Sabo was never as stubborn as Ace could be. Or even as stubborn as Luffy could be, apparently–

"You smell like him," Ace said for the hundredth time.

–But this was ridiculous.

They hadn't moved from the treehouse since Sabo got back. He had expected some lashing out, of course. Being caught out about Luffy was inevitable and he should have guessed the werewolf would be able to smell the puppy on Sabo's clothes, after he had done his best to rub himself all over Sabo. He had barely made it a foot into the clearing before Ace had grabbed him and dragged him up into their den.

It was almost impressive. Almost; and Sabo wasn't about to tell Ace that and encourage… this. He couldn't see the sun, from within the treehouse, but he was certain they had already spent at least an hour on the crummy boards of their den.

A whole hour, with Ace just aggressively nuzzling Sabo of all things. He had curled around Sabo in his wolf form before they even touched the ground and refused to let him up, growling and nipping at his sleeves whenever he tried. He definitely tried. They hadn't even eaten yet, and Sabo was seriously starting to get hungry. All the meat he took back when he left Luffy was still outside and if Ace didn't let him up it was eventually going to be stolen, scented territory or not.

(Maybe by Luffy. His nose was certainly good enough to track down meat, even if Sabo walked through a river, and he wasn't sure he was ready to have the puppy know where they slept.)

"You smell like him," Ace whined, distressed, and Sabo sighed. "You're not supposed to smell like him! You're mine! I claimed you, and–"

"I get it, you're my best friend," Sabo cut in, exasperated. "It's not like I invited him to live with us! It's just easier to let him join instead of having him chase me all over the place all the time." Barely, but it was. Luffy became less of a problem, but in turn, Ace became a problem. It had gotten to the point that Sabo would enter the treehouse and brace himself for a mass of werewolf on top of him and gross werewolf breath the moment he saw Ace's nose twitching. Trying to nudge him off didn't exactly do much but make Ace whine at him, and one lovely evening almost put Ace's teeth through his hand.

(Almost. Almost is the keyword, considering Sabo's thumb had accidentally jabbed itself right into a grey eye and Ace's instinctual snap had only led to Sabo staring as Ace froze with his teeth just barely poking into his palm before backing off and going silent for hours. All without getting off him. What a drama queen. How was Sabo ever supposed to take werewolves seriously again? If vampires were real too and just as finicky and anal he was losing all respect for mythology as a whole.)

Not that Sabo even understood whatever weird need Ace had for him to smell like him. Maybe Sabo didn't want to smell like dirty dog all the time– but Ace never had any problem when he went and bathed in any of the streams, nor washed his clothes.

He was just at a loss. Nothing new. Sabo was starting to just accept that he'd never understand whatever unspoken social nuances werewolves followed. Not when his only sources included a maniacal marine, a puppy, and an emotionally stunted best friend.

Ace pouted. Actually looked Sabo in the eye and pouted. There was an entire werewolf, trying his damned best to cover Sabo in his fur, and it was pouting at him. "Can't you just avoid him," Ace groaned. His eyes suddenly narrowed and Sabo cut off his giggle with a huff when a wet nose pressed cold and wet to his calf. "Your leg isn't bothering you again, is it? I can take over hunting for a few days, if–"

"I'm fine."

Hurt, huge grey eyes. Dark fluffy ears pressed down. "Then what's the problem," Ace asked, and Sabo wondered whether he'd get a nip for rolling his eyes.

"The problem," Sabo said, finally making headway in shoving Ace off him, "is that I can't win either way! What's the big deal with how I smell? Does he just smell bad or something?" Why does any of this matter? Why do you hate Luffy so much? Why do you really want me to stay away from him?

Why do you care so much?

"I just don't get it," Sabo finished helplessly. He didn't mean to sound hurt, hadn't even noticed how hurt he was until his voice cracked out of him. "...and you're not exactly explaining anything to me."

Waiting never worked. Watching never work. Ace never told him how he felt about things, and Sabo was starting to think maybe even he didn't know himself. If being patient and being passive wasn't going to work, maybe outright asking would. At the very least, it'd get the both of them to stop acting like there wasn't anything off–

"Because you're my pack," Ace said, desperate and furious and panicked, "my pack, my friend! it's– It's not like I have anyone else. Gramps is never here, and you know Dadan hates us! Hates me!" He paused for a moment. A long whine escaped him, choked and overwhelmingly sad even to Sabo's ears. "I- I don't want you to think he's better."

Sabo just gaped at him. What else was he supposed to do, when his only friend declared that— that he, he's— "you think of me as part of your pack?" He asked, befuddled. "But I'm not— I'm—"

"So what if you're human?! That doesn't— I don't care about that," Ace abruptly looked even more scared, his ears smooshing down until almost invisible against his hair. His eyes were so wide when they turned to sabo. "Do you— do you think I hate you?" He asked, voice pitched oddly. "Do you think we can't be friends because I'm a werewolf and you're a human? Do you think that because of Roger—"

This got out of hand too quickly. Far too quickly, far, far too quickly— "No!" Sabo shouted. Ace jerked in place and Sabo startled to realize he had grabbed him. His hands were painfully tight on the other's shoulders. "Of course not! Who do you think I am?! I don't care that I'm a human! I don't care that you're a werewolf, or that the pirate king was your dad, or that— that— I—" this was impossible. Sabo couldn't do this. Did Ace really hate himself so much? How hadn't he noticed— "We want to be pirates don't we?!"

It was a segue. It was a distraction. It was enough to make Ace stare at him. "W-What?" But it wasn't enough to get his point across.

Sabo buried his hands into that dark fur and pulled until Ace was stumbling, all paws and fur and claws snagging into Sabo's shorts, into his lap. "We wanna be free," he mumbled into his coat. This close, he could feel Ace's heartbeat pounding against his arms, his cheek. "Aren't pirates the freest? And they can be humans, or werewolves, or vampires, or—"

"Vampires aren't real," Ace muttered, and Sabo very carefully did not cuff him for it. The werewolf sounded so much calmer, suddenly. Drained, but calm. Quiet. Manageable. As if being being touched was proof enough that Sabo was telling the truth. "At least, I think so."

(As if just being touched told Ace everything he needed, because why else would someone willingly lower themselves to touching him?)

It didn't matter. Ace just needed to understand that it didn't— who cared if—

"I get it," Ace whispered. That furry head turned, wet, cold snout perishing against Sabo's neck as Ace shifted to settle more comfortably. Sabo doubted it helped to be practically strangled to death by a hug, but it was the thought that counted and it wasn't as if Ace wasn't heavy— "I... I get it. It shouldn't matter what we are. Neither of us. We're pack, and we'll be pirates, and... and we'll be free. The rest isn't important."

"Even if Luffy joins us?"

A huff. But not a bad huff, not an "I won't talk to you for days" huff. Just a huff. "...Even if that annoying pup joins us."

Sabo smiled. He couldn't wait to tell Luffy.

A puppy was nipping at Ace's heels. A whole puppy. A tiny, baby werewolf.

...and Ace wasn't pulling away.

Or well, not anymore. He did the first times, and snapped at Luffy more than once– not that the pup withered even the slightest bit at Ace's warning snarl (and what kind of werewolf got excited to be threatened?) – but Sabo had cuffed him for it on the fourth time.

Call Ace a coward, but he wasn't about to turn and snap at Sabo too after their… talk. He was barely managing to walk alongside the other without feeling so embarrassed he started sprinting into the distance.

"What will we do?!" Luffy yipped. He was far too close, practically wrapping his neck around Ace's. "Can we go hunt?! We could hunt!" Ace huffed and nudged at him, watching dismissively as he tumbled head over paws and got tangled in his limbs. Sabo side-eyed him for it, but Luffy just wiggled happily back into place and picked right up where he left off.

(He'll happily allow that as long as it meant Sabo wouldn't scold him for it. How was Ace supposed to be the alpha of his pack if Luffy constantly saw him being yelled at? It was unbecoming. The pup had already tried to challenge him once, tried to scent mark his pack and steal him away from him. Ace wasn't about to allow any more opportunities for the idiot to think he could squirm his way through any perceived gaps.)

Luffy whined, rolling onto his back and wiggling against the dirt. He really was so squirmy. As if his body produced so much energy it was just overflowing. "I'm hungry," he whined.

Ace just rolled his eyes. Why did I go along with this again? "Fine, whatever. Just don't get in our way." Immediately, wide eyes practically sparkled his way.

"Really?!"

Sabo's fingers pressed into his fur. When he looked up, his friend was smiling at him.

"Good job," he whispered, and excuse me, Ace was not some— ohh, nails just barely digging into the thick fur at the base of his ears— Right. This is why I went along with it. Even when Sabo turned to address Luffy, that wonderful scratching didn't stop. It kept him from getting too irritated, even if he probably looked stupid melting into it. "We can go hunt, Luffy. Can you pick up a scent?"

Immediately, the boy perked up, ears and tail tall. "I can," he promised. "Just watch! I'll find the biggest boar, or a tiger, and I'll take it down myself—!" He yipped when Ace reached out, bowling him over with his paw. Sabo stopped scratching him for it, but Ace didn't get yelled at, so it was still a win.

"No tigers." There it was. Ace's least favorite no-nonsense tone. But not pointed at him. It was beautiful. "They're too strong."

"I can take them!"

"No tigers."

"But—"

"Nope."

Luffy huffed, ears dropping but Ace was just happy to see him give up. It might have been funny, maybe, to watch such a tiny puppy get swatted aside by a massive tiger, but...

He really was tiny. Luffy would be more than swatted aside. No amount of rubber devil fruits and accelerated healing would stop those massive claws from tearing him in two. Ace felt his lips curl up into a snarl and instantly clamped down on it, not liking how his body was reacting without his permission.

Whether he liked Luffy or not, the image of a puppy, of a child smeared across the dirt wasn't funny.

Especially not one just trying to prove himself. Ace could understand that. Maybe he wasn't good at showing how he felt, or even good at figuring out what he felt– but he had seen that same desperation plenty of times. In his face, when he looked down into streams and puddles, in the jerky pull of his body towards things he couldn't recognize; hell, even in Sabo.

They all knew desperation. Ace wasn't going to snap at his mirror reflection, no matter how much he hated it.

Luffy then caught a scent trail and catapulted himself forward so fast that half his body didn't get the memo in time. Ace wondered if this was going to be his life. A pack consisting of one human, and a puppy made of rubber and probably no brain cells.

(An improvement.)

Welcome back! short chapter. next will be longer as i get back into the actual reason this story was written. after. 7 entire chapters i didnt intend to write. also its been so long i honestly barely recount how review replying works on FF, should i just answer anons in end notes? who knows. here you go, reminder that wror hopefully updating this month!