Ace scowled angrily, pulling himself out of the puddle of mud. Over to his left, Luffy looks up and asks with innocent eyes:
"Why did you jump into the mud?" To which Ace responds with an irritated retort of "Shut up." Sabo snickers over to his right, Ace shooting him a glare.
He hadn't meant to fall into that puddle of mud, of course. They'd finished bathing only a few minutes before, and he wouldn't do that voluntarily unless he wanted to sleep with mud splattered all over him. Ace didn't exactly want to get eaten by giant forest monsters while washing himself; it was beginning to get dark.
"Stupid tree root," Ace muttered, glancing at a tree root too far away from the mud to have been the cause of his fall. "Making me trip..."
Sabo, trying his best to stifle his laughter, looked over to Luffy as the rubber boy spoke up once again.
"But, Ace," he started, slight confusion in his dark, wide eyes. "Didn't you jump?"
That was it. Not being able to hold back his embarrassed blush, utter annoyance in his expression, Ace glared at both Luffy and Sabo-- the latter of the pair in hysterics-- and pushed both into the large puddle of mud behind them.
"Damn it," Sabo muttered, smiling as he looked at Luffy who was grinning as well.
As they continued on their way home, all three of them covered in mud, the thought of how grateful he was to have his two brothers crossed Ace's mind. It was a fleeting thought, as he soon took interest into the giant beetle Luffy had found, but it was there. While they weren't related by blood, nothing could break the strong bond the trio had.
Although, as they passed a large tree, they knew they were just about dead when they felt the presence of a certain marine with his Fist of Love looming over them.
