A/N: Artist!Reader.
"Shit! I'm going to be late again!" Cursed under his breath a young man as he ran along the streets in a rush. He clicked his tongue when he had to stop before a red light, then sighed. "I'm going to kill Marco if Pops fires me" The light turned green and he ran again, ignoring the glances that people around would send him.
He suddenly heard some squeaks behind him and turned his head. It was a group of young girls that saw him, and started to drool over him. He, however, didn't stop running, as much as he liked to flirt with some cute ladies.
Yeah, his name is Ace, and he is the star of the Whitebeard Show, an ambulant company that travels all around the world to astonish people with their amazing skills. Ace shared his star show along his best friend, Marco. Ace had perfect skills in dominating fire, as well as Marco. The difference is that Ace worked with fierce, orange flames, while Marco uses blue fire, adding some calories to the flames.
Although, that's not the reason why he was being chased by a group of girls. No, the reason was that he was actually quite hot. Messy, jet-black hair that was covered by a cowboy hat during his shows, fierce yet playful black eyes which shine when he plays with fire, and those adorable freckles that adorned his cheeks. Also, he had an extremely nice-looking body, and he usually wore no shirt during his acts, which made some female spectators go wild or even faint before he even started.
But now, his attractiveness wasn't going to get him from his current problem. It turns out that he went out to have breakfast with his great friend. But, he managed to fall asleep while he was eating. And, when he woke up, Marco wasn't there. Damn that pineapple-head for not waking him up!
Ace looked around while still running and finally saw, relieved, the huge wagon where he worked in the same park it was at that morning before he left. He sighed and quickened his pace.
However, he was so focused on his target that he failed to notice what he really got in front of him. He bumped against someone, sending both to the ground quite harshly.
He groaned, then opened his eyes to be greeted by a pair of (E/C) ones. He furrowed his eyebrows until realization hit him and he blushed in embarrassment. He got up immediately and stretched a hand for you to take. You took it gracefully and got up, shaking the dust off your clothes.
"I'm sorry, Miss. I didn't see you." Ace apologized, bowing several times. You smiled sweetly at him and shook your head.
"N-No, it's okay. Don't worry about it." You looked down and frowned sadly. Ace stopped bowing and looked at the ground too, just to see a canvas, stained with several colors from the paintings that had been knocked over. His eyes widened and he bowed again.
"I'm so, so sorry. I ruined your work, Miss." He felt terrible. Then, a soft hand on his shoulder made him stop and look up at a smiling face.
"I said it's okay, Ace-san." You repeated and knelt down, picking up your paintbrushes, canvas, easel and paintings. You sighed softly, looking at your, certainly ruined, work.
"I'm guessing you know my name because of the show." He said, having forgotten his rush. You nodded and stretched a hand for him to take. He took it hesitantly and smiled. Seeing how beautiful you were, it was certainly worth it being fired.
"I'm (L/N) (Y/N). Nice to meet you." You said with a smile. Ace was about to say something more when a familiar voice called.
"Ace! Where were you?!" Ace's eyebrow twitched, making you giggle a bit. He turned to see a familiar pineapple-head, blond who deserved a freaking punch in the face. "Pops is losing his patience, you're too slow." Marco teased and Ace sighed. The blond's eyes fixed on you, and he smirked. "Oh, I should have expected that. Of course, you would be flirting around, as always."
"I'm not flirting around, you asshole. And thank you so much for waking me up back at the coffee shop." He said sarcastically and Marco laughed, raising a hand.
"No prob!" Ace sighed and turned back to you. He took your hand and laid a soft kiss on the back, making you blush profusely.
"Sorry that I ruined your painting. I will definitely make it up to you." He said and you nodded, smiling. "I have to go to work, see you later!" You saw Ace run towards the wagon, and Marco took a leave with a wide smile, leaving you confused, yet amused at the same time.
That night, you decided to go to watch the show. You were afraid that maybe you couldn't because you didn't have any ticket. But, it being an ambulant company meant that you didn't need to pay to see it, it was free.
You sat by the third row, on a quite uncomfortable wood chair. You were strangely nervous, maybe it was because you could see Ace again...
After a while, a corpulent and quite huge old man appeared on stage. He was wearing light yellow baggy pants tucked into black boots, a huge cape that hung from his broad shoulders and a black bandanna covered his bald head. But the thing you noticed the most was a big, white mustache, of which extremes were curled upwards. You noticed that his torso was full of scars, strange. He then cleared his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's begin the Whitebeard Show. We hope you enjoy!" He had an imposing voice, which resonated throughout the entire park. He started introducing the actors, as they marveled the audience with incredible shows. But you were anticipating one, and when it finally came, you couldn't suppress a soft smile.
"Now, our star show. The Fire Duo: Fire Fist Ace and Marco the Phoenix!" The vast crowd of people went wild as both men appeared onto stage, smiling faces, ready to give their best. You gulped, wondering what they were about to do.
The bowed to the audience and started their show. They looked at each other and, suddenly, put their hands to their respective mouths. The park had gone quiet, waiting, expecting the next move. They then blew into their hands and, parting them, let a fierce flame get out of their mouthes. Marco's was a blue one with golden hues, and Ace's was an orange one.
The entire crowd let out a gasp, you included, at the spectacular action. Both flames intermingled and formed a swirling spiral of blue and orange fire. Your eyes were wide, as if not wanting to miss a second of the show.
Everything went out smoothly as Ace and Marco tried different moves to stun the people. However, something happened, and Ace suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Your eyes widened even more, and the crowd -mainly women- started to scream and gasp uncontrollably. What happened to him?
Marco had a confused and worried expression, and the red curtain closed suddenly. You got up from your seat harshly, and ran towards the wagon.
Nobody seemed to care about your presence, as you ran towards the unseen stage. When you finally got there, you saw almost the entire company looming over the unconscious body of Ace, the old man and Marco over them all.
You tried to get there, pushing people away, despite their complains. You finally reached the place gasping in worry, but stopped when you saw Ace. The worry turned into confusion as you saw him... snoring?
"W-What happens?" You asked, and mentally cursed for your voice sounding shaky. Marco looked at you curiously and sighed, as everyone went back to their places. The blond went to you and hooked an arm over your shoulder.
"Unsurprisingly, Ace fell asleep again. It's not the first time it happens while we're acting." You looked at him confused and Marco looked at the raven-haired, asleep, man. "He's narcoleptic." He explained briefly and you nodded in acknowledge.
"That's a relief. And what will it take him to wake up? I would like to talk to him." Marco shrugged his shoulders, still looking at Ace.
"I don't know. He can stay asleep all night long and even good part of tomorrow's morning or he can wake up in three... two... one..." Ace didn't make a move. "Nah, he won't wake up until tomorrow's morning." You sighed, but turned around and waved at the blond, directing him a sweet smile.
"Well, then I will come back tomorrow. See ya, Marco." He waved back at you and you stepped out of the wagon, feeling more than relieved.
Back at your home, you couldn't sleep. At all. It was strange, since you were that kind of person who fell asleep as soon as they made it to their bed. But, right now, you couldn't take that night's events off your head. You were so relieved, yet still worried at the same time.
Then, an idea popped into your mind and you smiled. The only thing that could relax you was painting. So, you got up from your bed and rushed to your basement, where you usually left your imagination fly free.
Placing one of the numerous canvas you had on your favorite easel, you thought what you would like to draw. The image of Ace's and Marco's show came to your mind, specially that awesome fire spiral. With a soft smile, you took some blue, golden, orange, red and yellow colors and paintbrushes of different sizes. You got to work excitedly, imagining Ace's face when he saw your work.
It took you all night, but you finally managed to finish the picture. And you had to say, not because you were the author, that it was marvelous.
You ran out of the basement with the canvas and, rapidly, changed into a proper attire. It didn't care that you stayed awake all night, the excitement to see Ace again was enough to keep you working without problems.
The park finally came into view and you smiled to yourself. You had the canvas into a quite big bag as you ran towards the wagon. However, that smile turned into a confused expression when you realized what was happening.
They were packing up. Which only could mean that... they were leaving.
You felt your eyes fill with tears at the thought of not seeing Ace anymore. Bitting your lip and shaking your head, you shook the thought off your mind and put your best smile again. You ran towards there and saw Ace sitting by the stage, enjoying the soft breeze. Once he saw you, he smiled at you widely, making you blush. He was so cute...
"Hey, (Y/N)!" He got up and went to you until you were both face to face -well, let's say that Ace was taller than you, so...-, and then scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm sorry that I fell asleep last night, I really wanted to talk to you." You shook your head, smile still present. Ace saw the bag you were carrying under your arm and eyed it curiously. "What's that?" Your smile widened and you took the canvas out, showing it to him excitedly.
"It's for you!" You chimed happily and he smiled upon seeing the beautiful picture of both kind of flames colliding in a wild dance. He took it and muttered a "thanks" with a wide smile. You then looked down. "Since you're going, you can remember me with that..." You whispered quite sadly. And Ace didn't fail to notice it.
"(Y/N), are you okay?" He asked worried. You looked up at him, keeping the tears back, and smiled again.
"Of course, it's just that I will miss you, even if I met you yesterday." Ace smirked and hugged you, all of a sudden. You blushed as you felt strong arms around your waist, pulling you pleasantly close to his warm body.
"Who says that we're going to separate?" Your eyes widened and, as you both pulled away, your (E/C) orbs bored into his black eyes. "If I didn't fall asleep last night, I would have asked you to come with us. Well, but nothing is preventing me from asking you now." You couldn't speak, too taken aback by his offer.
"B-But, what am I going to do? I don't have any special skill to be with you, guys." Ace smiled softly at you and lifted up the canvas for you to see it.
"I think this says otherwise. I'm positive that people would love your paintings if we exposed them..." You looked down. You wanted to say yes, but leave all behind was difficult. Your friends, your family, the life you had, everything. Ace made you look at him by placing two fingers under your chin. "(Y/N), I even asked Pops if you could join, and he didn't refuse. Please, come with me." It looked like a plead, soft and gentle. After a while, you smiled at him and put a soft kiss to his lips, which made him blush heavily. You pulled back, face as red as his -or maybe even more- and smiled happily.
"I would love to, Ace."