He Fell From The Sky [[ Portgas D Ace X Reader ]]

Seven

A month had passed since the freckled raven dropped into your life. After finding Thatch, Grace offered him a job as a server in the restaurant. He was hesitant at first. This was certainly not the life he was used to; working for a living instead of being free to do as he pleased out on the open ocean, not that he wasn't necessarily free to do as he pleased. You never put any pressure on him. He had been through a lot and you were content to continue the way you always had.
Thatch convinced him otherwise with phrases like "pull your own weight" and "contribute to the household" because, "that's just how things are done in this world."

You were in the shower humming a tune oblivious to the raven that had silently slipped into the room. He pressed his left hand to his lips stifling mischievous snickers as he neared the toilet. You paused momentarily massaging suds into your scalp. He froze fearing he'd been caught, nearly sighing in relief when you picked up the tune again. Quietly Ace reached for the handle on the toilet tank.

*FLUSH*

You had a millisecond to move before boiling hot water came flowing through the showerhead. A plume of steam burst through the tub rolling upward along the ceiling and escaping where the curtain wasn't quite flush with the wall.

"Ace!" You squealed gripping the shower curtain and yanking it back making sure to keep your important bits covered.

He burst into laughter at your half-washed hair, mounds of bubbles sliding down your angry face.

"Shut up!" You barked, "Where did you even learn that?"
"I saw it in a movie." He wheezed.
"Get out!" You groaned watching his rubies trail down your shadowed form behind the opaque shower curtain, "Out! Pervert!"

He turned still laughing and exited the room.

This had become a new occurrence over the last week and a half. You'd always been able to tell that he had a lot more personality than what you were seeing. Once he started getting more comfortable with you and the layout of the house the pranks began. More often than not he hid somewhere and waited for you to stroll by so he could jump out and scare the life out of you. It worked every single time. Once he exchanged the sugar for salt but forgot dumping the wrong seasoning into his coffee the next morning ultimately pranking himself.

You rounded the corner tying your wet braid off with a rubber band. Ace already sat in your bed yawning and playing a pretty intense game on the phone you'd helped him purchase and learn how to use. He caught on fairly quickly but still stuck his tongue out (adorably) in concentration while he composed a text.

Neither of you ever proposed an alternate sleeping arrangement. You just continued with what seemed to work. You couldn't speak for Ace but since he'd arrived you just couldn't be alone. He would fall asleep often, in absurd places if he was bored or inactive for a long enough period of time. None of that was quite the same as when you shut everything down for the night.

"Phone off." You murmured pulling the comforter back.
"I'm almost through this level." He whined.
"Five minutes. You have to be up early." You turned the lamp on your nightstand off.

He groaned failing the level causing Kuma to shift from the foot of the bed.

"Can't get passed it?" You chuckled as he placed the device on his nightstand.
"Yeah the silver knight keeps wasting me. My flames don't go through his stupid armor." He pouted scooting to your side, "No work tonight?"
"Maybe, unless I can't get to sleep." Your fingers already made their way to his scalp.
"I can walk in the morning if you stay up too late." He offered stifling a massive yawn.
"Don't be absurd. There's almost a foot of snow out there. I will drive you in just like always."

He rolled over smiling at your stubbornness. You'd get up early and drive him in even if you'd not slept at all.

"G'night F/N." He yawned again while you twisted his hair around your index finger.
"Night Fire Fist." He chuckled at your reference to his pirate days and slipped into a quiet slumber.

You lay in the dark listening to his even breaths, anxieties drifting away through locks of soft raven hair. You had no idea why this gesture gave you so much relief, it wasn't something you needed before. What even was this? Were there feelings behind it all masked by a need to not be alone?

Except you enjoyed being alone. Right?


Ace stretched his arm out palming the empty space in the bed as his alarm softly chimed from the device on the bedside table. He yawned confused for a moment and rolled over to quiet the phone.

"Brunch shifts are the worst." He whined voice still husky from sleep.
"You should have gone to bed earlier instead of plotting against my shower time." You muttered from your desk.
"Worth it." He let out a low chuckle before frowning realizing where you were, " You didn't sleep again."
"I did. A little." You shrugged swiveling to catch his ruby gaze.

His frown deepened at the sight of the slate shadows resting below your eyes.

"Your travel mug is already waiting for you, you just need to get dressed so we can roll out." You stood and stretched causing Kuma to hop off the bed and excitedly stroll toward you.
"Ok ok I'm going." Ace reluctantly flopped the warm blankets back visibly shuddering as goosebumps broke out across his arms.

Taking one last glance at his scarred back you exited the room.

It was a longer than normal trek into town having to carefully traverse the yet to be cleared roads after the fresh snowfall overnight. Finally, you pulled up to the restaurant just in time for Thatch to unlock the door for the staff waiting to get inside. Ace bid you and Kuma a good day taking his coffee and sliding out of the passenger seat. A pleasant smile broke out across his face as his coworkers greeted him. One in particular caught your eye as you put the old bug in reverse.
The purplette hostess ruffled his waves and slipped into his side for a hug taking a brief second it seemed to deliberately glance through the windshield at you. She offered you a smile although it looked forced and plastic, you raised a few fingers off the steering wheel to respond with a small wave. There was an unpleasant taste in your mouth and a rolling knot in the pit of your stomach. Shrugging it off you headed for the store to pick up some groceries before it got too busy.

The day slowly rolled by. You napped a few times but just couldn't seem to get settled. Ace's shift would be ending soon so you were layering up and grabbing your keys when your phone pinged.

Freckle Face: U dnt have to get me
Freckle Face: Katie s gvng me aride

Well at least he's getting better at texting.

You dropped your keys back in the dish by the door sending back a nonchalant response as you slouched into the kitchen chair mind flickering back to the purple haired girl. You'd already known that was Katie Ace talked about her occasionally, but you still hoped maybe there was another Katie, perhaps not so cute, that would be bringing him home.

With a sigh you made a quick cup of coffee and went to your seat on the porch. The rigid wicker chair groaned under your weight as you shifted to get comfortable. The sun was creeping past the horizon behind the house. Orange light began to fade into a light and then deeper blue revealing a smattering of stars in the distance. Soon an engine up the road caught your ear. You watched the silver crossover shift from the main road to your long gravel drive, finally stopping abruptly in front of you. You averted your gaze from the car until you heard the door swing open.

"Hi Ace's roommate." The purplette called, tone a little too pointed for your liking.
"F/N." Ace corrected quickly drawing a smirk to your lips while you quietly raised your gloved hand to wave back.
"See ya Monday!" She called cheerfully after him.
"Yeah, thanks again. Have a good one." He smiled brilliantly as always closing the door behind him and turned back to you, "Its freezing what are you doing out here?"
"It's not so bad. I've got coffee." You argued.
He rolled his eyes, "Did you get any rest while I was gone?"

You nodded standing unable to voice your lie.

"So, you guys work together Monday?" You asked trying to sound uninterested.
He held the door open for you nodding, "She wanted to give me a ride since her shift starts close to mine."

There was that annoying feeling again.