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“Okay, I'm gonna go now then!”
Ace said this but hesitated at the door.
Again.
“Are you comfortable?”, he asked, maybe for the fifth time.
But his little brother didn't seem to mind and answered with a happy “Yup!”.
“Good. Got Merry with you up there?”
Luffy held up the plushie for Ace to see.
“Alright. Sabo and I will be up for another while so if you can't fall asleep you can come to the living room, okay?”
“Okay!”
“And if we're already asleep, remember I'm just upstairs if you need me. Sabo is right down the hallway. If you can't sleep you can come to my room, yeah? Don't worry about waking me up.”
“Okay!”
Luffy still sounded energetic but he'd nodded off on the couch multiple times already so Ace had decided it was bed time for him now.
The first night in his new bed.
In his own room.
No wonder he was wide awake now.
Ace hoped that his little brother could sleep well and that the excitement wouldn't keep him up for too long.
He took a deep breath himself and then smiled up at Luffy who was holding onto the bars on the side of his loft bed so he could peek down.
“Alright. Good night, Lu. I'll leave the door ajar, yeah?”
“Uh-huh! Good night, Ace!”, Luffy answered, still beaming with excitement.
Ace watched as he made himself comfortable in his new bed.
Only a tuft of his black hair was still visible from where Ace was standing by the door. He waited until Luffy had settled down and then took a last deep breath before shaking his own head at himself.
Why was he making such a big deal out of this?
It wasn't like Luffy was gone.
He was just a few rooms over.
Ace could deal with that.
“Love you”, he added quietly.
“Love you too!”, came Luffy's response and Ace slowly retreated out of the room.
As promised he didn't close the door fully and he made sure his steps were light when he finally returned to the living room.
Sabo was still watching TV (they had put that up today and luckily they already had Wi-Fi so they could stream whatever they wanted) and slowly munched on the fried rice he'd ordered earlier but there was a huge grin plastered on his face and somehow Ace suspected it didn't have anything to do with the show he was currently watching.
(Some horror- or thriller-type show, something that Ace wasn't too fond of personally)
Sabo didn't say anything but Ace saw his smile widening just that little bit more when he entered the living room and he groaned, defeated.
“You heard everything, didn't you? Ughhh, go on. You can make fun of me now”, he said and let himself fall face first into the couch cushions.
“I'm not gonna make fun of you”, Sabo assured him but Ace could hear the amusement in his voice.
“Liar”, he said, the word muffled into the couch.
“Accusations!”, Sabo laughed. “But no, for real. I'm not gonna laugh at you. I just can't comprehend that you've gotten so sweet.”
“Oh, shut up!”, Ace groaned, embarrassed and pressed his face harder into the cushion.
No way in hell would he let Sabo see that burning blush on his face.
He wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
But once it got hard to breathe, he sighed deeply and heaved himself back up into a sitting position.
“I thought I'd look forward to having my own room more if I'm being honest”, he admitted.
“I mean, you've shared a room with him for how long?”
“About two years.”
“Yeah, you're just used to having him so close”, Sabo said.
He put the now empty food container onto the coffee table and then turned to look at Ace with a smile. “It will go away soon.”
“Yeah, you're probably right...”
Ace tried to smile back at him but he knew it probably didn't look convincing.
“Argh, I probably won't get a wink of sleep tonight!”, he realized and face-planted into the cushions again.
“Don't be so dramatic, you'll be fine.”
Sabo said this but patted Ace's arm sympathetically.
Ace was thankful for the supportive gesture.
“I think we should be done with Luffy's room tomorrow”, Sabo mused loudly to try and distract Ace a bit from his gloomy thoughts. “Do you wanna continue with your own room after that or should we focus on the living room?”
They had managed to built all of their bed frames today and their mattresses had been delivered on the day of the move already so that everyone could sleep in their own rooms.
But apart from the beds they hadn't finished anything else yet.
Luffy's loft bed, his desk and his dresser had taken more time than they had anticipated (these stupid manuals were just too confusing).
Sabo wouldn't mind if Ace chose to work on his own room first.
He could work on his own one and they'd ask each other for help with something if they needed it.
In the past few days they had worked remarkably well together.
Sabo was already looking forward to sort all of his books into the shelves in the library but he had promised to himself he'd only do that if all the important things downstairs were finished.
He was also very excited to start on the garden.
He had no idea what to do with most of it yet but he'd thought about a little vegetable garden. That could be a fun little project, right?
Maybe he could look for some books on the topic once he took Luffy to get his library card.
Luffy was still insisting on a pool but Ace had made it clear that as long as Luffy wasn't able to swim, no pool.
(Luffy had sulked and had gotten a bit teary-eyed but ultimately he'd understood)
“Good question”, Ace answered now and pulled Sabo out of his daydream. “I think... I'd rather focus on the living room first. I want a place where we can all eat together. The coffee table is a bit small for three people.”
It was true.
Back in their old flat their coffee table had been just spacious enough for him and Luffy but with Sabo now there as well it really wasn't an ideal solution.
And their big dining table and the chairs were already here, they only needed to be assembled.
“Yeah, you're right”, Sabo agreed. “I'd like to work on my bathroom a little once we're done with Luffy's room but afterwards I can help you with the living room.”
“Sure”, Ace answered, sitting back up. “Should I get something for lunch when I pick Lu up from school?”
“That'd be awesome.”
“Alright.”
For a while they wordlessly followed the show on the TV.
Ace had trouble focusing.
His gaze kept wandering back to Luffy's door.
He could see a part of it from where he had wedged himself into the couch's corner.
But everything stayed quiet and eventually Sabo yawned and got to his feet.
“I'm gonna go to bed”, he announced.
Ace nodded.
“'m gonna stay for another while.”
Sabo's gaze flicked from Ace to Luffy's bedroom door and a small smile formed on his lips.
He didn't say anything but still - it was hard swallowing back down the teasing comment that had already settled on the tip of his tongue.
For as much as Ace and Luffy bickered on a daily basis – it was obvious that Ace loved him dearly and Sabo would never ever make fun of that.
If Ace needed some time to get used to the thought that he and Luffy had separate rooms now, who was Sabo to comment on that?
It was just funny to him that his old friend was so endearingly caring now.
It was so unexpectedly sweet to him.
Ace had been such a hothead when they were kids.
Well, he still was to some degree but it would take Sabo some time to get used to that new version of him.
There was so much he still didn't know, so much they still had to tell each other about the things that had happened in the years they had spent apart.
But the day had been long and exhausting and it had gotten late.
So Sabo got up and briefly placed a hand on his old friend's shoulder.
“Good night, Ace”, he mumbled.
The raven looked up and squeezed his hand with a smile.
“Good night, Sabo. Sleep well.”
“You too.”
Ace listened to Sabo's retreating footsteps until they were inaudible.
Then he picked up the remote and looked for something else to watch.
Luckily he found an old sitcom he'd watched lots with Dadan growing up and settled on that.
While watching he threw the occasional glance towards Luffy's room but his baby brother seemed to sleep soundly for now.
Everything was quiet.
The only sounds came from the TV's speaker.
Ace sighed deeply but told himself that it would be fine.
He'd get used to it.
Soon he would be able to sleep upstairs without any worries.
Luffy knew he could always come to him if he felt lonely or scared.
That thought soothed him a bit and he was able to focus more easily on the episode.
So much that he barely even noticed when he started to nod off on the couch.
Not that he'd planned to sleep in his new bed tonight...
Sabo woke up early next morning.
He'd forgotten to close the blinds last night and the sun already shining in his face was enough to make him groan and turn around.
He threw a glance at his phone.
06:30.
He groaned but stretched his arms until his shoulders gave a satisfying pop.
It was way too early, even Ace and Luffy weren't awake yet.
But Sabo was kind of thirsty.
If he was quiet he was sure he wouldn't wake anyone up.
(The house echoed a lot because it was still quite empty)
He tip-toed out of the room and into the kitchen across the hallway.
They had gotten new glasses only a few days ago when they had gone on a trip to get all the essential stuff for the kitchen and the bathrooms and he picked out one of the colourful ones that Luffy had eyed with a gasp as soon as he'd discovered them.
As he was filling it with water from the tap he suddenly noticed that he could hear quiet voices.
Huh, were Luffy and Ace awake already?
He took the glass with him and made his way down the hallway towards Luffy's room.
But halfway there he realized the voices came from the TV in the living room and he wanted to roll his eyes.
He should have known Ace would fall asleep in front of the screen.
It had happened nearly every time he and Ace had sneaked into Dadan's living room to watch TV after she'd gone to bed.
Old habits really did seem to die hard.
But when he peeked into the room he couldn't help but break out into a small giggle.
There was Ace, curled up together with Luffy who was holding onto his lamb plushie and was wrapped in a soft, red blanket.
Both of them were still fast asleep and Sabo wouldn't dream of waking them up yet.
However, he did pick up the remote and turned off the TV.
The sudden silence felt weird.
For a moment Sabo stayed standing there and wondered if it was worth it to go back to bed.
He'd wake up again anyway once Ace got up and started to get Luffy ready for school...
He was torn for a few heartbeats but then carefully climbed onto the couch as well.
He made himself comfortable in the free corner a bit away from the two and regarded them with a last smile before he let his eyes slip shut once more.
Looked like Ace wasn't the only one who struggled to sleep soundly when he was away from his brother.
But that was okay.
It would simply take time.