So sorry for the late update, i've been very, very swamped lately irl, new jobs (Yes! Plural!), family matters, starting my masters, holiday prep even though holiday is LITERALLY MONTHS AWAY MA, I DON'T KNOW MY AVAILABILITY, LEAVE ME ALONE. You name it, i'm doing it. Aaagh.
But anyway! I'll try to update a couple more of my fics while i have this moment of reprieve, and hopefully a future update won't take me this long anymore. To make it all up to you, i'll make sure that the next update is longer as well. Really, i'm so sorry it took so long and thank you so much for your understanding.
Hope you liked it!
NOW PLAYING - SKIES IN YOUR EYES
ARTIST : [SPADE]
ALBUM : [LONGING]
981KOthers Are Listening.
Song Total Played [This Month] 93M
Album Total Played [This Month] 671M
OTHER SONGS IN THIS ALBUM:
1. FIELD OF FIREFLIES
2. CAUTION! HOT!
3. COMMELINA (DAY FLOWER)
4. SKIES IN YOUR EYES NOW PLAYING
5. SUNSET FROM MY BALCONY
6. BLUE BIRD
7. FACES ON MY WALL
8. HOPE
9. DAYBREAK, HEARTBREAK
10. PLAYING WITH FIRE [EXPLICIT]
11. PLAYING WITH FIRE [CLEAN VERSION]
12. AS THE DUST SETTLED ft. Co-by
13. BONUS TRACK (RELEASE DATE: N/A)
SORT BY [TOP COMMENTS]:
[LolaLolaLolaLuves] - 7902 points
im so obsessed with this song, but then im obsessed with all of the songs in this album no joke #UnapologeticlyLonging #AlbumOfTheYear #MaDeInParadise
[Baby+Sai] - 3092 points
Saaaaaaame
See129 replies
[MerryGirl] - 6876 points
Copied this from Spade's subforum because OMG i didn't notice!
'Did anyone notice just how often the same description came up in half of these songs?
Blue Eyes:
"…Dreams of eyes the colour of the dayflower…" from Commelina
"…staring to your eyes, drown me ocean deep…' - Daybreak, Heartbreak
Literally everything in Skies in Your Eyes
Blonde hair:
"…Imagine finding strands of gold on my pillow…" Sunset from My Balcony
"…I'll say you're like the sun over the pale blue skies…" Blue Bird
"…Tug 'em, pull 'em, buried my face in 'em, oh baby, they shimmer like angel's halo but the way you play me is like the devil's doing…" Playing With Fire (STILL CAN'T GET OVER THIS SONG OMG SPADE MY PURE BABY BOY WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAKING EXPLICIT SONGS ASGGRJSKDHSHSK I CAN'T LOOK AT YOU THE SAME WAY AGAIN)
Blonde hair, blue eyes, romantically involved with Spade? Hmmmmmmm….'
Also people's been digging through his older songs and found the same things and OMG IT'S BEEN IN OUR FACES FOR SO LONG
See 481 replies
[JEWEL_Bonney] - 4273 points
SABAODY RECORDS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THEY STARTED FILMING FOR THE MUSIC VIDEO TODAY I CAN'T WAIT!
I do mean what i say.
He never thought he'd say this, but he's starting to hate Marco.
Well, no, that's the wrong way to say it. More accurately, he hated the kind of person Marco is. Hated how he could so easily made what has to be the best night in Ace's life an embarrassing and cold memory, and he hated how easily he made Ace forgive him for that. He hated how good Marco is with words, sober and otherwise, because all of them just compelled Ace to listen and then his very justified anger would dissipate so easily. And he hated that Marco, after all he's done, can still make Ace's heart flutter happily by standing up against his father, then completely dash that fluttering feeling away by reminding him how easy it is for the older to act.
Okay, so maybe he doesn't hate Marco. Maybe he hated how he reacted to Marco.
I do mean what i say.
Funnily enough, he believed it when Marco said that, but that makes it even worse.
Every single words he said, on that stage, in front of his father, hell, even within the privacy of his car, those words that made Ace's burning, angry heart melts...
He meant it all, but he didn't mean it the way Ace wanted them to mean.
"Aah! Don't frown like that, you'll ruin your make up!"
Blinking, the freckled male looked up from his tablet's screen to the nervous looking woman next to him, brush hovering over his cheek. Before he can say anything, she began to panic, stammering out, "Sorry, sorry for shouting! But Miss Hancock will be really mad if your make up isn't perfect for this music video!"
For a woman over a head taller than anyone in the studio, Aphelandra was so timid and easily intimidated that Ace instantly felt bad for her, "No, it's fine, sorry, i was lost in thought there," he said with a sigh, eyes flickering back to the blinking cursor on his tablet, but most importantly, to his phone right next to it. The screen had turned dark since the last text 3 minutes ago, and it had only been from his mother saying that she and his father will come around again to spend time with him, Sabo and Luffy before they had to leave for another business trip in a week.
He didn't want to sound like an ungrateful child and he is looking forward to spend time with his parents, but just like the numerous text he received for the past week, he hated every single one of them for not being the one he's waiting for.
Despite promising to, Marco never did text or call him, and now an entire 8 days has passed without a single communication between them. Yet the blame couldn't lie solely on Marco when Ace himself hadn't really made the effort to type and send even a single text.
But what can he say, really? What can be said between them after such a devastating misunderstanding, after Ace had openly shown his feelings and was completely rejected afterwards? After the most perfect night of his life that ended up being completed and ruined by that damn kiss. That stupid, sloppy, hot and oh, so perfect kiss.
Just remembering it made his cheeks turned hot, and distinctly, he could hear Aphelandra humming in confusion while trying to apply highlights on his face. It had caught him off guard, sure, but he… he didn't dislike it. Hell, once the initial shock had worn off, Ace knew for sure that he had been enjoying himself, still remembered how fast his heart beat and how he immediately sunk into that kiss. He always thought kisses were just sexual in nature, much like the way he would describe them on his more raunchier and romance focused lyrics. And yet the way Marco kissed him had proven him oh so, so wrong.
Drunk and sloppy as it was, it's also passionate yet gentle, intimate and sensual, the contact caught him off guard for one second and swept him off his feet the next. For all that he seems shy and skittish sometimes, Marco's kiss was domineering, stealing Ace's breath away in a way no one ever did before. Even remembering it right now, he could feel a stutter in his chest, and he's not even sure writing an entire album would be enough to correctly describe just how absolutely perfect it was.
Just like Marco himself.
Marco and his kind words and thoughtfulness for Ace, so endearing with how easily flustered he is at any praise he received yet also so frustrating with his level of self-deprecation. He blend right in with his circle of friends, whether it was here at home with Sabo and Luffy or to his circle of friends at the studio, integrating easily into Ace's life and even though they had only known each other for the past month, it always felt like he's been in his life for much longer.
And there's the matter of his vulnerability, the anxiety that Ace slowly suspected was more than just a surface level matter, if everything he'd seen so far or what Izou said was to be believed. He lets Ace come close to comfort him through it, and as odd as it sounded, he felt elated, it had felt amazing to see that he could help. He wanted to know, to understand and help even more, just like he wanted to know so, so much more about Marco.
The more he thought about it, the more devastated he is knowing that Marco hadn't even meant it. That that perfect moment had been nothing but a drunken mistake.
Because Ace wished it hadn't been one.
At the risk of sounding selfish, he wanted more. More, more and more, until they could go beyond being close acquaintances and something deeper, even if it might take forever. Ace had never felt like this before, never knew anyone who made him wanted to try this much.
But he's the only one feeling that.
Because obviously, Marco doesn't feel the same way.
The screen on his phone flickered on again, accompanied by the cheerful jingle that was his message notification. With a jolt, ignoring Aphelandra's surprised squeak, he stared wide eyed to the displayed new text message.
New Text Message from [Deuce←~(Ψ▼ｰ▼)∈] [08:13]:How's the new song going? We need material for your single next month. Chop chop.
"Eek! Why did you throw your phone— Oh no! Please don't frown again, i'm trying to put eyeliners on you!"
If there is anything good that came out of the events from the past week, is that at the very least, since starting this new document, he finally managed to type something down, rendering the blank page no longer empty, even if it's only by a single, short line.
Yet, instead of being happy by the fact that there's starting to be little leaks from the clot that is his art block, however, Ace took one look at the words staring back at him from the large screen of his work tablet and had the overwhelming urge to delete it all and text to Deuce to just postpone that single they're planning to record as a bonus track for this album.
It's not enough for me
Though short, those words, like most, if not all of the lyrics in his songs, came from his mind. Like all of them, Ace knew exactly what caused those words to appear, what made them move his fingers and practically begged to be poured over into a piece of paper or types in to a digital device. He could recall pretty much all of the times when those words would first pop into his head, his state of mind at the time of writing them, what caused him to want to write them, what inspired him to come up with those woven together lyrics, and most of the time, they had to do with something personal, because he always believed in writing with his own experience.
Now, he wished he could be a bit more detached. Because he knows exactly why he wrote down those lyrics.
With a strangled groan, he pushed his tablet away, uncaring that the edge of it knocked rather harshly against his mixing board and pushed back against his swivel chair.
10 days now. It's been 10 days since the best and worst night of his life, and there's nothing. His phone laid still on the edge of his work desk, the last text being Law's reminder for him that he needs to attend a photoshoot and an interview with some prestigious magazine where he needs to promote his album and future solo concert along with a bunch of question list from the magazine.
One of those question had been another one asking about his relationship with Marco.
Thankfully, without even confirming with him, Law had already axed that, because in his words 'they've been focusing far too long on this whole charade and they need to get back on track on what's actually important'. The entire fiasco of his and Marco's supposed 'dating news' did kind of put a lot of things in the back burner for a bit, including promotions, and while Ace know this is just Law being practical, he'd like to believe that his manager is actually nice enough to cut him some slack.
Sabo certainly had been, both in a professional capacity and as his brother. He and Luffy hardly mentioned that his mood had turned for the worse these past couple of days, and on their movie night a couple of days ago, no one commented on it when he didn't immediately jump for the chance to play one of Marco's movies despite this week being his turn to choose. Ace realized that both of them has got to be curious and worried, but they pushed, and for that he was grateful.
After all, what can he actually say? I'm angry that i got rejected by the guy who gave me the hottest kiss of my life? I'm sad that i'm turned down by the one guy i've been pining for for more than half of my life? I'm embarrassed because of both?
With another heavy sigh, the singer swiped his phone, pushed his legs to further push the chair back, stood up and walked a feet away to where his bed is to plop down face first.
He's pretty sure he's been lying long enough to suffocate him, when a knock sounded on his door, followed by a muffled, "Ace? Can i come in?"
Rouge's soft voice made Ace look up. His parents came over for dinner, and after it was done, he had excused himself back to his room for 'work'. Before he left, Roger and Luffy had been setting up the game console in the living room with Sabo video calling Koala from the sofa behind them, and he was pretty sure that Rouge had been with them. It's hardly 20 minutes since he left, and anyone rarely bothered him in his room when he worked. Of course, his mother was always an exception to that rule, evident from the firmness of her voice that she's not taking a no for an answer.
True enough, he didn't even have the chance to answer when his door was pulled open and in come his mother, a tiny smile on her lips. She looked around the room, taking it all in a stride as those who lived in this house is wont to do, her gaze lingering in several particular spots where Ace had recently added more of his Marco related paraphernalia to, "Oh my, those are new. I've missed out so much on this business trip,"
When she had introduced herself as 'Marco's fan', she hadn't exactly been lying but that hadn't been the entire truth. Years ago, Rouge had been nothing short of addicted to the moderately popular daytime soap 'Romance Dawn', which Ace would always see her watching every time he came back home from school and would watch together with her while he does his homework or help her around the house. When her son's fascination over a certain actor grew, she had given him the promotional posters from a magazine that featured said actor in character, and that very same poster still hung over his bed the way it used in his childhood bedroom.
Roger had been exasperated, even ridiculously horrified ("Ace, sweet baby angel of mine, you're too young to have a crush! Besides, no boys or girls will be good enough for you!") but Rouge would always listen to every single one of Ace's chatter and gushing throughout the year over Marco's new movies and any news about him. Whenever the two of them would meet and started enthusiastically discussing over an actor and a decade old show, he would only roll his eyes fondly, stating that he would never understand them.
Because he was right, he would never understand. Roger wasn't there during the time when a simple daytime soap was the only thing Rouge could hold on to for a semblance of normalcy in her slowly crumbling life, the only distraction that allowed her to keep the facade of being strong in front of her only son. Likewise, Roger can never understand how Ace could grow such an attachment to someone he had never met before, when he wasn't there to see how a person, through a simple role on screen would be the one thing that a child could go to for comfort.
He never did managed to tell Marco about any of that, never had the guts to bring it up and not even to thank him.
Now, after they stopped talking like this, he wondered if he'll ever get the chance to anymore.
As Rouge sat down on his bed and climbed further to sit by his side, Ace watched from behind the curtain of his hair as she gave the room another cursory look, before stopping on the display on the table on top of his bed. She gave a light chuckle before reaching over for the picture frame that contained Marco's blurred, awkward selfie, and cooed adoringly, "He's quite a sweetheart in person, isn't he? A bit... awkward, but then he was ambushed by your father,"
The only reply she received was a noncommittal hum, muffled by the fluffy pillow Ace buried his face with, "And his winning speech! Oh, even i felt giddy just listening to it. Your father was furious, of course, but you know what he's like," this was again met by a low hum, neither agreeing or disagreeing. Rouge gave her son one last brush through his hair, and Ace felt the bed shift as she laid down next to him, her hair fanning beneath her as she held the framed photo above her face, "He really sound like he cares a lot for you,"
Half-suffocated, Ace took a deep, chemical scented - Luffy mixed up softener with industrial stain remover while doing laundry, as always - inhale, "I don't know, mom—"
"Too bad you two aren't even dating for real,"
Far too quickly, the younger shot his head up, eyes owlishly wide as he stared down to his mother's knowing look. He gave a grimace, and turned around to lay back down on his back, groaning, "I was wondering if Ray told you and dad or not,"
"Well, he didn't tell your dad, that's for sure. They might be best friends, but your father will still rip him a new one if he knew what Ray did. Called it a betrayal of his trust or something equally stupid, you know how he can be when it comes to you," she chuckled, "But he did feel bad about lying to your parents, so he told me. Figured i'll be the one to break it to your father and will know how to handle him,"
Ace shifted his gaze to the side, quirking a brow, "That's a lot of responsibility to dump on you,"
Rouge snorted, a sound so unladylike, Ace knew it would surprise people how often his elegant and graceful mother made them on daily basis. If only they knew, "Well, to be fair, Rayleigh already relinquished every burden of handling Roger after i married him. We used to share it when your father and i were still dating. But enough about me," she turned to him with a curled, curious smile, "Tell me everything. Are you two really together now? What happened that night, oh i was so excited!"
With another groan, the younger shook his head, not really in the mood to talk. But of course, he knew better than to defy his mother - mostly because she could be really, really persistent - so he turned back to face her, one freckled face staring to another, "It's… it's not like that, mom. He was drunk," he finally told her, sighing sadly, "He didn't mean to kiss me,"
Instantly, Rouge's expression shifted into that of pity, one hand holding on to the picture frame pressed on her chest while the other reaching out to brush away a strand of his hair gently, "Oh, baby, i'm so sorry,"
"That's not even the worst thing, the worst thing is i was stupid enough to think it was real. I should've known, everything was so surreal, like that kiss, his speech, and when he practically dragged me to his bed—"
"Ace! You didn't!"
"No, he literally only dragged me to bed. I stayed over because his brother was already asleep when we got to his apartment and i was afraid he might choke on his own vomit or something, so after i put him to bed, i was going to sleep on the sofa. But he," with both hands outstretched, Ace demonstrated what Marco had done once he finished depositing the older to the bed, while feeling extremely foolish as he kept running the memory of last night in his mind, "He was so out of it, he kept telling me not to leave so i didn't. And i also thought, might as well since, well, we'll work it out in the morning, right?"
Like a puppet with its strings cut loose, Ace's hands fell smacking down his face. It stings, but it didn't sting as much as every event that happened since he woke up.
Rouge's cool hand reached over to rub down his shoulder and forearm, comforting him, "What happened in the morning? You did look a bit upset,"
Reluctantly, he told her. Told her of waking up in Marco's bed, wrapped around each other and feeling like he's on the top of the world, only to be flung back to earth at full speed. And it had hurt. It had hurt so badly that his first reaction was to feel full of anger and embarrassment, and he couldn't even help feeling like he had been played with. On top of it all, he hated how quickly it all melted at Marco's pleading.
It's so unfair.
"I wish he could've just leave me alone after, you know? No need to be so helpful after dropping the 'i'm sorry, i don't like you like that' bomb, so it'll be easier for me,"
"Does he though?"
Slowly, Ace removed his hands, just enough to be able to peek through them, "What?"
There's an odd smile on Rouge's face, as if she knew something that Ace doesn't. He's all too familiar with that smile growing up, a gesture that would appear on her face every time she caught him making an obvious lie, or was hiding a surprise for him. Right now, he couldn't fathom what it could possibly be for, "'I don't like you like that'? Did he really say that, because i don't buy it,"
"Well, he didn't say it directly," Because Marco's too sweet for that - ugh, he hated that he could still swoon over him even like this, "But what else could it mean? He didn't mean for the kiss to happen, then he pulled away from me, and now we haven't talked for over a week. I'm pretty sure i know what rejection looks like, mom,"
Yet instead of agreeing with him, Rouge gave a chuckle that sounded both condescending and affectionate, "Oh honey," she said, sitting up, "No man that's not interested in someone would say the things he said," she glanced down to the framed picture in her hand and to her son, grinning, "Or looked at someone the way he looked at you,"
Ace huffed in disagreement, and yet he could still feel his cheeks heating up. Did Marco look at him in some certain way? He never really noticed, other than that Marco has nice eyes, with light blue orbs that shone even behind his often half-lidded eyelids. Kind of like a pair of gems, or the scale on Deuce's cute little pet guppy. And the box of his favorite snack bar. Or the box that comes with his favorite vanilla ice cream that he hid in the very back of the freezer behind the meats and piled with bags of frozen peas to ward Luffy off.
There's so many good things associated with that colour, it's no surprise that Marco's eyes would be in that colour.
Ugh, so, so unfair.
He shook his head with a glum sigh, "Ray told you what's going on, right? You know he's just act—"
"No matter how good an actor someone is," Rouge reached out and poked her son's nose playfully, "and we both know he's a good one,"
He really is, isn't he? So good in fact that Ace could be fooled, but then, maybe he's just dumb enough to believe.
"Well, if he really does, he would've called me or text, wouldn't he?" the younger Gol-Portgas threw a contemptuous glare at his phone, "The last time we talked was when he left after driving me home, promising to 'call me later'. So much for that,"
The bed shifted again when Rouge shifted closer to him, pulling him against her by his shoulder, "Have you tried calling or texting him first?"
Ace squirmed a little, just for the sake of resisting his mother's hold, but when she wouldn't relent - Rouge may be a thin and petite woman, but she is also a woman who lift and move a heavy three seated sofa for fun, and whose punch has put the fear of god in her husband and son over the years - he only sigh and settled back against her, "…No,"
Without even needing to look, with just a small, exasperated sigh from Rouge, Ace knew she was rolling her eyes, "W-well, i don't know what to say! I slept on his bed, half naked, and i tried to kiss him, sober! Yeah, so i thought that we kinda… have a thing, and that's why i did all of that, but i'm embarrassed, okay?"
"I'm not saying you should open with all of that, i'm just saying that if you're upset you two hadn't talked at all, you could try to start the conversation first," Rouge chuckled, "Look, i know this must be frustrating to you, but the fact is, sometimes when it comes to communication in a relationship, it takes just one side being dumb for far too long to stagnate everything," her tone may be fond, but there was an underlying disgruntled tone that makes Ace wonder if she's talking from experience. She turned to him, the corners of her lips quirked upwards, "And if you cared enough, you could take the first step to prevent that,"
Rouge loosened her arms around him, which her son took as a cue to reach for his phone. His screen lit up by a single tap, the original, digital version from Marco's photo held in Rouge's hand looking up at him. Ace could hear her chuckling in amusement when she saw it, but he ignored it in favour of opening the messaging app and scrolling down to the chat he knew by heart.
He stared at the last message on that chat, a text from Marco telling him that he's outside of his house, sent exactly 11 days ago on the night of the award show.
Ace kept staring.
And promptly dropped his head smack against the screen with a loud groan.
A sympathetic rub was given to his hunched back, "You know, i met a man like him once. Well, not quite as… skittish, he's actually rather boisterous and really laid back, but i notice whenever he's around me, he'd turn into this awkward mess who stumbled on his words and tried way too hard to look 'cool'. It's actually rather adorable to look at the first couple of times, but it becomes rather tiresome afterwards," She gave a nostalgic, fond smile, turning her gaze over to meet Ace's narrowed eyes, "I waited for months for him to ask me out, but he never did. Ended up having to take matters to my own hands and ask him out myself," the red haired woman chuckled.
"Mom," Ace looked back to Rouge's cheerful face, lips pressed thin and frowning, "After all i just told you, please tell me you're not telling me to do what i think you're telling me to do,"
Instead of replying to him, his mother only shrugged, but there's so many subtle body language in that simple, short raise of shoulder, like the feigned innocence and guile on her face and tone and the barely there but obviously intended bump against his side. He knew his mother well, he knew her all too well, "I'm just saying, that personally, i don't see the appeal of waiting around to be asked out, especially when i know that the person i like likes me back,"
"Mom, i just told you, he rejected m—"
"Yes, yes, he rejected you. Yet somehow he still asked to drive you home, still agreed to meet your father and sat there despite being able to walk away at any time he wanted, kept up the charade in front of your parents, and," she sighed dreamily, finger reaching down to twirl the ends of her hair, "And everything he said, oh, the last time i heard something so sweet, i kissed that man who said it right in front of Uncle Garp,"
That sounded more like she's marking whoever that man might be for death, but that's not important right now, "Mom, i—"
"Ace, trust me on this," his words were silenced by her smile, the kind that she always gave to him in private to assure and calm him down, "I'm not telling you to do what you don't want to do, but at the same time, i don't want you to possibly regret anything. Most importantly, i just want you to be happy,"
He felt a nudge on his hand and found Rouge's hand pushing his phone closer to him, "What if he doesn't reply?" Ace asked after sighing, surprised by how timid his own voice sounded.
Rouge's hand curled around her son's, squeezing gently as she gave the walls around the room one more glance, "Then i'm so sorry, Ace, but he's just not worth it,"
He knows that she's right.
And yet that doesn't stop the plunging feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Well, i brought over some cookie dough for you, Sabo and Luffy and i left them to bake in the oven. Once you're done, come outside, okay? I made triple chocolate with white chocolate bits, your favorite," Rouge's hand passed by his shoulder to put the framed picture in her hand back to his overbed table, the same hand patting his cheek before she stood up, "If anything, you should see your father trying to make sense of this game Luffy dragged him to play, oh that man will try do anything to prove he understood the 'hip culture',"
He didn't answer as the bed creaked and Rouge began to walk away, only calling out once he heard the door to his room creaking open, "Yes, Ace?"
"That guy you asked out," Ace muttered, hand still clutching tightly around his phone, "Did he… did he say yes? Did you end up going out with him? And what happened to the guy you kissed in front of Grandpa Garp?"
Before Rouge could say anything, from somewhere in the living room, Ace could hear the sound of shouting, voice suspiciously familiar to his Roger's and a shrieking laughter that could only belong to Luffy, "No! I was so close! One more time, i'm going to win in this game! You'll see!"
"But Uncle Roger, you already lost 10 times—"
"I. Will. Win! I almost got the combos pegged down!"
"Oh, they're both the same person, actually," the red haired woman chuckled, her voice almost drowned by the over enthused shoutings over from the living room, with Sabo's voice piping up every now and then telling them to be mindful of the neighbours, "And of course he said yes, just like he said yes to my proposal years later. Been married to him ever since!"