The apartment was silent. Seconds passed, the palms that grasped Luffy's wrists were sweaty, Ace had just tripped and should have gotten up right away, but for some reason he stayed planted there; on the sofa and a mountain above his younger brother. Luffy had a confused look on his face.
"Ace?"
He sighed, or let out something like it.
"..I..."
He was about to tell him 'I love you.' Ace stopped himself (when he realized just what he was about to say) out of fear for the reply, or even only the reaction. He had no idea why he apparently felt like it was the time to say something like that and he's just glad he didn't. Ace stood up.
"Huh?" Luffy got up, with a hop, too. "Were you saying something?"
Ace smoothed Luffy's hair. "Forgot." A relaxed voice with apologetic eyes.
"You're forgetting a lot of things lately!" Luffy countered, worried. "Maybe we should get it checked out." He thought out loud.
Ace would never admit that the things he 'forgot' were a bunch of struck-in-love comments he was about to make in front of Luffy, that is, until he came to his senses much like just now. It's probably happened three times this past week and it was barely Tuesday.
"Don't worry about it, Luffy." Luffy frowned at this. "Weren't you supposed to be getting ready for work?"
"I am ready!" Luffy grinned. Ace looked him up and down, he was wearing a navy blue T-Shirt and tan cargo shorts.
"Did you wash your face and comb your hair?"
Luffy gave an excited thumbs up. Ace always asked this before he headed off to work, and there was a reason to because occasionally Luffy would forget to do one thing or both. Not that combing really helped his hair, it was a natural mess.
"Alright," Ace grabbed his keys from the nearby rack on a wall. "Let's go. I'll drive you today."
Ace and Luffy made their way out of the two-bedroom apartment. The weather was sunny and the air felt fresh, which Ace liked. Luffy, on the other hand, didn't care what kind of weather he was faced with; he appreciated all kinds.
Ace claimed his motorcycle from their reserved parking space. He handed Luffy a spare helmet, as Luffy fastened that on Ace removed his leather jacket. He handed it to Luffy who wordlessly shrugged the jacket on. This, too, was a routine.
On the road, with his favorite person and favorite thing, Ace felt at ease.