A/N: And of course, Ace decides to be a child about things.
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He didn't like it. Not one bit.
Another round of giggles echoed from the Moby Dick's figurehead and Ace felt a tingle down his spine at the sound. Whipping around, he glowered at the pair of women sunning themselves, heads of red and white sitting opposite each other in stark contrast like chess pieces.
Riskua was doing that talking-with-her-hands thing she does when she gets really into a topic. Ace longed to spend time with her...
Only...
A raucous cackle burst out of the white-haired woman, Leith, and Ace couldn't help but wince at the noise. She really didn't have an attractive laugh; as with everything else in her personality it was harsh and crass, nothing at all like Riskua. He still couldn't understand what she saw in her.
Whatever it was they talked about though, they never shared with anyone else, and Ace couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at the thought. Riskua was supposed to spend time with him (and to a lesser extent, Sabo) during the two years away from the Straw Hats, not with this weird woman that showed up out of nowhere claiming to be from another version of their world.
He still didn't believe that crap.
He still felt a little betrayed when Pops simply greeted her with open arms.
"You know if you pine any more you're going to grow roots..."
Speaking of betrayal...
"Sabo," Ace grunted, glaring out over the water so that neither women could catch him burning holes into the back of their heads and to avoid looking at his traitor of a brother. "What do you want?"
"Still giving me the cold shoulder?" his brother asked, hopping up to sit along the railing and giving him a wry grin, "Come on, Ace, it was a one time thing."
"You still slept with a possible enemy," he growled, flushing as he remembered the state he and Riskua caught them in. He was never going to be able to scrub that image from his brain was he?
Sabo, instead of looking appropriately abashed, grinned widely. "Nothing I haven't done before," he admitted with an eyebrow wiggle and Ace gagged.
"Gross."
"Oh, come on!" Sabo groaned, throwing his hands into the air, "Don't be such a brat. Look..." Here, Sabo jabbed him in the chest with a haki enhanced finger so he couldn't avoid it. "How about we talk about what's really bothering you?"
Ace blinked, nonplussed at the fierce look his brother was giving him.
"You're pissed off that Ri is spending more time with Leith than with you," Sabo accused, "And don't try to deny it, it's obvious," he interrupted when Ace went to open his mouth in protest.
Clicking his jaw shut, Ace grit his teeth, letting all of his denials die out.
Because as usual, his brother was right.
"And really," Sabo continued, crossing his arms to give him a flat look, "I can kinda see where you're coming from. But whatever it is they talk about... It's really made Ri happy."
xXx
"God, I miss my phone so much," Riskua lamented, flopping back onto the towel, "Oh, and the internet, gah!"
Leith chortled, her legs kicking back and forth behind her as she lounged on her belly. She'd opted not to remove her shirt like the red-head had, not wanting any questions about the marks on her back. With Sabo it'd been too dark to see the white lines, but here in daylight they would be a bit too obvious, and she didn't want to bring down the mood by having to explain that particular can of worms.
"You know what I miss the most?" Leith asked, fiddling with the edge of her towel and pulling out some stray threads.
Riskua hummed in question.
"Porn."
As Riskua proceeded to choke on her own spit, Leith furrowed her brows before planting her palm against her cheek in thought. "Though, now that I think about it, I guess there's also easy mac and cheese. I freakin' miss the hell out of that too. And Vodka... And those little ice cream sandwich things... And Pokemon... Peanut Butter... hmmm..."
Leith pursed her lips as she mused, her pinky playing with her bottom lip, before she finally gave up and shrugged. "Alright, fuck it! So maybe porn's not at the top, but it's certainly on the list. My imagination only goes so far."
Riskua giggled, her hand covering her mouth. It was cute really. Those yellow eyes of hers warmed into a honey color when she smiled. "You're awful," she teased, shoving Leith's shoulder.
"Eh, well, if you spend too much time caring what other people think, you'll never have fun," Leith retorted, grinning all the while.
"How very Luffy of you," Riskua snarked, before her expression sobered a little. "Do you ever miss... your family?" she asked, following a pattern on the deck with her fingertip.
Oof.
Leith grimaced. "I'm gonna need at least a dozen drinks in me before we start that topic, doll."