Title: enchanted
Characters: Ace and Sabo, slight Ace/Sabo
Word Count: 583
Rating: PG
Summary: He had no idea how long he simply stood, watching and listening and wearing the most embarrassing expression of awe.
Warning: Pre-slash.
Ace was on his way out of the high school when he heard it; soft and sweet and rich, like the highest quality chocolate melting on your tongue. He'd had a shitty day, been yelled at in every damn one of his classes for falling asleep - as if he could help it - and he just wanted to get home, take off his shoes and maybe the rest of his clothes and relax, but the high, trembling notes tugged irresistibly at his senses.
Ace was almost helpless drawn towards the music. It led him down abandoned corridors and around corners until the music hall came into view - a part of the school he'd never had a reason for visiting before. As he approached the double doors the music grew louder. Without a second though, Ace cracked them open to peek inside.
The theater was empty but for a lone figure perched on a stool mid-stage. From this distance, Ace could only make out blond hair and the instrument being played: a violin, polished wood catching the light and reflecting patterns across heavy red curtains. Ace edged inside, taking great care that the doors shut noiselessly behind him, intent on getting a closer look.
What he saw stole his breath away. The blond boy had his eyes squeezed closed in concentration, lashes fluttering gently against his cheeks but the rest of his features were smooth, peaceful. Lithe fingers danced across taut violin strings, his other hand wrapped firmly around the slender object he used to coax those stunning sounds into existence.
Ace lost track of time. He had no idea how long he simply stood, watching and listening and wearing the most embarrassing expression of awe. His face felt hot.
Eventually the blond boy noticed him there, one last note wavering in the air between them as he stopped playing. Ace wanted to beg him to continue, but there really was a limit to how low his pride would let him sink.
"What are you doing here?" the boy asked. The bliss was gone, replaced by a furrow of confusion or annoyance, Ace couldn't tell which. "I thought everyone had gone home already."
"Detention," Ace muttered, gaze dropping to the plush carpet. Guilt was building inside him; he'd obviously eavesdropped on something meant to be private.
When the boy didn't say anything else, just kept frowning at Ace as if he was a difficult puzzle he fully intended to crack, he turned to leave. But Ace had never been a coward, and as he pushed the doors open, he said, without looking back, "It was beautiful."
The renewed flush of his cheeks was more than Ace could bear. He was ready to run, tail tucked between his legs, until a hand grabbed his wrist with surprising strength. There was a tense moment when Ace let himself be held in place and the boy just kept staring, and then his face lit up with a smile and he said, "Do you really think so?"
"Yeah," Ace breathed, unable to tear his eyes away from the pleased curve of the boy's lips.
His smile widened, happy with the praise of a stranger, and began pulling Ace back towards the stage. "What's your name? I'm Sabo."
"Ace," he said, let Sabo press him down into one of the padded audience seats.
"Well met, Ace." Sabo climbed onto the stage, picking up his violin from where it had been leaning against the stool. "Wanna hear more?"
A/N - And so begins the most epic bromance of all high school AUs.
