Chapter Text
Ace cast his eyes down, staring dagger at the shiny wooden floor of Makino's bar. Avoid looking straight at the woman in front of him.
"Ace, we need to talk."
Her voice was stern, rightfully so. Her scent weighed him down like the bodies of dead animals they had to carry back, the only difference was that he couldn't lift it off. It didn't feel like he deserved to.
Ace gave her a small nod, still refusing to meet her eyes.
After all, what he did was wrong, terrible, disgusting . He knew Makino could smell everything the moment they bursted in through her front door.
Earlier, the boy thought they were doing fine, and then he blinked , and found himself cradling Luffy in his arms. The ropes gone, torn to shreds and discarded on the wooden floor— but so was Luffy's heat. The thick smells of blood and sweat mixing with their intervened pheromones.
Makino said normal heats lasted at least three days. Without help, she said. And the first one was supposed to be especially nasty and normally lasted longer than the rest.
But Luffy’s first heat was gone in a day.
With his gaze still down, Ace bit his busted lips. The taste of blood had become more than familiar at this point.
—As expected of the son of a monster. Ace never did things right, only making them worse. Maybe it would do more good if he was gone, or even better, never been born at all.
The older alpha opened her mouth, but Ace rushed there, cutting her off before she did.
"I'm sorry!" The boy shouted. Hands balled at his side and eyes squinted shut. He had no excuse.
Makino was silent. And while she never hit them before, Ace fully expected she did this time; slap him in the face, smash chairs down his head, or at least kick him out. He deserved that. Not this agonizing— but harmless silence stretching on and on.
When she finally spoke again, it was his name, "Ace."
He tensed up, bracing himself for incoming attacks. He could take it, he deserved it.
But he didn't prepare for a feather-light touch on his wrist. Didn't expect the gentle scent and soft, whispering words, "Ace, dear, look at me, please."
And he did, hesitantly so. The boy made sure to stay completely still when Makino slowly lifted his arm up by his scraped elbow, blood oozing out the deep nasty wound and down his bruised skin.
She studied it for a while, then her gaze traveled up to another identical wound on his cracked lips, even now, its rusty taste was still there.
"Tell me, dear, you did this to yourself?" She asked softly. Her comforting hand stroked his cheek. But he didn't deserve that, he wasn't the one who needed comforting, Luffy did.
"I'm sorry," he said again, because these small scratches meant nothing compared to what he did. His eyes cast down once again when he drew in a ragged breath, "I— know we talked about this. I really did. I know I should bring him here, or— or to Dadan's. But I don't— I didn't—"
"Shh," she hushed, gentle hands guided him to sit on one of the stools of the empty bar. All the while her pheromone was all but angry. It shouldn't be, "We can talk about it later."
"But I—!"
"Hush, Ace," she said, "You'll wake him up."
Ace snapped his jaw shut. Right, Luffy was upstairs, sleeping. And he was stupid for not thinking of that. He was selfish, only thinking for himself.
He sat still as the adult patched up his bite wounds , the one he did himself. Ace bit back a scream when she carefully poured whatever it was on the busted skin on his left forearm, one, two, three times over.
They sat in silence. And Ace waited until Makino was done putting away the bloody gauzes and first-aid box.
"So," she started. The boy held his breath, "You know we have betas here, and that Dadan and all her men are betas too, correct?
Ace nodded, and resisted the urge to chew the inside of his cheek, "Yeah," he replied.
"And you know no one will ever harm him, right?" She whispered in her ever so gentle voice, "He's safe."
"I don't trust them," against his better judgment, Ace snapped. Tightening the grips on his own knees, turning the knuckles white. And he didn't know why, but he felt the need to elaborate, "The bandits, they do anything they want, and Luffy can't defend himself like that. The villagers— they were friendly. But what if… what if they hate him now that he's with me? I can't— I don't want to see him getting hurt."
The corner of his eyes burnt, and he, not the first time, wished that Sabo was here. He'd traded anything for that familiar scent to wrap around them both, silently telling them that they were gonna be fine. Saying how stupid he was, plus, maybe, a wake-up punch in the face.
"Then what about next month? And the ones after? Will you do the same?"
"I—" he trailed off. And she must know Ace didn't have anything to say as she continued,
"That's not healthy," she said, "And I mean biologically. For you, Ace."
Ace looked at anything but her.
"Heats are meant for us alphas to lose ourselves, Ace," her voice gentle, but he took it like venom down his throat, "Especially young alpha your age, having to hold back isn't good for you at all."
"And what'd you want me to do?! To fucking follow my dick?" He barked, springing to his feet, "I can't do that! You know it's Luffy—!"
"Me what?"
Ace froze. Makino froze. Then they stiffly turned their heads to the side, seeing Luffy sleepily walking down the stairs.
"Good morning, Luffy," Makino recovered fast. She coughed in her fist, greeting the boy with a soft smile, "Have you rested well?"
The boy beamed, and Ace tore his eyes away from the newly formed hand-shaped bruises on his arms. He felt like trash.
"Yeah!" Luffy jumped the rest of the way down, landing on the wooden floor with a loud, energetic thud ! "And I'm hungry! You have anything for us, Makino?"
"Sure. I'll bring you some breakfast," she glanced at Ace. And Ace ducked his head in shame, "But before that. Luffy, we need to talk first. Do you think you can hold on for a minute?"
"Errr, I'm not sure?" The boy said, rubbing his belly. He was still wearing Ace's shirt, "I'm really, really hungry, though. So let's hurry!"
"Of course, dear," with a chuckle, she sat Luffy down the same way she did with Ace earlier. Asking him about injuries and stuff. And she must be a superhero, Ace didn't know what else made her able to finish telling his brother about their current situation without the little bouncy boy wandering elsewhere first.
"That being said," she concluded, "I think it's better that you come here next month, Luffy. Major will be here. And it'll be like a sleepover! We haven't done that since you were seven, right? I promise it's going to be fun."
Luffy, with his legs bouncing on the stool a few seats away from Ace, returned the excitement vibrating in the air. Small fists raised up above his head, "Yeah! Sleepover!"
Ace shrank back in his seat, and suddenly felt like he didn't belong here. —Yeah, he should probably go, hiding somewhere for the rest of his trashy pathetic life.
"What's wrong, Ace? We're gonna have sleepovers! And Major's a super cool uncle, it's gonna be so fun!" His nose twisted as the boy stared right at him, "Your scent being funny!"
Ace felt like he jumped out of his own skin for a second. Before he forced out a chuckle, "Sorry, buddy. I'm not gonna be there."
"Why not? You don't wanna?" He pouted, "That's sad. But I really, really wanna come though."
"Yeah, that's the point, Lu. Next month, you come here, I wait back hom— at Dadan's."
"Ehh? Why?"
"Because it's your heat?" Ace breathed in, mostly smelling his own scent and a little from Makino's. Luffy's pheromone was back at its normal fainted smell again. But still, the memory of a few hours ago was still fresh in his mind. Ace felt like there were thorns scraping his throat when he choked out the words, saying things like he was still a good big brother, not the scumbag who almost did what he couldn't take back, "Trust me, Lu. You don't want alphas anywhere near when you're having them."
The boy tilted his head, and he could almost picture a big question mark floating right above it. "But Ace's an alpha?"
"I am."
"And Makino too?"
"Yeah, she is, and that's why—"
"Then that's it!" He shouted, and Ace could recognize that tone anywhere. He remembered the horrified surprise when his ten-year-old self, for the first time, met someone more stubborn than himself. It sent chills down his spine. "We're all having a BIG sleepover next time!"
"No, we aren't!" He yelled back, "You idiot, Haven't you listened AT ALL!?"
"I did!" He grinned, this stupid little monkey, "And Makino says heats are supposed to be annoying, right? So why don't spend it with people I love? I mean, it's good this time!"
"Idiot, don't you see your bruises?!" Ace couldn't take it anymore, he grabbed a fist full of hair atop his head. Suddenly hyper-aware of what it must be like to be adults around them: Makino, Dadan, hell , even shitty old geezer. He suddenly needed to give them all a hell round of applause right now for not going mad already. "It could even be more. It's not like we checked. And seas, we should . I don't even know what I did, damn it!"
"Eh? But aren't you, like, beat me up all the time?" Luffy tilted his head again. But he didn't know shit. Ace knew exactly what he was doing during fights, they were intentional. But this? it wasn't the same, not in the slightest, "And these are because Ace hugs me really, really close! It's good!"
"It's not!" Ace hissed, "And you're made of rubber, idiot. If that thing leaves marks, I could've— I coulda choked you! I could've killed you, ya hear?!"
"Ace," Makino warned, voice tight and scents flared up, "What I tell you about pheromones?"
Ace stilled. Shoulders raised up as he held his breath. Noticing the damn thing spiked up, again , clocking in the air like a chunk of rotted meat. Makino was on her feet, half crouching down in an attacking stance, her scent defensive. Knowing she couldn't fight or like violence of any kind, he felt like a jerk for forcing her to be like this.
He messed up again, what a failure.
Ace willed himself to calm down, to breathe slowly. Count from one to ten and back, the way Sabo told him to do all those years ago.
Once he was somehow stable enough, he opened his cracked lips, an apology forming in his throat. Then something happened, catching both alphas off guard.
"Ace, don't cry," it was Luffy. His newly developed pheromone awkwardly tapped into his, craving its place in Ace's messed-up territory. "Makino, don't scold Ace!"
The woman's eyes blew wide, probably matching Ace's. Both their scents went down in an instant, cradding Luffy in the middle.
"I didn't cry!" The boy snapped himself back, spitting out words out of pure habit.
"Shishishishi! You did! Your scent makes this funny change!" Following his scent, Luffy jumped right into his territory. Hugging him. "But it's gone now!"
"Uhh, Luffy?" called Makino, her tone hesitant, "You didn't feel— weird? Earlier, I mean."
"Nope!" His lips made an audible pop , "What kind of weird?"
For a while, the woman only stared, a perplexed look on her face and uncertainty in the air. And then all of that faded, replaced by a small chuckle and comforting scent.
"I see," she said, "Oh, and the food's in the back room, by the way. I probably can't carry them all here by myself. Why don't we all go eat there?"
"Oh, right! Food!" With Luffy being Luffy, he jumped away from the first mention of food. Stretchy arms shooting towards the door frame.
And in a beat, he was gone. Leaving Ace standing awkwardly near the bar counter. With Makino looking directly at him.
"Are you alright, Ace?" Her voice was that of a genuine concern. She must be a mind-reader too, how could she know that he wanted to talk otherwise?
'Ever think it's just because you're dumb? A three-year-old can read your mind at this point!' came Sabo's remarked. And Ace always thought it was the blond being way too smart, turned out the problem was him all along? Damn it.
Ace stared at his own legs, feeling up the faded scents lingering in the air. From the far corner of his eyes, Sabo snickered, mouthing words that suspecially sounded like a tease.
"Uh, Makino?" Looking up from the ground, he took in the fact that he was, actually, taller than her now. It felt weird having to look down instead of up like he grew used to all these years.
"Yes?" Her voice was soft, scent mended with his own. And, even though he would never admit it, but when Ace did thought of the word dad in a good way —which only happened once , it was her. An alpha, kind and strong, nothing like his real bastard of a father, the lowest among the low.
Ace opened his mouth, and closed it. Open. Close. He felt like a fish, but Makino was there, patiently waiting for his stupid brain to form actual words.
"Umm," he started, scratching the back of his head, "You know, I'm thinking of taking the offer. Bringing Luffy here, that's it."
Just now, when Luffy's scent touched his. Sweet and warm and everything in between. It was almost like Sabo's. Being reminded of all the time he dragged Ace into his nest and looking so content afterward, Ace suddenly didn't want to say no to Luffy.
But this was different. They weren't kids anymore. What happened earlier today was more than enough proof. He didn't trust himself being alone with an omega in a damn pillow pile and just cuddled.
Not yet, anyway.
"And— I was thinking," he continued, swallowing a lump in his throat, "If I— you know, can I tag along as well?"
Makino frowned. And Ace rushed out his next words before she could, “With betas of course, not alone.”
Because this one time was more than enough, and he wasn't eager for the next time losing control. Ace never thought there’d be a thing more terrifying than falling asleep mid-fight —guess he was wrong.
"Also, do you— you know, since ropes didn't work this time, do you happen to have, like, handcuffs? Preferably strong ones, like metal or stones. And—"
He gritted his teeth. Feeling blood rushed up his head. An angry voice growled somewhere in the back of his mind, repeatedly screaming one single word: humiliating!
Oi, shut the fuck up! It was for Luffy!
"—a muzzle," Ace finished, looking at anything but the woman in front of him. All the while trying to untie the brows knotting on his forehead. A hand covered half his face to prevent the growls threatening to actually escape.
Seeing her brows furrowed even more made him wanna stomp off, to spit in her face or something. But he held himself back, because it had to work, he was gonna make it work, somehow.
'You're stupid,' said Sabo, and Ace internally scolded him when Makino repeated about it might not be the healthiest thing to try.
But he didn't want to give up. He promised himself to never run away from a fight, and that he’d protect Luffy. If he couldn't at least do this much, then he’d just better be dead.
…
It took eight months for Ace to get used to it. And once he did, the rest wasn't all that hard.
By the end of Luffy's ninth cycle, Ace was confident enough to not use the muzzle. And by the next, the handcuffs came off as well.
Now, in the middle of his eleventh heat, Luffy safely curled up in his arms, back in their little treehouse.
"You're so warm," with the chilly breezes brushing through the only window and door frame, Luffy snuggled in even closer. His whisper muffled in the fabric of Ace’s winter shirt, "And smell good."
Ace hummed in response, the feeling he grew familiar with during the last year was back again; it was warm blood pooling down his groin, his fangs itched to tear into something, his fingers twisted to roam all over.
But more than that, there was this familiar scent in the air, was a warm little body pressing close. And he knew all that was Luffy , his brother. It put his mind at ease, somehow, to be this close to someone, close enough to share spaces.
—it reminded him of the three of them, like the first time Sabo felt comfortable enough to build a nest and share it with them. And Ace didn't think he ever felt like that before. —Things like warm and nice and safe .
"Yeah?" He flicked the other's forehead, "Like we don't cuddle every night, dumbass."
Ace shifted a little, his shoulder brushed a lone blanket bundled up by their heads. Asides from that and a couple pillows scattering somewhere behind Luffy’s back, there wasn't really anything fitting to be called a proper nest. —he learnt Luffy wasn't lying when he said he didn't need one.
"That's not true," Luffy, being a rubber, only bounced back with a yawn. Then burrowing his nose into Ace's chest. And if he felt something wet lazily grinding down his thigh, he let it, "'m gonna take a nap."
Ace felt his gut clench for a moment, but it didn't last long. He cleared his throat.
"Go ahead," his fingers threaded Luffy's hair, letting it tangle the knots forming at the base. Absentmindedly rubbing his chin on the other's head, leaving his scent there, "The heat'll probably gone by the time you wake up."
And soon, his brother drifted off, sound asleep. And while Ace might need to take care of himself later, that was alright. Luffy was just fourteen, it was too early. But when the time came, Ace was sure he would figure out what he should do himself.
Without Ace.
Next month, Ace'd turn seventeen. Time for him to set sail.
"Shit," the corners of his eyes burnt a little, and Ace hid them in the nest of his brother’s greasy hair. He stayed like that until the sweet scent piped up a tiny bit, dissolved in the mist of Ace's stronger one.
It was always like this, everything always smelled like himself; the pillows and blankets they robbed from Makino a few months back (now left abandoned in the corners), the treehouse and Dadan’s place, areas around the jungle and even some part of the Terminal. They were all his territory. Only the boy in front of him and Sabo smelled different. It was a good thing, it meant Ace wasn't alone.
The thought made the feeling of warm blood more prominent rushing downwards. And Ace thought it was probably the time he finally did something about it. So he, with great difficulty, decided to peel himself off of the omeg— Luffy for a while. Shaky limbs helped him climb down the rope ladder, then towards a running river north to their place. After a while he came back with soaked clothes and a blissfully clear head.
"Ace?" And he was greeted by a confused Luffy. But soon, they slipped back to the previous position, with their limbs tangled and their scents mended together.
"I'm gonna miss you," Luffy whispered, quiter, clutching the front of his shirt, "—and Sabo."
"Yeah," Ace breathed in the pheromone that wasn't his own, "me too."
Soon, he had to leave. But right now, when they still shared the same space, scenting each other throughout the warm, cozy nights, everything was alright.
Probably.