Epals

Chapter 6

Ace's POV

I'm startled awake at 6 in the morning when both my computer and pager go off at the same time. Groaning, I crawl out of the bed and ignore the tangled mess of sheets this causes. Really, it's too early to be awake. I go to where the pager is sitting next to my laptop on the nearby desk, letting out another groan to see I am being called in. Apparently a huge fire is refusing to go out and they need to send another round of firefighters in five minutes. Good thing I live two minutes away from the place if I drive. That's probably why they called me in. Throwing on clean clothes and quickly brushing my teeth, I glance at the computer and see a reply from Marco. With a frown, I jerk away from it and run out to my car. I have three minutes left to get to work, replying to him will have to wait.

It's 9 p.m when I stumble through the front door, exhausted. I absently wish people would not start fires and maintain proper caution to prevent them. After we got the fire out and people rescued this morning, I had three others to go to. They weren't that big, but still persistent. Thankfully there were less than five casualties. Meandering to the fridge, I pull out a pre-made meal Sanji makes sure to stock my fridge with, and plop onto the couch.

Around midnight I am in my room about to go to sleep when I remember Marco's email. Sighing, I move to the computer and open it.

Ace,

Hello again. I always thought being a firefighter was too dangerous for me to consider doing. I once thought about being a pilot, though I ended up an editor. We can swap likes/dislikes/and how our day went if that is agreeable to you. To start, my favorite animal is a phoenix. I like summer, and visiting the ocean. As for dislikes, that would be winter, sushi, and my friend Perona's obsession with stuffed animals. Seeing as it's 6 in the morning, I have not really started my day yet. Though so far it seems to be good. My other friend, Law, and I have a book signing to go to soon. After that I will be editing his most recent manuscript. Hope to see a reply.

Marco

I wrote a sleepy reply, not really remembering what all I wrote by the time I got to my bed and passed out.

The following morning I woke up around 11, wondering how I managed to get to my bed. It took a few moments before I remembered Marco's email. I still couldn't remember what I said, but shrugged it off at the sound of the front door opening. Why did I think it was a good idea to give a key to all of my friends in the first place?

"Aaaceee!" A loud voice reached my ears, a grin splitting my face at the sound. Quickly getting up, I entered the kitchen and saw Luffy munching on one of the pies Sanji had put in my fridge.

"Luffy, hey. You are here early today." I grabbed a glass and filled it with milk, sitting down at the table, across from my brother.

"Yeah! I wanted you to be the first to know!"

I swallowed my mouthful of milk, "know what?"

"I'm going to propose to Nami!" I choked on the milk I just went to swallow, coughing a few times before looking at Luffy.

"What?"

"Did you hit your head or something, Ace? I said I am going to propose to Nami." Luffy chuckled, before finishing the pie off.

"Well, that's awesome! Completely not what I expected to hear, but awesome nonetheless. Congratulations, Luffy." I grinned, before gulping down the rest of the milk and standing from the table.