Chapter Text
Is it okay to be nervous about going on a date? Because f*ck. Ace is so nervous he’s about to start shaking the house with how bad he’s shaking. It can’t go that bad right? He takes a breath as he finishes buttoning up his burnt orange dress shirt he originally went for a light orange but Thatch said it was a little to bright for the occason. Not really his all time favorite but it works right now. It’s nice for the occasion. He fixes his hair, letting his bangs fall perfectly into place before rushing downstairs and meeting up with Thatch. The only way this could happen is if him and Thatch went on a double date together. The Newgate lawyer was trying to get him access to the outside world without needing a chaperone but you know, he’s a criminal. So that wasn’t allowed. Izou and Deuce were meeting them at the restaurant in about 30 minutes so they didn’t have much time to spare. “You ready? You look nervous”
“First ever date,” he says softly and follows Thatch out to the car.
The ride itself was fairly short, they stopped by a small flower shop and got some flowers from this very nice lady with blonde hair. As he steps towards the door a child grabs his leg. “Hi! You’re Luffy’s big brother!” He nods and gives the boy a smile. “I’m Sanji! Dr.Marco saved my mama!” He chuckles. “Well I’m happy to meet one of Luffy’s friends, Happy to hear my friend saved your mother” he ruffles the kids hair and hands him one of the folloewrs, “how about you give your mom a pretty flower” he winks and the boy giggles. “She’d love it! Thank you!”
Oh sh*t they’re late. He runs down the street with Thatch, “Are you wearing- f*ckin hold on.” Thatch grabs his wrists and smells it- what the f*ck?”
“You are not wearing Axe body spray, Ace. Out of all colongues.”
“But the Apollo one smells really good..” he says a bit shy now, Thatch shakes his head and walks inside the restaurant with him. The buying flowers part was well, Thatch’s thing for Izou. It was a traditional thing they did on dates and Thatch let Ace try it out too! He was happy to bring the flowers, he got blue ones, they match Deuce’s hair! They find the table pretty quickly and he sits on the same side as Deuce. “Wow..” he gulps and tucks his hair behind his ear before sitting down. His date is handsome, dressed in a loose collar button up, it’s blue. Such a good color. “You look cute”
“Thank you” he blushes and bites his lip, he can’t stop staring. He looks so good. “Are these for me?” He nods and hands him the flowers, “thank you sweetheart these are beautiful” he grins and moves glance up at Izou. His eyes go wide. And his jaw probably drops. “Ace?”
“I wanna wear a cool ass dress, damn.. that looks amazing. I’m jealous, Deuce buy me a dress,” he says a bit bubbly. Izou laughs and shakes their head before moving to kiss Thatch’s cheek. It’s cute. This is so much fun,
After ordering they talk amongst themselves, everything was going perfect. He loved it, he loved being able to just go out. With people he loves, not worrying about money or his job. Just being here.
“Are you alright?” He nods and grabs onto Deuce’s hand, laying his head on the others shoulder. “This is nice” he says softly, Deuce puts an arm around him and holds him close. “It is, I’ve always wanted to take you out..”
“Heh” he hums and looks around the restaurant. Some place called Baratie. It’s a fancy place but still comfortable to be in. A nice shade of dark red along the walls. “So how many jobs have you worked?”
“Mm… a few” he shrugs and starts thinking it over. How many? A lot probably, more than 20 at least. He couldn’t keep a steady one, especially when he’d need to leave work to pick up luffy or sabo after the Busses started refusing to drop them off.
But it was okay.
“I worked in a garage for a while, that was one of my main kicks. That was steady. He paid good, was really nice. He ended up selling the place which kinda put me in a hole but, I got out of it.” He shrugs. That’s honestly a bit of a lie. He kinda had.. an Agent, but not really an agent. He doesn’t know how to characterize it. ”nice, you pick up any skills?”
“I can look at any motor and within a good few minutes if it can be determined visually aka just by looking no taking apart no going under. I can tell you an estimate and the time it would take to fix it. Oh and sounds, your car going burp bur? Yeah sounds like a problem I can fix it. Probably.” He chuckles.
“Work anywhere else?”
“Mm, I worked at a bar. I didn’t do drinks or anything but I brought the boxes up from downstairs and refilled ice, limes, took out the trash. Wasn’t really good Money but it’s where I worked after the garage would close for the evening.” he explains and gives a gentle smile to Deuce, “I worked odd jobs here and there, uh one was at a butcher shop. I’d take scraps down the road to the local dog shelter for about twenty a box, easy money. Paid for Sabo’s baseball equipment. That kid can f*ckin swing I tell you. Can’t see sh*t out of that bad eye but damn.” He laughs and bites his lip. “I didn’t get to go to many games, one big regret but.. I’m happy I could support him. I uh, always wanted to play baseball. I’m a lefty. Throw better with that en.. but.. well you know” he sighs and lays his head back down.
“I’m sure we can set you up to play for that school if you get in”
“maybe” he says a bit hopeful. “Enough about me, whatcha been up to?”
“Well, I went to the same school you’re about to get into. I’ll be there for another two years to get my associates and my high school diploma. I’ve been working as an intern with Marco on occasion and taking a few cna classes as well. S’why I’m good at taking care of your greasy days.”
“Heh, some days are just days where showering is best done before bed and.. food is so blah but anyway that’s super cool. So you’re taking uh collage classes?”
“Mhm, just some basics” he hums and glances at Thatch. He seems so happy; Izou is hugging his arm and kissing his cheek. It’s sweet, this is all so sweet.
“Hmm, you feeling okay Love?” He nods and takes a deep breath. His stomach growls and they laugh softly. “Yeah, just a little hungry.”
Ace takes a sip of his soda, it’s not often that he drinks it. He never really cared for it originally. But it does taste nice, water or gatorade was always his go to. Refreshing,
Deuce kisses his cheek and hums, “your birthdays coming up isn’t it?”
His birthday? Uh, no. It’s not actually. But eh, everyone has a different idea of when his birthday his. Even the boys. “Nah;”
“Really? It’s not next month?”
He shakes his head, “January. First.” He mutters and Deuce nods, he looks into his eyes and gives a soft smile. “I don’t really, like telling people it just.. isn’t something I’m used to”
“I understand. When Marco first picked me up outta the hospital I didn’t tell him a single truth about myself till I knew he was someone I could trust. Faced a huge consequence from it too. God they were mad till I told them why, then it made sense..” He chuckles softly as Deuce talks; he interlocks their fingers listening till the man stops. “I love you a lot.” He says softly, kissing him.
“I love you too honey”
The rest of the evening went pretty good. They went on a walk out in the park and were allowed to get at least 25 feet away. It wasn’t bad but whatever. “It’s so beautiful out here..” he smiles and leans back into Deuce, laying his head against the others chest, “you gonna get taller then me one day sweetheart?”
“Oh hell I am, gonna be the one holding you like this” he chuckles as Deuce’s arms wrap around him. A few ducks start swimming around and he watches them. “I can’t wait to stop taking these pain killers” he mutters and kisses Deuce’s jaw. “You’re gonna be either cranky a lot, or entirely full of rage.”
“Mmm.. I think I’ll be.. quiet. And.. moody” he laughs and closes his eyes. The last week they’d lowered his antibiotics and started tampering him off the high pain meds. With the sh*t show his arm has become they won’t risk him feeling anything. Marco is so paranoid he’s gonna mess with it again that he got permission from Cora to give Ace a low dose of a mood stabilizer and an antidepressant. Just to keep the emotions calm so he doesn’t.. have a meltdown, again. That was f*cking.. awful. Him and Cora discussed it.
He went into detail, he stayed honest and he told Cora what he was feeling. The other agreed for the stabilizers. Just till he could get a stable two appointments a week and the temptation of the stitches were gone. It’s helped, he’s felt good. So good. It’s not a fix, he’ll need time to focus on healing and work on taking care of his body. But for now theyre taking it a step at a time.
“Heh, I think I’ll be taking the couch a lot when I make you mad” he shakes his head as Deuce takes him out of his thoughts. No no no he would never banish Deuce to the couch. “I honestly.. don’t think I’ll be bad. I know Im pent up, I’ve got a lot of anger. But I think I’ll be skittish and moody.” He shrugs and kisses Deuce.
“I’ll be clingy with Thatch. God.. I can already feel it. I have to see him every time I get up. It’s like… an anxiety thing?”
“I wouldn’t doubt it you had to listen to them go down a few times.” He nods and feels Deuce’s arms shift a bit to get comfortable again. “But it all worked out” he glances to make sure Thatch and Izou are still here. He’s pretty sure Izou is asleep against thatch on a blanket. The two of them gazing up at the stars. He could be wrong.
He hums and motions towards the blanket deuce had bought so they could sit in the grass. “Wanna sit and chat?”
“Mhm” they move to sit down, he feels tired. A bit unsure if it’s an episode or genuine tiredness. He lays his head in Deuce’s lap. “Might be.. narc.”
“Hm? Having an episode?”
“I don’t know, think I’m just sleepy”
“Mm, well I’ll be right here. You just go on and sleep baby.”
When Ace wakes up he’s being cuddled, he recognizes that he’s in a bed and he’s safe. “Mor…in” he mutters moving to crawl out of bed. It’s still very dark outside. He whines at how sh*t he feels, did he miss his meds? Ugh. He stumbles downstairs, picking at the bandages on his arm. “Heh sleeping beauty is with the living again” he doesn’t say anything to Marco, moving to the medicine cabinet to open his little pill box. “You alright?” He still doesn’t say anything, he feels bad right now that’s all.
“Ace?”
“Just tired, I wanna go back to Deuce” he says quietly as Marco pours him a glass of water. “Are you feeling sad?”
“No; just uncomfortable. Needa take my pills is all.” Marco pulls him into a warm hug after he swallows his meds. He lays his head down on the other and hums. “Marco…”
“Mhm?”
“Im so tired”
“I know kid,”
“Why am I tired?”
“Just those mood stabilizers wearing off. It’s okay yoi you’ll be okay.” He nods and closes his eyes before Marco lets him go and leads him upstairs. “Get your rest kiddo, you deserve it. Glad you had a good date” he smiles and nods, moving to shut his door and crawl into bed. “Deuce… m’back”
“Hey, you alright you sound sad.”
“I.. I’m Just really tired right now” he mutters and moves to snuggle into his boyfriend. He gives a soft noise when Deuce kisses his forehead and holds him close to his chest.
“Goodnight baby, I’ll see you in the morning before I leave for my classes”
“Goodnigh… have ta.. give me kisses before you leave”
“I will, I promise.”
When Ace officially got the allowance to go to school from a judge and the headmaster of said school he first had to endure a screening process with the headmaster and a teacher. Great.
When they drove up to the building he felt a little nervous, it’s a typical looking private school. Lots of people running around outside his age, no fences no gates. The doors are glass, how interesting. He yawns as he steps out of the car. He felt a little nervous now. He can’t be tired- why is he tired? Ugh!
“Alright kiddo, let’s head in” he nods to Marco following close behind and keeping his hands in his pockets. Hes wearing the school uniform… a simple button up and black jeans. Ugh.
“Come on,” he sighs and walks into a small conference room. “Hi you must be Rogers boy” well. sh*t. No thank you- no more school for this freckled teenager nope.
“Ace come back here you little sh*t- court ordered come on yoi” he makes a whimper like noise as Marco drags him by his arm back into the room. The man who had spoken to him was old. Yeah.. that’s really all he can think of as a description.
“I’m Rayleigh, I run the school.”
“Cool.” Marco elbows him hard in the side and chuckles nervously. “We’re happy to be here, go ahead and take a seat kid” he scoffs rubbing his side before sitting at one of the chairs. Infront of him is a packet and a pencil.
“Alright, first we’re just going to take a little test, how’s that sound? Not to hard just to see where you are”
“I can’t read.”
“You can read I know you can yoi”
“…big font. Not.. chicken scratch.” He mutters twirling the pencil between his fingers. He can read. Just not that well. Especially out loud. He was very behind even in school. Probably because they kept moving him around. He just couldn’t pick up anything he learned.
He starts filling out the questions, simple math. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, he’s got that down.
“You stuck?”
“I can’t read this.. it’s making me dizzy” he mutters and rests his head on his arm. He starts trying to read it out.
“How did you make it to seventh grade yoi?”
“No kid left behind, and the twenty schools I got moved around in.”
He twirls the pencil again and rubs his eyes. It’s reading comprehension. Just something he’s had to help Luffy with before. Or rather he sat with Luffy and learned while Sabo helped him. Heh… uh.. yeah.
“Uh can I get help?” Rayleigh nods and moves to sit beside of him. Glancing over the question. He motions to the reading section.
“Try going back in the paragraph, all the answers are in there”
He nods, what the f*ck is convection? Conduction? What the f*ck. “Think of.. a pan”
“A pan?”
“Mhm, how it-“
“Not helping. So not helping.”
“…” he glances up as he gets to a whole ass page of words, just words. No pictures no questions. A whole damn story. “Ace?”
“You expect to much of me. I can do the math, I like math. I cannot read.”
“Let me see,” Marco hums and glances over the page, “it’s about cars.” Well. That is something he likes. “Can you read it to me?”
“Sure,”
After Marco reads out the paragraph and the corresponding question Ace feels as if he’s completely understood it. Not even the fact that it’s discussing cars. But the fact it was read to him. “And this..”
“True or false based on a diesel truck. The motor runs on oil and gas.”
“False.”
“Very good yoi. You know you completed the whole set of questions for this one in five minutes. The last one took you almost twenty five yoi”
He shrugs and lays his pencil down, cracking his knuckles and giving a gentle smile. “Its cus you read it to me. That’s how Lu would get me to help with homework, he’d read it to me id help how I could.” He explains and hands the paper to the headmaster. He starts looking it over before glancing up.
“Okay. We certainly have some things we need to work on. You do good with basic math, and excelled on the last reading passage. The others were good attempts.”
He bites his lip, does that mean they’re letting him in? Is he finally going back to school?
“I’ll discuss with my staff and figure out a good plan for you, we’ll meet in a few days and work this out together. I look forward to seeing you excel. You have the potential,”
“Thank you. Uh. That means a lot to me” he mutters and runs a hand through his hair. He shakes rayleigh's hand before walking out with Marco. “I got all of them right? On the last set?” Marco nods looking over the packet he’d been handed.
“Well not really with the writing but you hit it overall.” He nods and feels almost prideful?
“Ace!” He turns hearing his name and smiles, Deuce high-fives him and grins. “How’d it go?”
“Marco read to me, and look! Look! I got all them right!” He shows Deuce and the other laughs softly. “I’m so proud of you baby”
“And Rayleigh said he’d talk to the staff, I’m gonna go back to school. Can you believe that?”
“You’re honestly the only kid I’ve ever met to be so excited about school yoi, the bells about to ring so we best get going alright?” He kisses Deuce’s cheek before running after Marco towards the office doors.
“Good job Ace, I’m proud”
