Luffy looked hopeful at the idea of walnuts, then put out when he realized Ace was insulting him, not talking about food. “Can’t you just wshhhhh?” he asked, waving his hands about in a juggling motion.
“No, you cheesecake, it’s seastone!” Ace flailed at him, trying to thump him a good one, but Luffy just stretched his head out of the way, sticking it up and around to peer at the rope around Ace’s ankle.
“Looks like it.” Luffy let his head spring back to his body, letting it wobble wildly like a bobble-head. “I guess you’re gonna die here!” He laughed.
“You’re the worst brother.” Ace groaned. “Go get Franky or Nami or someone. Anyone. Zoro or Sanji. Hell, Zoro and Sanji, I’d even deal with the two of them together to get out of this!”
“Okay!” Luffy bounced up cheerily, like it wasn’t his fault Ace was caught in a humiliating rope trap sneaking into a Navy base. He hadn’t even wanted to go.
“And hurry up!” Ace hissed at his retreating back.
Luffy kicked it up into a jog. The light from his flashlight disappeared slowly, off into the distance, vanishing abruptly as Luffy took a turn.
He swore a bit.
And then a bit more.
And then broke into a full on rant composed completely of swearwords. He was having the worst fucking day and this just put the goddamn icing on the shit cake, didn’t it?
Ace fumed, still revolving slowly. He hated going to visit their Grandfather, and this was why. It involved bizarre booby traps and dusty old tunnels that nobody ever used anymore. But if nobody ever used these, whose light was that coming from the opposite end of the tunnel?
Ace flailed, trying to stay facing the light, but he continued the slow spin, and only succeeded in exhausting himself and almost throwing up. His head throbbed with all the blood pooled there.
Ace was fucked. He managed to lift one noodle-weak arm to grab at the knife on his belt, and let gravity yank his arm back down to the ground, pulling the knife from its sheath. He was as ready as he could be.
To his surprise, he recognized the man (fishman, more accurately) approaching him.
“Jinbe?” He squinted. He couldn’t trust his eyes with this much blood in his head.
“Ace, my friend.” Jinbe paused in the middle of the tunnel. Probably not sure how to handle seeing the Boss of the Spades gang dangling upside down by a rope under the Navy headquarters. “You… Seem well.” Jinbe offered, diplomatically.
Ace let his head dangle, laughing. “Sure am, Jin.” He grinned. “Cut me down?”
“Seastone?” Jinbe accepted his knife, reaching up and lifting Ace to sit on his shoulder. Ace fisted his hands in Jinbe’s sweatshirt, not wanting to fall.
“Yep.” Now that leg was just being pulled up at a slight angle, Jinbe sawed at it for a moment before dropping the hank of rope that had previously been wrapped around Ace’s ankle. Ace sighed in relief as power surged through his body once more. He could feel the fatigue draining slowly from his body, but still felt shaky. Ace took his knife back and sheathed it with wobbly fingers. “Thanks man.” He grinned at Jinbe who smiled back.
“Anytime for a friend.” Jinbe continued his slow plod. Though his pace was slow, his legs were long, and he ate up the distance quite swiftly. “What brings you to be caught here?” Jinbe asked eventually.
Ace couldn’t decide whether to roll his eyes or laugh. “My dumb kid brother. He’s like an unstoppable force, but he can be as dumb as a box of muffins sometimes.”
“I have yet to meet Luffy. Your stories of him are always quite entertaining.” They reached a staircase and Jinbe plodded upwards.
“Entertaining is a good word for Luffy.” Ace grinned. “He’s like a bouncy ball in an antique store. He actually did that once.” Ace laughed. “I didn’t know you could get a lifetime 86 from an antique store until then.”
Jinbe chuckled and they emerged into a hallway in the Navy HQ. Their problem as gang members was getting in. Once they were in, everyone there assumed the guards at the gates had done their jobs and that they were civilians who were cleared to be there. Jinbe was particularly notorious, leading the Sun Tiger Gang. It wasn’t publicized that Jinbe was secretly a warlord, making him a gang leader supported by the government. It gave him unique connections and power that gave him a deadly edge.
Ace wasn’t terribly well known; he kept his head down around cameras and always wore a hat. He preferred anonymity on the streets, keeping his strength a secret. The most that the press had managed to get was a shot of the small straw hat tattoo on his shoulderblade, so he was generally assumed (wrongly) to be a member of the Straw Hat Gang. It amused him, so he never bothered to correct the rumor.
Jinbe made his way through the Navy base like he knew where he was going. Which he probably did. He eventually made his way to an office with a rather harried looking secretary outside, who was arguing with someone on the other end of the phone. His pink hair was frazzled and he waved to Jinbe apologetically, smiling at Ace briefly.
Jinbe nodded and stood to the side, examining a painting of a bowl of fruit. Ace waved back.
“I’m sorry Captain Smoker, please just send him down to Garp’s office. Yes, I know he’s a terrible nuisance. No, I really can’t come and get him at the moment, I’m very sorry. Yes. Yes. Lots of meetings. I’m sorry sir. Yes. No. Thank you.” Coby hung up and smiled at Jinbe. “Good Afternoon Warlord Jinbe. Admiral Garp should just be finishing up his current meeting.”
“Thank you Coby.” Jinbe nodded, examining the bowl of fruit quite seriously.
“I’ll have your regular tea order sent in, unless you’d prefer something else.” Coby was already dialing numbers.
“The regular will be fine, thank you.” Jinbe nodded serenely.
Ace propped an arm up on Jinbe’s head. “You come here enough to have a regular?” He asked curiously.
“Depending on the amount of activity, the navy likes me to report in more regularly. With the recent rash of street drugs, I’ve been here quite often lately.”
Ace wrinkled his nose at the thought. “Yeah, they’ve been bad. I think I’m almost to a break to it. I’ll keep you updated, man.”
He heard the door open behind him, and his Grandfather’s booming laughter.
“I would very much appreciate that.” Jinbe patted his knee companionably.
“What are you doing here, you shithead?” Garp glared.
Ace glared right back over his shoulder. “You invited us, you dumb fuck.”
“What did you call me you little shit?” Garp bellowed.
Coby managed to divert Garp’s attention rather skillfully with a new cup of coffee from the pot behind his desk. “Jinbe is here for your two o’clock sir.”
“Right, right.” Garp nodded before pointing at Ace. “You and my brat of a grandson aren’t supposed to be here ‘til Friday, lackwit.”
Ace flailed. “How was I supposed to know?? You always send all the information to Luffy! I just listened to him!”
Garp bellowed out a laugh. “Is that why I can hear ol’ Smokey blowing his stack upstairs?”
Ace laughed along with him. “Probably. I’m surprised this whole place isn’t smoking!”
“So I’ll see you Friday then?” Garp asked.
“Probably, yeah. You’re doing lunch, right?”
Garp nodded.
“Then of course I am!” Ace grinned at him.
Garp nodded again. “Smart man. Now, Jinbe, get in here! And you, you damn pest, get out of here!” He waved Jinbe in as he shoved someone out of his office.
They stumbled slightly before straightening, facing Coby.
Ace slipped nimbly down from Jinbe’s shoulder. “Later gramps! Later man!” He waved goodbye to each of them before realizing who exactly stood in front of Coby’s desk.
“So, Sabo, it looks like he’d like monthly meetings with you. Did you speak about that?” Coby asked.
Sabo hadn’t noticed him yet. “Monthly is fine, though we may schedule more frequently as needed.” The blond man who’d left Ace sitting in the dust after a formidable show of haki. Ace had forgotten then that powerful wielders of haki could render fruit powers inert since he’d never actually faced someone able to do it.
Ace had a score to settle with this little asshole.
He was dressed much differently than he had been the other day. He was wearing a tidy pair of skinny jeans, as opposed to a pair that was ripped and splattered to all hell with paint and who knew what, dark navy instead of bright blue. He was also wearing a crisp blazer and a collared button down with tiny cats on it. His snapback of the encounter before was nowhere to be seen, but there was no mistaking that curly hair and those long, slender legs. And his obnoxious drawl as he scheduled his next meeting with Garp.
“Do you need any help getting out? I know the building can be confusing.” Coby smiled sweetly at Sabo. Jesus. No wonder Luffy’d had the worst crush on him for a while.
Ace took the opportunity to sling an arm around Sabo’s neck, shooting Coby a guileless grin. “I got this, Cobe! Me and Sabo are old friends! I’ll show him out!” His arm was tight around Sabo’s shoulders, on the verge of a headlock. Ace smirked smugly when he saw that he was a whole half inch taller than the blond.
“Okay!” Coby smiled. “See you later Ace!” He answered another phone call before Sabo could protest, and Ace dragged him out of the room.
Sabo flailed, but this time, Ace had the upper hand, and continued striding forward, not giving Sabo a chance to catch his balance. “So, Sabo, huh? What’s up with you and Garp? And the whole rudeness with picking a fight with me and then leaving? That was a real nice piece of work.” Ace’s smile was sickly sweet.
Sabo tried to dig his heels into the ground, but in a contest of strength, Ace was stronger.
“Come on now, I thought you and I were getting to be friends!” Ace’s smile widened.
“Leggo!” Sabo tried to bite at him, but the leather of Ace’s motorcycle jacket protected him.
“Alright.” Ace shoved Sabo into one of the closets that led to one of the many secret passages into the Navy headquarters.
“You realize this isn’t some adolescent game of seven minutes in heaven, right?” Sabo looked incredibly unimpressed with being shoved into a broom closet.
Ace laughed. “So you’re saying being with me in a closet is your idea of seven minutes in heaven?” He grabbed one of the cans of paint on the shelf and gave it a twist.
Sabo spluttered, flushing bright red. The poor dear with his pale complexion. “Fuck you!”
Ace’s laughter increased in volume as a shelf shifted to reveal a hidden staircase. “Sure! About six minutes and forty-five seconds left though!”
Sabo punched him.
He deserved it.
It hurt.
He continued to snicker as he traipsed down the staircase. “Coming, dear?” He called back.
Behind him, Sabo tried the door, only to find it locked. He growled after Ace. “What the fuck did you do, asshole?”
Ace smirked. “The door won’t unlock until the passage is clear. It’s about a twenty minute walk, but I dunno, I could probably stretch that into a couple of hours if I’m not supervised.” Ace conjured a ball of flame into his palm, illuminating the tunnel.
Sabo stomped after him, making it very clear he wanted nothing to do with him or this situation.
Ace slung his arm around his neck again. “So, Sabo! What were you doing with my gramps?” Because damned if he wasn’t going to leave with every scrap of information he could get.
“None of your business.” Sabo tried to shove him off, but there was the whole issue with Ace being stronger than him again.
“I’d say it is my business, seeing as he’s my grandfather and all, and I could ruin your negotiations with him if I wanted to.” Ace bluffed. There was no way Garp would drop sensitive government business just because Ace wanted him to. Hell, he led one of the gangs that Garp was committed to capturing and bringing to justice. But Sabo didn’t know that.
Sabo looked like he’d been forced to eat a lemon. “I am not going to disclose sensitive information to a ruffian.” He sniped.
“Would a ruffian have a direct line to a navy admiral?” Ace asked, doing his best to look innocent.
Ace could practically hear Sabo grinding his teeth.
It was sweet fuckin’ music to his ears.
“I represent parties interested in collaborating with the world government to ensure world peace.” Sabo finally spat out.
“Huh.” Ace let his arm relax around Sabo’s shoulders where it had been not-quite-threateningly tight around his neck. “Sounds a lot like…” he trailed off into thought without really meaning to. He had more than an inkling of what Sabo was talking about. More like an inkwell. If he was talking about the Revolutionaries, that was wild. If he was in a high enough position to speak to the government on their behalf, that was even wilder.
Sabo tried to shove his arm off again, this time, Ace let him.
Sabo peeled his blazer off and set about rolling his sleeves up by Ace’s firelight. He finally produced his snapback from where it had been… tucked down the back of his pants?
Ace snorted his amusement, which Sabo loftily ignored.
Sabo popped it on his head, bill facing forward, smoothing his hands over the ends of his hair.
Ace felt a little sloppy next to him. His jeans were baggy, ripped out at the knees. His white tank top for Shakky’s Rip-Off Bar was at least one size too big, and his elbow brace probably still had ketchup on it from breakfast where it had landed in Luffy’s hash browns during a tussle. His unkempt hair was half-up in a small ponytail that was probably ready to fall out of his hair altogether. Next to Sabo, he felt like a hot mess.
Next to Ace, Sabo tripped over a stray brick sticking out of the path and swore profusely when he almost fell on his face.
That made Ace feel a little bit better. He grinned and offered a hand up.
Sabo ignored his hand and picked himself up, dusting off his pants and palms.
That kind of negated any good feelings Ace had and he scowled.
They continued to walk in silence, both tacitly agreeing that since neither could learn anything about the other, they would ignore each other.
They reached the end of the tunnel after about fifteen minutes of brisk walking: Sabo annoyed and Ace sulking.
Ace knelt by the keypad and punched in a long series of numbers. He pulled the door open and gave Sabo a cheeky wave before yanking it shut behind him.
“Fucker!” He heard Sabo yell from behind the door. He could hear him pounding against the door. “Let me out!”
Ace childishly sat against the door, listening to Sabo pound on the door for a while, yelling obscenities. It felt kind of good, to be a dick to someone who was a dick. He could feel someone scolding him in the back of his head for being so mean, probably Makino, but pushed it aside, basking in the feeling of karmic retribution.
It didn’t last for long.
Sabo’s pounding got quieter after about a minute. A moment of silence. Then a soft “Shit.” from behind the door and a soft thump that he felt more than heard.
Suddenly, Ace felt like an asshole. Just because he’d had kind of a bad day didn’t mean he had to be a dick to someone else, even if they deserved it after knocking him on his ass the last time they met. His stomach twisted uncomfortably and he jumped up. He typed in another long code into the matching keypad on the outside of the door and yanked the door open.
Sabo went sprawling, flat on his back. He’d obviously been sitting against the door, much like Ace had been.
He stared up at Ace, slightly stunned.
Ace smiled down at him, extending a hand to help him up.
This time, Sabo took it, letting Ace haul him to his feet.
“My names Ace.” He offered. “Sorry I was a jerk. Want to get burritos?” He realized awkwardly that he hadn’t let go of Sabo’s hand yet.
Sabo smiled and didn’t let go either.
#deltarune
#cats of tumblr
