A werewolf could not be trusted to have a sense of fashion; Sabo would willingly and eagerly be quoted on this.

"I don't even know how you found that."

The monstrosity was a bright, painful orange.

"I don't even know how you decided you wanted it after you found that."

"I dunno," Ace said, and smirked knowingly at how Sabo had to squint when the light caught the hideous garment, "I think it's pretty neat."

It wasn't. It was horribly ugly, if Ace was going to be honest. But the look on Sabo's face the moment he put it on made him immediately fond of it. The older, beaten fabric was also much softer against his ears, compared to the stiff and blocky build of the other hats they had tried. "What's the problem? You can't deny it works."

Ace wasn't entirely sure Sabo would be able to deny it even if it didn't work. The human was still struggling just to look at the hat. A disguise and human repellent, lucky me.

"It works, but at what cost…"

Ace snickered, charging ahead through the trash just to make Sabo scramble to catch up. "So this is the Grey Terminal?" He asked, changing the subject. Before Sabo, he had never bothered leaving the forest. It took a lot of courage just to do this today– mostly at the consequence of the smell spinning him into a constant low-grade headache. He had to wear shoes just to come. The forest soil and moss of the forest floor was much better than the splintering, unstable, rusted metal-flecked dirt of Sabo's home. "I don't know why you don't just live in the forest. You're already there all the time."

His words caught up to him and Ace froze. "Not that I want you to!" He snarled, whipping around to face the blond. Sabo just stared at him, one eyebrow raised, mid-step, and Ace flushed hotly. "Just stay out here where I don't have to see your stupid face," he grumbled weakly.

He didn't manage to turn away in time to miss how Sabo smirked at him. That was fucking stupid, Ace's brain hissed, Are you kidding me? Why did you even come here– it's almost like you like this–

Behind him, Sabo's steps screeched to a halt. Ace looked back just in time to see his blue eyes widen in horror, lips parting on the recognizable note of his name– and missed hearing any of it, when he walked directly into a lumbering figure hard enough to knock him down to the ground.

"What the hell?" He growled. He rubbed his head, trying to soothe it as his headache throbbed to undeniable attention. "What kind of–" he yelped when Sabo yanked him back, just in time to avoid a massive hand smashing into the ground where he had been barely a second ago. Ace stumbled to his feet. His head was beginning to spin, but he managed to squint through the rising disorientation up at the human anyways.

A massive man, with long pressed back hair and blue coat– and a gun.

A gun the human had placed a hand over.

For once, Ace didn't protest how Sabo touched him, his grip tight to the point of pain on his arm.

"What's this?" The man asked. His hand tightened over the handle of his pistol, but he did not draw. His narrowed eyes traced over both the boys, landing on Ace. "A devil fruit user, in East Blue?"

Ace frowned in confusion. What the hell does…? His gaze was drawn to the ground, the man stooping slowly to scoop up something violently orange– Oh shit.

Sabo tugged, slowly, carefully inching them both backward only to freeze again as the man swiftly pulled his pistol on them. The safety clicking off was almost unnaturally loud, in the sudden silence. "So that's what you've been doing, boy," The man gruffly said, stare flickering to Sabo. "Wasn' aware we had wolves 'roun here." His gun didn't move from where it was aimed directly at Ace's head. Ace didn't dare twitch, didn't breathe– his ears flat to his head and every limb stiff. "What fruit did you eat, hmm? Anything bright and weird lookin', swirly, disgusting?"

Neither of them risked saying a word. Ace only moved to send a questioning look at Sabo, who didn't tear his eyes from the human in front of them. It didn't go unnoticed by said human.

"So no fruit." Whatever expression must have been on Ace's face must have been satisfactory– the gun slipped slowly back into the wide waistline of the human's pants. "Traipsing with monsters, are ya, Kid?" He leveled a look at Sabo and despite himself, Ace felt his hackles rise.

"We aren't monsters," He snapped, "Don't talk to us like that!"

Sharp eyes gleamed with interest and Sabo's grip turned bruising. "Ace," he hissed. "Shut up!"

He couldn't. The terminal was really starting to get to him– the smell burning his nose and agitating him, the shoes, the trash, the sounds of trash and rotting wood and scraping, rusting metal and humans– The human dropped his hat jerking back when Ace lunged, teeth snapping for his arm– "Stop!" Sabo shrieked.

Both human and werewolf froze as the blond darted between them– barely pausing to snatch the cowboy hat off the ground before practically slamming into Ace's stomach hard enough to throw them both behind the closest pile of trash.

"Get up," He ordered, voice panicked, "Get up, get up!" Ear's flat to his head, fur standing on end, Ace wasn't really coherent enough anymore through the dizziness and anger to do more than just stumble to his paws– all four of them– teeth closing tight around Sabo's sleeve and running.

They ran all the way back to the forest– ran until Sabo couldn't keep up anymore, until they collapsed in a tangled pile of fur and fabric and frantic noises that sent every other creature flying. Ace hadn't even struggled back onto his paws yet before his head was jerked around, held tight between Sabo's hands for the blond to force him to meet eyes wide and so, so blue.

"Never," He shouted breathlessly, "Never do that again! That was Bluejam– he's a pirate! He's stronger than the rest of the people in the Terminal– you could have gotten us both killed!"

Ace whined, ears lowering and Sabo tried uselessly to still his shaking hands in dark fur. "He's out of our league," He said again, quieter. "If you're going to visit the terminal, you can't– can't let him catch you, okay?" He finally let go and slumped back, head in his hands. Ace just continued to whine uncontrollably, unable to help the instinctual need to step closer and nudge at Sabo's arms. "And now he knows you're a werewolf," The blond moaned. Almost unconsciously, he uncurled to allow Ace to step up onto his lap. His hands absentmindedly pushed back into the thick, black fur around Ace's nape. For a long moment, they were both quiet, Sabo holding on and Ace carefully licking at his face. Without either of them noticing, the forest was getting darker. "Be careful," He breathed. "Please be careful."

Without even bothering to move away, Ace flopped down where he stood, head and front paws heavily settled on Sabo's lap to avoid dislodging his hands.

Neither of them was entirely ready to be doing anymore more than breathing, at the moment. At least until the adrenaline faded.

Sabo hadn't left the Terminal for days. It was rough, moving between the terminal and the forest with Bluejam's men seeming to be scouring the entire boundary line– not that he was certain they were specifically looking for him or even Ace. He never stuck around long enough to overhear very much. Not to mention, he was occupied with moving and rehiding what meager possessions he did have before they were inevitably found by either a lucky pirate or a keen scavenger.

At least there was no risk of being followed into the forest, if Sabo never entered it.

He had yet to run back into Bluejam. Taking extra care to steer clear of him and Porchemy both swallowed up most of his day, but it was paying off so far. Until things quieted down again, and Ace was forgotten, and Sabo's visits became just another part of daily routine, he would just have to–

"...course, if we could catch the blondie, we'd actually know where to put the damn things."

Sabo immediately ducked back behind the mass of rotting wood he had just rounded.

"It would be easier, yeah, but either they're both smarter than yer average kids or Boss really spook'd 'em." There was a throaty laugh. "Would be nice if they just wandered into the traps though, for sure. Boss thinks we'd make a killin' off'a sellin' a werewolf, if it really is one."

The men laughed again, something unashamedly excited in their voices– Sabo slapped a hand over his mouth, almost gagging as he fought not to be sick right then and there. He was scrambling to his feet before he could even register his body moving, practically throwing himself back the way he came until he was face to face with the edge of the tree-line. He barely managed to check he was alone before he was sprinting over soft forest floor, launching himself over tree roots and bushes and long-memorized pitfalls, faster, and faster–

–and fell, screaming, as metal clamped tight and breathtakingly painful around his shin.

Sabo crumpled to the ground on his hands, choking on another scream as the movement jerked the metal teeth biting into his flesh. No… No, no, no… His forehead was slick with sweat where he pressed it into the dirt, precariously balancing on his uninjured knee to blindly run trembling hands over the trap tearing into his leg. He curled in as best he could, dry heaving when his fingers came away soaking wet. Every tiny twitch jostled the wound.

I'm going to die, He realized, sudden like a firecracker going off in his bare hands, I'm going to either bleed out or be caught, and sold, or killed, and I don't know which is worse– he did know. He knew exactly which was worse– knew intimately to what ends he would go to avoid it by how his nails poised to dig and tear into his new wounds the moment the undergrowth rustled with company––

"Sabo? Is that you? I could smell– Sabo?!" Ace's claws felt like tiny knives among the thousands, boring into his skin, and Sabo sobbed. The sound only made the werewolf more frantic. "Sabo! No, don't– Stop!" He yanked Sabo's hands away from his leg, whining when the human bit his lip hard enough to bleed to swallow down another pained cry. "I-It's okay! I'm– I'm going to get you out, Just– It's okay."

Continuing to murmur soothingly despite his own panic, Ace poked at the trap. His brow furrowed. "What… is this?" He released Sabo's hands and the blond thankfully just dug his nails into the dirt instead of his wounds. "A bear trap," He snarled. He braced both hands on either dulled end of the teeth and pulled.

Sabo wailed.

"Shit," Ace groaned, the word hissing out between grit teeth. "Sorry, Sorry, I'm–" Another harsh yank, and the metal slid out of Sabo's leg with a wet clicking sound. Ace had to lunge to catch him as Sabo attempted to scramble to his feet, pupils still blown wide and unseeing from shock– only to collapse as his injured leg folded under his weight. "Shit!" He didn't know where to put his hands. Sabo was still shaking. It refused to die down, even when Ace carefully pulled him up off the ground. "What happened?!"

A pale hand twisted into Ace's shirt. "T-The traps," Sabo stuttered out, "They're– it's–" Ace could hear it when he swallowed. This close, he could feel just how quickly Sabo's heart was raging in his chest– beating like a bomb ready to explode. "From– They're from Bluejam."

Ace went cold.

"You…" Sabo's leg was still sluggishly bleeding. It had barely slowed– Ace was quickly becoming soaked with it. The stench of blood was almost more overpowering than the rubbish smell of the Terminal.

The trap lay, still open and inviting. Shiny with blood– Sabo's blood– because the stupid fucking human was too busy trying to warn Ace about them to just look down.

"Ace," Sabo gasped, and Ace could barely hear it over the roaring in his ears, "Please be careful."

The werewolf shut his eyes tightly for a moment. The smell of blood was so overpowering he could hardly focus on anything else– the clammy and weakening grip of Sabo's hands, the wind in the trees–

The thundering footsteps of people who heard screaming even a mile away.

Ace didn't even think twice. He just picked his only friend up and ran as fast as he could.

i literally just now realized that i never uploaded the third chapter here :/ its a week late compared to on Ao3 sorry lmao my bad

more werewolf angst next week ✌️