Tick Tock [Portgas D. Ace/Sabo Fan Fic]

Nicotine

Disclaimer: I do not own OP or any of the characters involved.

Something to be said about a kiss. They were sweet things, a pleasant gift in most situations. Innocent on any normal day, but with so many roiling emotions hiding just beneath the surface of locked lips. Sweet was not how Ace would describe this situation. There was nothing innocent or hesitant about this, a quiet demand that stole air from lungs already short as it was.

Dark eyes were wide as they stared forward, locked on closed eyelids that rest so close to his own. Shock a drug that permeated through his veins, a toxin waiting to reach both heart and mind- Waiting to tear his world apart brick by brick, stone by stone. Vaguely Ace was aware of the finger beneath his chin, thumb a guide that tilted his head upwards. And then there were the lips that covered his own. It wasn't a hard kiss. No, he had been kissed before, but not like this. It was firm, yes, but light at the same time. The softness of lips against his own that pulled back hesitantly when there was no response in kind. Another pang, Ace unable to identify the emotion that flashed through him as cerulean irises slid open to peer back at him.

Ace was still, shock still evident in ashen pools as he stared back at Sabo. Once more there was silence between the two, Ace desperately grasping at any semblance of thought and failing miserably. "-You j-just-but..." Nope. That wasn't working. A noise died at the back of his throat, heat a plague as it burned across both neck and freckled cheeks.

Sabo just kissed him.

Why was that fact just now sinking in, bright eyes boring into his own and Ace incapable of looking away for the first time in what felt like years. The hand dropped from his chin though Sabo made no move to release his hand. It was a strange comfort really, a rock to anchor himself to as he fought against the storm. Convenient when that same storm was mirrored in oceanic eyes. Regret was not an emotion Ace caught in that gaze. Worry and something else, but not regret. Never regret.

Sabo was still silent, seemingly waiting for something. What that could be slipped past his mind, Ace grasping at air that instead rushed between his fingers, sand in his hands. Another noise, this one frustration crushed to pieces in the back of his throat, ashen pools still wide as he openly stared at the other.

"...Sorry." The word was like a hammer against glass, shattering the tense silence that seemed to shroud over everything. Ace all but flinched at the utterance, eyes trailing upward from lips to blue. Both were a bad place to look, especially with the lie still hanging in the air.

Sorry... Even a fool would know that to be the lie it was. He wasn't sorry. Not in the slightest. The fact that he would even voice such an 'apology' was foolish- stupid really. "No you're not." And there it was, his mind finally sliding back into place like a puzzle piece finding it's place in the maze. Odd how large a change a single piece could make.

Oddly enough, it was Sabo that broke eye contact this time, gaze dropping to rest who knew where. "No, I guess you're right."

Ace bit back a sarcastic Damn right I am. Not the time nor the place though it might have lightened the mood slightly. He leaned forward instead, forehead falling to rest upon the other's shoulder. He could feel Sabo flinch in surprise but made no move to retreat. Instead dark irises fell shut, a sigh parting slightly bruised lips.

Thanks for that.

"...Ace...?"

The raven practically growled in response, eyes squeezing shut farther and fingers tightening around Sabo's. "Shut up. I'm thinking." Another lie of course. Ace was doing anything but thinking. He didn't want to think. Was that really so bad?