For April Fools Day Ace and Snake want to prank the guys and all of Townsville with the hoax that they're dating.
Rated T for language
Genre houmor, (mild) romance
SnAce fake dating trope
"What are we gonna do tomorrow, Snake?" Ace asked as he lazily bounced a ratty tennis ball off the ceiling from where he was sprawled out on the patchwork sofa.
"Dunno'ss" Snake ended his game of solitaire and looked over at the sleeping dog pile of the younger gangreens. "Pull sssomething on the guyss?"
The ball stopped and Ace stared hard at the ceiling, lips doing the little quirk he did when he really had to think on something. Should they? The gang hardly ever went after each other on April Fools, they wouldn't be expecting it. But that was just three people, what were they going to do the rest of the day? April Fools was the gangs second favorite holiday, they had to fuck with people.
"What if we did somethin' that got everyone?" Ace asked to the ceiling.
Snake grinned and shook his head. Only Ace would try to shoot that big. "What would work on everyonesss?"
Again with the quirk, the older teen's fangs distorting his lips a bit. What could they pull off together, just the two of them, that would throw everyone for a loop and get a big laugh out of it at the end of the day?
Ace got up and paced around, trying to think. "Maybe screw with people's heads instead of the usual stuff.. Like a hoax or somethin'."
It would have to be good, totally out of left field, but still in the ballpark of being believable. Dropping down into his usual seat at the head of the card table he started idly messing with the cards from Snake's forgotten game. Numbers, Kings, Queens.. Somebody, hard telling who since they all had a habit of doodling on shit, had scribbled on a few. A severed head on a King's sword, what was probably meant to be Joker-esque style scars on a Jack, a snake on the Ace of Spades-
Ace held the card up to eye level and stared. It wasn't art by a long shot, but the way the serpent looked like it was coiling around the center spade was cool. The two symbols looked pretty bad ass paired up like that..
"I got it." Ace flicked the card at Snake. "Look at this."
"Dammit, thiss iss my good deck." Snake hissed when he saw the doodle. "But what aboutss it?"
"I thought you was the one that was into symbolism an' shit."
Looking down again Snake's slit eyes narrowed at the card and the boss gangreen could see the gears turn and click. "Are you sseriouss?"
Ace wiggled his eyebrows over his shades. "You up for it?"
Fake dating best friends. An oldie and cliche, maybe a little too cliche. "Think it'll workss? Everyone'ss going to think it'ss fake since it'ss April Foolss."
Even with the flaw pointed out Ace didn't pay it any mind. "We just gotta convince'em then. Nothing we ain't done before."
"One thing we haven't done if anyone asskss uss to provess it."
This time Ace did fumble. "Yeah, there is that one thing ain't there.."
Sure there'd been some pda in the long time they'd been friends, they were attached at the hip enough that they usually did it without realizing it. A casual hug instead of a high-five sometimes, tangling up on the couch when they watched movies or played video games, and a lot of arms getting thrown around shoulders at random times. But if they tried to pull this off and someone dared them to prove it, well, that was on a completely different level.
Ace shifted in his chair, propping his elbows on the plywood table. "I'm okay with it. You okay with kissin' me?"
Snake had to clear his throat before answering, but returned the casual tone. "I don't really mind, Bosss."
"We're on then." Ace flashed a cheesey grin at his best friend and leaned forward. "Ya' know, nobody's gonna believe us if we're awkward about it sooo.. kiss on it?"
Snake's slit eyes rolled, but he mirrored the lean. "Youss keep using thosse cheessy linesss and I'm fake breaking up with youss."
"You wouldn't fake leave me, you fake love me too much." Ace sing songed.
But the teasing and laughing bled out as it sank in they were actually going through with this.
Ace looked from Snake's black lips to his slit eyes. "You sure? Really sure?"
The younger gangster swallowed hard as he did a little staring of his own. "Yeah. Youss?"
"Yeah. Yeah, totally fine." Then why was it so damn hard to do? No, he could do this. Sweaty hands and butterflies were for school girls, not hard eyed street kids.
The kiss was a little chaste, a little misplaced, but it wasn't bad. Even if they hadn't meant for it to get as deep or linger on it like they did.
"So, uh," Ace pulled back first, but stayed leaned over the corner of the table, close enough to feel his own breath ricochet off Snake's skin. "not awkward at all, right?"
Snake's forked tongue flicked out over his slightly swollen bottom lip. "Nopess.."
"What.. de' unholy fuck..?"
Arturo was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and staring at them.
Well, it was after midnight. Let the game begin.
It was wild- to them anyways. It was a shocker how chill the gang was with the idea that they'd hooked up. For half the morning Ace and Snake were tiptoeing around with the prank because they were suspicious the guys knew it was fake and were counter pranking them, faking acceptance of the fake relationship to let the them make idiots of themselves. But the day rolled on and the threat of a counter prank just kept shrinking, the guys barely paying the pda and other crap they tried to use to get a rise out of them any mind.
"Sshould we givess it up?" Snake asked quietly as he and Ace walked through the arcade, green fingers laced together.
"Not yet." Tilting his head Ace directed his partner's attention to the prize counter. "Look."
The guys might not have been struck stupid by the reveal, but the old man behind the counter was. Mouth open like fish, hand still holding down the lever for the '200 tickets for 1 bag of jellybeans' machine and the little rolly pollys had overflowed the bag and bouncing off the nappy carpet.
"We can pull this off, even if the guys don't give a fuck everyone else is still fair game." And just for show Ace caught the prize man's eyes and brought their laced hands up to kiss Snake's knuckles. Aaaand the whole bag dropped to the floor, jelly beans scattering everywhere.
"What did I ssay about being cheesssy?" Snake hissed, the skin under his eyes that would be his cheeks if he'd been normal darkening a few shades.
"You said cheesy lines. You didn't say anything about, eh what'dya call'em, romantic gestures." Ace grinned and bumped Snake's side teasingly while sing-songing, "Did I embarrass you?"
Snake answered the bump by leaning in, even briefly putting his head against the older teen's shoulder for show. "Sshut up, Bosss, you're face isss red too."
"Shit, is it?" With his free hand Ace scrubbed a hand down his face like he could rub the heat away.
They laughed at each other's embarrassment as they walked, jabbing and snarking, trying to see how far they could push the other like a game of chicken.
An hour or so later as the gang headed out- after stealing quarters from the machines and rigging the public toilet to flood next time someone flushed- the prize man behind the counter made a grab for the phone mounted on the wall. "Listen, you are not gonna believe who just came in here holding hands.. Yes. Yes they did and you owe me twenty bucks."
Word traveled fast in Townsville and today Ace and Snake's apparent hook up was what everybody was talking about.
"Howss did it get around sso fasst?" Snake hissed in aggravation at yet another 'I told you they were together!' from a few passersby.
"This place is a living gossip column, I'd say everyone's heard it by now." Ace guessed, feeling irritated himself. Way too many eyes on his back for comfort.
Even though this is what they'd planned, what they'd wanted, it was off putting how fast it spread and how many people were shouting it on the street. Even more off putting was how they were shouting it. The guys being okay with it at least made some sense, they were their friends. But everybody else getting excited about it, about them? Neither could get their heads around it.
"Oh my God finally!"
That made both older gangsters stop dead in the middle of the street.
" 'Finally' ?" Ace parroted out loud and turned to the other three for an explanation. "The fuck?"
Grubber quickly put a crooked finger to the side of his nose, quickly making Billy do the same. Arturo didn't notice the 'nose goes' not-it game until it was too late.
"Joder.." The shrimpy gangreen groaned, but sharp glares from both of his superiors made him talk. "See the thing is.. Well, everybody already thinks you two got somethin' goin' on. Like goin' on. And half of Townsville's just been waiting on you to.. go.. public."
Ace and Snake stared at the smallest member before looking around at all the people pointing and whispering.
"Well, ssshit."
"Jokes on us."