear his shorts and run around almost topless. Ace, the ever caring and not overly protective like people might think, had demanded his little brother to wear at least something to cover up his chest. It was cold outside after all. Sabo’s laughter hadn’t helped the case at all and only made it harder for them to agree on the shirt to wear. In the end, Luffy agreed to wear his old blue vest after he had done some changes to it and the shorts. He had wanted to look like he had just experienced his full transformation with the ripped shorts and vest, which was okay with Ace until they stepped to the party and the spell hit them. Now Luffy was sprouting real dog ears and his fake tail was actually attached to him and gave away his moods by wagging vigorously at the sight of ... everything.
Sabo had already made a comment how cute Luffy was and it didn’t help the fact Ace fucking knew of his ridiculous crush on Luffy. Of course Sabo thought he was being smooth and stealthy with his crush but he couldn’t fool Ace. He couldn’t fool the man who had grown up with them and seen everything.
But it wasn’t like Luffy was acting any better either, he was just so darn oblivious and too stupid to actually notice anything, not that Sabo was any better.
The two went back and forth, flirting with each other and neither of them noticed a thing. It all made Ace want to bang his head to the nearest brick wall and end all of it from his behalf.
“If those two won’t end up together by tonight, I really wish I was dead…” Ace muttered darkly as he watched Sabo walk up to Luffy with two wine glasses, offering the other to the teen. The teen gave the glass a look and made a face, shaking his face. But Sabo was smiling and said something to the other, who then accepted the glass with a grin. Ace guessed Sabo had gotten himself some actual red wine while Luffy’s was probably berry juice.
“Please be mindful of what you wish for,” feminine voice cut him off and Ace noticed Robin standing next to him, the witch’s hat crowning her head. From the painful expression she wore, he guessed she had seen something he didn’t want to know about. Probably the witch powers affecting her mind. She then smiled beautifully, nodding her head at the two idiotic lovebirds by the table. “Those two will come around eventually. Just give them time.”
“Robin, I appreciate your words and all, but those two have been flirting around each other for almost three months now”, the annoyed zombie huffed and leaned against the wall behind him. He crossed his arms over his chest, shuddering when his hand went too close to the gaping hole in his chest. He’d have nightmares of his disturbing image for at least a month, he was sure of it. “But if those two won’t wound up together by tonight, I swear I will eat their brains.”
Something glowed and when he looked at Robin, his eyes widened at the sight of her purple eyes shining brightly in the dark. He pushed off the wall, whole body in alarm and his hands hovered in the air. “R-Robin?”
“Is that your true wish, Portgas D. Ace?”
“H-huh?” his body tensed up, cold sweat running down his back. Nothing good ever came up from someone speaking to him with his full name. Robin’s eyes glowed darker and Ace took a tentative step back, swallowing the dread down in his throat. “I, uh, I guess?”
“Very well then”, she closed her eyes and when she opened them they were back to their old color. She smiled at him. “You have until dawn to bring those two together, or else you will be stuck as a zombie for all eternity.”
Ace’s jaw went slack and he stared at her with disbelief. His head went numb and he couldn’t think of anything. Nervous laughter broke out of him before he even realized. This, this had to be a joke, right?
“No Ace, this isn’t a joke”, she chuckled behind her hand and turned to join the others, leaving the gaping man on his own. Suddenly he was deaf to the booming music and laughter around him, it was like the time had slowed down. He felt his chest, his fingers lingering by the edge of the wound not daring to feel the inside. He… he had really messed up big time, hadn’t he?
He shook himself out of the daze, eyes settling on the crowds around him. His breath quickened as he was searching for something among the people. When he found it, he pushed forward through the little space, extended arm reaching for the familiar blond hair.
“Sabo!”
xxxx
His oldest friend gave him a weird look after he had explained the whole thing with Robin. When he ended his story, Sabo was looking everywhere but him and from the dim light Ace’s could see the small blush covering his friend’s cheeks. Out of all times he was acting bashful and shy?!
“I uh, I don’t know what you mean!”
“Sabo please ”, Ace groaned, the urge to punch some sense into Sabo was tempting. “Your crush on my little brother is almost ridiculous. Cute, but ridiculous!”
That wasn’t probably the right thing to say. Ace saw something flash in his friend's eyes before he turned his eyes down and bit his lip. He hoped he wouldn’t hurt himself with the fangs. Ace sighed and rubbed his neck, other hand raising to his hip to rest there. Sure he was a bit biased of his two most precious people getting together, Luffy was his little brother and Sabo his best friend! Of course he'd worry! What if something went wrong and he'd end up losing both of them?! Luffy was his precious little brother and he couldn't stop worrying about him, he cared for him deeply. But Sabo was also very important for him, he was his first and oldest friend.
So if letting these two date each other and that was made them both happy then... Then who was he to oppose?
He groaned quietly and pinched the bridge between his eyes. All tension left his shoulders with a long exhale.
“Sorry… What I meant to say was that you two have been at this for months now and it’s really painful to watch you two acting like little kids. You two clearly like one another and it’s kind of hard for me to watch you act so cluelessly around each other”, he spoke gently. Sabo’s head rose a little, Ace counted that as a point for him.
“Luffy likes you and you like him. So why can’t you two just… You know”, he was starting to feel awkward. He wasn’t the right guy to talk about relationships and emotions, and being a wingman for his best friend and little brother felt odd. But this was what he had to do or else the two would never get together.
“...you think?” Sabo spoke for the first time, gnawing on his lower lip. He didn’t want to appear as one but he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown here. “I-I mean… that Luffy and I share the same feelings?”
Another groan and Ace held his face in his hands. He couldn’t do this! Maybe he was better off as a zombie for the rest of the eternity. He’d mess with people and make his friends’ lives exciting by coming to their door at 2AM demanding for brains.
“Listen, I’ve known you two for my entire life and when I say you two are meant for eachother, I mean it.”
Sabo’s eyes were shining and he looked like a child, face open and glowing with hope. This all reminded Ace of their childhood days and while the other’s expression would have been cute and nostalgic, the vampire getup ruined it for him. He wanted to laugh so hard but knew it would ruin whatever mood they had created. So instead he slapped his hand on Sabo’s shoulder and grinned at him. “So let’s get you hooked up with my little brother!”
“Woah!” came a sudden shout from someone they both knew too well. Sabo’s face took an interesting shade of purple and Ace rolled his eyes, tilting his head back with a groan. Lazily, he turned his upper body to get a look at Marco and Thatch.
Apparently the evening’s spell had hit them too since Thatch prank had turned against him and his pigeon costume choice had turned him into a real pigeon and he was currently perched on Marco’s shoulder. They had decided to go as each other, Marco had gone as a chef and had the whole masterchef going on whilst Thatch hadn’t found a chicken costume had ended up with a pigeon. Lucky for everyone in the party, the spell had turned Thatch into a pigeon sized bird with Thatch’s hairstyle rocking the look, and not into a human sized human-pigeon hydride…
Marco grinned and had his arms crossed over his chest, a wooden spoon held in his right hand. “Well well, isn’t this the first! Ace is finally putting down the gloves and handing his little brother to Sabo. Have been waiting for this for the last couple of forever, yoi!”
“So what finally made you do it, Ace? You finally took pity on Sabo and decided to let him have a puppy?” Thatch held out his wing and Marco gave it a gentle high five.
Sabo rolled his eyes but couldn’t suppress the smile. Ace on the other hand wanted to turn Thatch into something more suitable, like a stuffed bird and hot wings. Speaking of food, he hadn’t had anything to eat since they got here.
Thatch was wise enough to shut his peak and fly on top of Marco’s tall chef hat. The hungry look and the way Ace was looking at him didn’t feel good under his feathers. And at the sight of the first drops of saliva, Thatch was up in the ceiling lamp.
xxxx
“So how are we going to do this?” Thatch asked, still on top of Marco’s chef hat. The two of them had decided to help the lover boy with his quest, much to Ace’s annoyance. “I imagine it should be something unforgettably sweet!”
Sabo was deep in thought so Ace chose to be the voice of wisdom this time. He looked over his shoulder and gave the other two a pointed look. “This is between Sabo and Luffy. We will not interpose.”
“Ah but Ace”, Thatch whined and dropped down from the hat, soaring down to sit on Ace’s shoulder. “They’re just going to do something boring like talk! We should make this into something big!”
“Listen bird brain, this is between Luffy and Sabo. If you even try to do anything that would ruin this evening for us, you will be first one I’ll hunt down.”
“Aw now he’s protective of them both! Ace you’re so sweet!” Thatch cooed, nudging his tiny head against Ace’s cheek. His hair bounced with his head movements. Marco cleared his throat.
“Speaking of, do you know where Luffy is, yoi? This would be awfully lot easier if we found him first.”
“He’s probably at the biggest table with food on it”, Ace shrugged. He’d know where his brother was, after all the teen was easy to read. He felt someone tap his shoulder and looked around to see Sabo pointing at the dance floor. It was crowded with people, all dancing and having fun in their new bodies. No one seemed to mind the change, after all it only lasted for the night. And at the middle of it all was Luffy, dancing with his friends and some other people Ace recognized under the colorful lights. “Or there.”
“How are we going to get him out of there?” Thatch whispered, horrified of the amount of people on the dancefloor. The crowd was big compared to him and he’d like to stay alive and intact until the spell broke. “I ain’t going there!”
“Lure him out?” Marco offered with a shrug. “He is a werewolf now, yoi. Luring him out with food should be easy.”
‘Almost too easy’, Ace thought inside his head and couldn’t help but to roll his eyes when Sabo frowned at him. Either being a vampire had given him the power to read minds or Ace was as easy to read as the the other two were.
“You don’t need to lure him out”, Sabo muttered and pushed forward into the crowd. Ace and Marco shared a look, both equally as surprised of the man’s straightforwardness. Apparently Sabo had this one in the bag, now they just had to wait for them to return.
“You think he’s finally going to do it?” Marco wondered out aloud, Thatch shrugged his wings. Ace found himself glancing at the window, relieved to see the moon in the sky. They still had more than enough time to break whatever curse Robin had put on him.
Finally, Sabo emerged from the mass with Luffy right behind him. The teen’s cheeks were covered with a crimson hue and Sabo’s face was almost as red. Luffy stood next Sabo, eyeing Ace with curiosity. His eyes landed on the pigeon with Thatch’s hair-do. His eyes grew bigger and he glanced at Marco who nodded his head with a small grin, then broke down with laughter. Thatch huffed annoyedly and hid his head under his wing.
Sabo laid a careful hand on Luffy’s shoulder to gain his attention. The teen wiped his eyes and saw the other nod towards the balcony across the room. He clearly understood what Sabo meant and nodded his head slowly, taking the offered hand in his and following the vampire out.
Ace felt giddy and he almost rushed after the two when he felt a hand gripping him by the forearm. Behind him Marco shook his head.
“Let them have this. You said it yourself”, the man said, using Ace’s own words against him. The older brother frowned, pushing out his lower lip as he followed the two with his eyes. He hoped neither of them messed this up.
xxxxx
This whole party had been a grave mistake, Ace came to realize at the early hours of the morning. He had tried to be a good big brother and the best friend someone could ever be and have, and this was how he was repaid?
Sabo and Luffy had finally gotten together and were an item, Ace couldn’t be happier. Sabo’s confession had been successful, that sly guy had even picked out the perfect place to make it both memorable and breathtaking. What Ace had heard later from Nami, who just happened to have passed the balcony at the perfect time, the two had shared a small kiss and then confessed to each other. Now he could throw a tantrum at Sabo for doing something inappropriate as that before actually knotting the tie, but he chose not to. The two had finally stopped running around each other and stopped to see the answer right in front of them.
But who knew his friends and brother would turn against him like this?
Apparently the whole curse thing with Robin was just a trick to get him to accept Sabo and Luffy’s possible relationship. It seemed his behaviour as a chastity belt for Luffy and the human shield against Sabo had been one of the things that had kept the two from getting together. This was what he had heard, not that it was true at all.
So Luffy’s friends, accompanied by his and Sabo’s, had come up with a perfect little plan to distract the older brother while the little love birds would get some private time and maybe finally hook up.
When he had asked about the weird spell laid upon all of them, no one could say anything. Apparently that had been a complete surprise for all of them and no one knew anything, but it was convenient.
The party was close its end and Ace yawned, ready to go home and have his normal body back. The spell was yet to break but Robin had mentioned something about dawn so he believed that in an hour the hole would be gone and he’d stop yearning for brains, and dancing Thriller.
“Ace!” he heard Sabo call him. His friend was beaming, tired but still managed to sound excited. Ace did a quick check-up on his friend’s costume, noticing the cravat missing. Weird, usually the other was strict with the way he dressed. Oh well, maybe he had gotten hot. The vampire outfit did look a bit uncomfortable with the high collar, cape and the fitting suit underneath it. “Thank you so much for tonight. I can’t believe we were this blind… must’ve looked stupid.”
“Heh, yeah. But what can you say, love does that to you”, Ace couldn’t help but to add. His friend stared at him, trying to keep his face straight. “So, did you have something in mind?”
“Actually yeah”, Sabo nodded. His eyes were glinting mischievously and Ace found himself tensing up when their eyes met. This couldn't be good. “I thought if you’d help me with something. I have something I want to give to Luffy before the spell breaks and we’re back to our normal bodies.”
“Uhhuh… and what would that be?” Ace arched a brow, crossing arms over his chest. His friend grinned and motioned him to follow. Keeping his eyes open for any threat or prank, Ace followed. The guests weren’t paying any attention to them, all too exhausted or drunk to care what was going on. Brook laid on the floor passed out from the hard partying. He had dressed as a skeleton and the spell had obviously turned that against him. Now at the center of the dance floor laid a disco corpse, or skeleton.
Sabo had led him back to the balcony, Luffy was sitting on the railing. Ace’s eyes widened a little when he noticed a change in his brother’s costume. The vest was buttoned up and the teen was wearing Sabo’s cravat tightly around his neck. He spared his friend a criticizing look, Sabo dodged it and pulled an innocent smile on his lips.
“So I was thinking about ending this marvelous night with a style”, Sabo said with a light tone. He offered a hand to Luffy, helping him down from the railing. The teen giggled, his cheeks blossoming in beautiful crimson when their eyes met. Ace felt sick and he groaned, looking away with a dirty expression.
He suddenly yelped when he felt Sabo move him a little to the right. His friend stood behind him, Sabo was a bit taller than him so him hiding behind Ace must’ve looked odd to anyone watching.
Luffy tilted his head, trying to see past Ace and stayed rooted in place. Something was going to happen and Ace wasn’t sure he was going to like it. His whole body was tense.
“I feel like you should be here, Ace”, Sabo started, rustling something behind him. Ace rolled his eyes and looked down at his brother, who met his eyes. Luffy didn’t seem to know what was going on either, so he offered him a shrug and a reassuring smile. The teen gave a small shy smile and tugged a hair behind his ear as he looked away.
“Luffy”, Sabo spoke suddenly, his voice trembled but still managed to sound gentle. Ace wanted to groan because he felt like he was in one of those sappy romance movies Thatch liked to watch. “I, I… I want to thank you for being there for me and uh, I appreciate Ace for letting me have this chance to be with you so…”
Suddenly there was a rose.
A rose.
Ace could only stare, horrified and frozen in place, he could only stare at the hand holding a rose. Behind them he’d hear someone gasp and something falling to the ground, they were being watched. But he didn’t have time to worry about that as there currently was a hand coming through the gaping hole in his chest, and that hand was holding a red rose -- How was he supposed to stay calm at the situation like this!?
Luffy accepted the rose and smiled like there was no worry in the world. He tilted his head and offered the demon behind Ace a soft smile, thanking him for the rose. The hand was still there and although it didn’t hurt, it was slightly disturbing to have a hand going through his chest. He wanted to scream and possibly have Sabo’s head on a stick, but he managed to remain calm. Then it began to sink in him. He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry, probably both.
Before Sabo and Luffy got together, Ace had stood between them and this was some symbolic shit Sabo had come up with.
Classic Sabo.
“Okay, alright, now that that’s over, can you please get your hand out of my chest so I can kick your ass?” Ace asked with his sweetest voice, tilting his head to get a better view of Sabo. His friend grinned cheekily.
“I don’t know. Doesn’t sound that nice from my end of the bargain.”
“You two should hurry it up before the dawn breaks and you two will end up like that for the rest of your lives!” Thatch called, having perched on Luffy’s shoulder. The teen’s eyes began to shine and glimmer and before he’d open his mouth, Sabo had retracted his arm and Ace took a long step away from him.
“I can’t believe you just did that!”
“It was fun, wasn’t it!”
“It was awesome! Can you do it agai--Ow! Ace!”
“Shut up Luffy! That there wasn’t fun, it was messed up and gross!”
“Saboo… Ace’s a big meanie!”
“Ace stop hitting him!”
“ YOU GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM YOU CREEPY NECROMANCER! ”
“Ew Ace what the hell…”
-the end-