he made it easy

“I’m having a little get together with some friends. You should come too!” Those were the words Luffy had said to Sanji a few days ago.

Sanji looked around his neighbour’s apartment. This was definitely not a little get together. Just how many people did Luffy know? Or how many of these people actually knew Luffy? There were people squished together on the two sofas — including some sitting on the armrests, people standing around the kitchen and living area, others sitting on the floor, and even people smoking on the balcony outside. It was hectic, to say the least.

Sanji was in the kitchen helping himself to a glass of water when someone bumped into him, causing his water to spill slightly. Fortunately, it just trickled over his fingers. Sanji was glad he’d opted for water — at least it wouldn’t leave his hands feeling sticky.

“Oops, sorry about that!” came an unfamiliar voice next to him.

Sanji turned his head to the voice and was greeted by the sight of a grinning man with unruly black hair and faint freckles. He was a bit taller than Sanji and had a lean physique, which his unbuttoned shirt did little to hide. Objectively speaking — or so Sanji insisted — the man was good looking.

Sanji didn’t realise he was staring until the man raised an eyebrow and spoke again. “You alright, buddy?”

Sanji snapped out of it. “Yeah, I’m alright. Must just be the drinks catching up to me,” he said. Truthfully, he had only had one drink and wasn’t intending to have many more, but it was easier than admitting to checking the man out. Which was definitely not what he was doing.

“Well, it’s good you’re having some water now,” the man said. “The night’s still young, after all.”

Sanji was just about to reply when someone pushed him right into the man. The man caught him easily. His hands were warm against Sanji’s cool skin.

“Sanji! Ace! I see you’ve finally met one another!” Luffy said, appearing out of nowhere. Was he the one who pushed him? That would just be like Luffy, barging through people without a second thought.

The man — no, Ace, according to Luffy — let go of Sanji as Sanji righted himself. Ace? Why did that name sound so familiar?

“Sanji, hey? I’ve heard a lot about you! Heard you make some mighty good food for my little bro,” Ace said, wrapping an arm around Luffy’s shoulders. “Thanks for looking after him all the time!”

And that was right — Ace was one of Luffy’s big brothers that Luffy was always going on about. It was nice finally being able to put a face to the name. Sanji could easily spot Ace’s influence on Luffy, if their similar sense of style was something to go by.

“Ace, he doesn’t look after me all the time, you know!” Luffy said, pouting.

“Ah, that’s right. That would be unfair to your other friends, who also look after you,” Ace teased.

“If Sabo was here he wouldn’t be teasing me like this,” Luffy said, crossing his arms.

Ace laughed. “Well, lucky for me he couldn’t make it tonight. But you know I’m only kidding. You’ve grown into a responsible young man. As your big brother, I am very proud,” he said, but his actions belied his words as he proceeded to pinch Luffy’s cheeks.

Luffy slapped Ace’s hands off his face and turned to Sanji, who had been very entertained by the exchange and was chuckling. “Traitor Sanji.”

Sanji grinned. “Sorry.” But he wasn’t really. In truth he had a fond spot for seeing brothers getting along like that — where the worst of their troubles was a bit of teasing. His own brothers… well, that was a long and complicated story best saved for another day.

Luffy’s eyes lit up as he caught sight of someone behind Sanji. “Zoro!” he said before running past Sanji to go catch up with said man, effectively leaving Sanji alone with Ace. That was fine. Really.

“So, you live next door, huh?” Ace said, taking a drink from his plastic cup and watching Sanji as he did so. Something about his gaze made Sanji feel somewhat nervous. But he couldn’t pin exactly what was causing the feeling. Nevertheless, he composed himself. He’d been in far more nerve-inducing situations than this. He could handle one handsome guy. Truly.

Sanji nodded. “Have for a while now. It’s a surprise we haven’t met before.”

“Ah, yeah. It’s probably because I’m always on the move in my line of work. Never really get the chance to stay in one place for any length of time.”

Sanji swore Luffy had told him what it was his brother did for a living, but Sanji was struggling to remember. “What’s your line of work?”

Ace grinned and Sanji’s heartbeat escalated ever so. Sanji took a drink of his water. He was fine. Really.

“I’m an entertainer on a cruise ship. Dance with fire and all that.”

Okay, maybe Luffy hadn’t filled him in on Ace’s line of work, because Sanji was sure he would’ve remembered that.

“Is that… safe?” Sanji asked.

“Not any more dangerous than having Luffy in the kitchen while you’re cooking, I imagine,” Ace said, with a wink.

Sanji laughed. Ace had a point. The amount of times Sanji had to banish Luffy from the kitchen was too high to keep count.

When his laughter dwindled, Ace was just watching him. Heat travelled to Sanji’s cheeks as he suddenly felt self-conscious.

“You’re really something, Sanji,” Ace said after a few moments, smiling.

Huh? What did Ace mean by that? Sanji was just about to ask when, for what felt like the billionth time that night, someone barged into his back. Sanji once again practically fell into Ace, who swiftly caught him. Being held in this way was not a common occurence to Sanji but, strangely enough, he couldn’t deny how nice it felt, being held in the man’s arms. He wished he could savour the moment a bit longer, but Ace was already helping him stand. When Sanji regained his footing, he noticed Ace’s shirt was wet. He looked to his now empty cup. Shit.

“Ah, shit. My water spilled all over you,” Sanji said, searching the kitchen for something to help dry Ace. Where did Luffy keep his paper towel?

“Don’t stress. It’s just a bit of water. Nothing I can’t handle,” Ace said. “You should just be happy I’m not using it as an excuse to hit you with a terrible pick up line.”

Sanji’s visible eyebrow quirked. “Oh? And what line would that be?” He remained cool and composed on the outside, managing to play along, but inside he was having a major crisis. Was this man actually hitting on him? And if so, why did the thought make Sanji feel all giddy?

“Well, as first impressions go, you definitely made a splash,” Ace said.

Sanji laughed. “Is that the best you got?”

Ace smirked. “Buddy, that was just a warm-up to ease you into them. There’s plenty more where that came from.”

Sanji raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Oh yeah? Go on then.”

“Now that you gave me your drink, how about I buy you a new one?”

Sanji grinned. “What else you got?”

“Your instincts were correct, I am too hot and needed to be cooled down.”

“Another.”

Ace grinned. “I wasn’t thirsty before, but now? I’m parched,” he said with a wink.

Sanji held his composure even though he was sure his cheeks had betrayed him. “Is that all?”

Ace smirked before taking a step towards Sanji. He was right in front of Sanji, impossibly close. “There are easier ways to get me out of my clothes.”

Before Sanji could react, Ace closed what little was left of the gap and leaned into Sanji’s ear and said, “There are better ways to get me wet.” He stayed there for a few moments, before finally withdrawing. He smelled like the beach — of the crisp air and the salt water on a hot summer’s day.

Sanji was sure he was blushing as red as tomatoes. Why was this happening? If any other person had tried those lines, Sanji would be laughing his head off. But as it was, he was feeling so very flustered. Sure, he’d had people in the past make him feel things, but they had all been women. What did this even mean? Sanj was equally confused and thrilled by Ace.

Ace watched him with a knowing look on his face, like he was aware of the effect he’d had.

“Ace! Come over here! We need you!” someone yelled, effectively snapping Sanji out of his daze and back into reality.

“Coming!” Ace said, but not before he placed his hand on Sanji’s shoulder. “We’ll continue this later,” he said and walked off.

Well. That was certainly something; an experience he’d never had before. Before he could dwell on it, though, he was pulled into conversation with Nami and Usopp.

The rest of the night went by quickly. Sanji was busy chatting with anyone and everyone but every so often glanced Ace’s way. Ace caught him a few times and would just smile all knowingly, causing Sanji to look away with a red tint to his cheeks. He didn’t know what these feelings were, nor what they meant, but he just couldn’t help himself. Something compelled him to Ace and he wasn’t in the mood to think deeply about it, so chatting with people was a great distraction.

Most of the guests had cleared out by about 1 AM. Sanji, who was still clear-headed having only had a few drinks hours ago, and a few other sober guests, stuck around to help clean up; Usopp was intending on staying on Sanji’s sofa for the night while Vivi and Nami would stay on Luffy’s. Zoro was already fast asleep in Luffy’s bed, which was typical of him — not that Luffy minded. Sanji assumed Ace had gone too, which was unfortunate and left him feeling kind of down — he had at least wanted to say bye to the man and maybe get his number — but it was nothing he couldn’t deal with.

That was until he was fixing the cushions on Luffy’s sofa and heard a familiar voice behind him. “Boo.”

Sanji turned around. Sure enough, Ace was behind him with a big grin on his face. “Did I scare ya?”

Sanji smirked though his heartbeat escalated ever so. “You’ll have to try harder than that.” Ace just smiled.

Sanji stepped back as Nami and Vivi wandered in with blankets and the two made themselves comfortable on the two sofas. “Thanks for tidying the sofas for us, Sanji,” Vivi said.

“My pleasure, ladies. Sleep well,” Sanji said. Ace watched him with a curious expression on his face that Sanji couldn’t quite decipher.

Sanji walked to the kitchen where Usopp was, Ace followed behind. “You ready to go, Usopp?”

Usopp pocketed his phone. “Yep.”

“You staying here?” Sanji said, turning to Ace.

“Nah, I’m gonna head home,” Ace said.

“Where’s home?”

“Just a small place called Foosha Village. You probably haven’t heard of it.”

Sanji frowned. “Isn’t that where Luffy grew up? That’s ages away.”

Ace smiled. “That’s the one. No biggy, the walk will do me the world of good.”

“Walk!?” Usopp and Sanji said in unison.

Ace raised an eyebrow. “Yeah.. So?”

“You’re not walking. Come to mine and we can order you a ride,” Sanji said.

“Uhh.. the prices at this time and for that distance are extreme,” Ace said. “It’s fine. I’ve walked the route many times.”

Sanji and Usopp shared a look and both grabbed either of Ace’s arms.

“Luffy! We’re going now. See you later… wherever you are. Thanks for the party!” Usopp called out.

Luffy came charging through and slid right in front of them. “Thanks for coming, guys. Oh, Ace? You’re going with them?”

Ace laughed. “Apparently?”

Luffy laughed, too. “Okay. I’ll see you guys later. Thanks for coming!”

When Usopp, Sanji, and Ace made it into Sanji’s apartment, Ace let out a low whistle. “Nice place you got here,” he said.

“Does the job,” Sanji said. It wasn’t anything special but Sanji liked to think his decor choices elevated its appearance. He was very fond of the underwater theme he had going on.

“We should organise Ace a ride,” Usopp said, trying but failing to stifle his yawn.

Sanji nodded. “I can do that. You should grab some blankets from the linen cupboard and get some sleep on the sofa. You look shattered.”

“You sure?” Usopp said, yawning once more.

“Yep,” Sanji said. Usopp nodded and went to do exactly as he was told.

Sanji pulled out his phone and walked into the kitchen, gesturing for Ace to follow.

He opened up Uber and looked at the prices from his apartment building to Foosha Village at this time. The cheapest he could get was at least $50. “Yikes,” Sanji said.

Ace leaned over Sanji’s shoulder. “I told ya,” he said, and watched as Sanji opened a few other taxi apps, all with much the same price.

Sanji, for his part, was doing a great job at not freaking out about Ace’s proximity.

“I’ll make some hot chocolate,” Sanji said, mainly to do something so he didn’t have to think about certain handsome men making him feel like a blushing mess. The kitchen was his safe haven, after all. An area he knew inside and out and always helped to calm him down and compose himself.

While Sanji made the hot drinks, Ace let out sigh after sigh until eventually he gave up and put his phone on the kitchen counter. “No joy. I’ll just walk. It’s no problem, really.”

“Don’t be silly. Just stay here tonight,” Sanji said, pushing a mug of hot chocolate towards Ace.

“Uh, I don’t think you have anywhere else for me to stay? Usopp’s claimed your sofa.”

Sanji took a sip of his hot chocolate. It was as good as he expected. “You can stay in my bed,” he said, as if it was the obvious answer.

Ace’s eyes widened and then a smirk settled on his lips. “So it’s like that, huh?”

Sanji froze. Shit, he hadn’t meant to imply anything. Just the thought of sharing a bed with Ace was getting him flustered. “No, not at all! I’ll take the floor, obviously.”

Ace watched him with an amused glint in his eyes but didn’t say anything. Instead, he took a sip of his hot chocolate and his attention quickly turned to the drink. “Damn, this stuff is good!”

“Of course it is. Where do you think you’re at, a McDonald’s?”

Ace laughed and it was a sound Sanji was quickly beginning to enjoy, more than he should. “Heyyyy, don’t knock McDonald’s. They’re not that bad,” Ace eventually said. “Though, they did serve me a half eaten burger once… No idea what that was about.”

“Yet you defend them?” Sanji said, incredulous. He sighed. “Look, I’ve got nothing against people buying fast food — I get it, it’s affordable and convenient. But at least go somewhere that doesn’t sell its food with a creepy clown.”

Ace raised an eyebrow and shook his head, laughing. “Nevermind anything food related — your distaste for them is because of their clown? That’s hilarious.”

“Well, of course there are other reasons, but yeah. The clown’s a big one,” Sanji said. He grinned. “I guess it is kind of silly.”

They spent the next twenty minutes talking about Ace’s job as a cruise ship entertainer, Sanji’s job as a chef, and all the silly experiences they’d had with Luffy. It was nice. Sanji found Ace to be very easy to talk to; there was plenty of laughter and not a dull moment in sight.

Once they eventually finished their hot chocolates, Sanji led Ace to his bedroom.

“Here we are,” Sanji said. “I’m just gonna brush my teeth. I have a spare you can use.”

Ace nodded and followed Sanji into the bathroom where he was given a toothbrush still in its packet. Sanji always kept spares after the time Luffy tried to use Sanji’s toothbrush.

When they made it back to the bedroom, Sanji mumbled about getting some blankets for himself but was stopped by Ace’s hold on his wrist.

“Look at how big your bed is. I’m more than happy to share,” Ace said.

Sanji’s eyes widened. He tried to think of an excuse, but nothing came to mind. He’d never slept  — in both the literal and sexual sense — with a man before. Not that Ace wanted to do anything with him other than sleep, but it was still new to him.

“But if you’re uncomfortable with that, I can just take the floor instead?” Ace said after Sanji didn’t respond immediately.

Sanji shook his head. He could do this. It was just sleeping, after all. It beat sleeping on the hard floor and no way was he going to subject Ace to the floor. “No, it’s fine. We can share the bed.”

Ace grinned and the two of them stripped down to their boxers — Sanji studiously looked away from Ace — and then slid into the big queen size bed. Once comfortable, Sanji turned off the bedside lamp and let the darkness take over.

But the moment it did he felt wide awake. He laid on his back, like he usually did, and closed his eyes but sleep wouldn’t come. He was hyperaware of Ace being in his bed with him. Was the other man feeling the same? Sanji couldn’t tell if Ace was asleep or not.

After who knows how long, Sanij heard Ace roll over in the bed. “Can’t sleep, huh?” Ace said.

Sanji sighed and glanced to the side. He could only just make out Ace’s silhouette. “You too?”

“Yeah,” Ace said, then after a moment, “Can I try something?”

“Okay,” Sanji said, not sure what he was agreeing to but hoping it led to something more.

He felt Ace’s hand grab hold of his own. His hand was a lot warmer than Sanji’s. Was this really happening?

“If I’m reading this completely wrong, please tell me now,” Ace said. His voice didn’t carry its usual confidence.

Sanji’s heartbeat escalated. Ace’s intentions were clear. “You’re not,” Sanji said, and gave Ace’s hand a squeeze. This was really happening.

“Thank fuck,” Ace said and shuffled closer. He pulled the blankets back and made himself comfortable straddling Sanji’s hips. “If you ever want to stop, just say the word.”

Sanji let out a small chuckle as he welcomed Ace’s weight on top of him. “Not a chance.”

Ace was probably grinning, but it was too dark to tell. He proceeded to press kisses down Sanji’s neck.

“I’ve wanted you all night,” Ace said before finding Sanji’s lips and capturing them with his own. Sanji easily parted his lips, letting Ace in. The kiss was heated in a way Sanji hadn’t experienced before. It was rough and eager, like they’d both waited too long for this to happen. Kissing Ace was like discovering this frenetic part of him he never knew he had.

“Me too,” Sanji said, once they separated.

“Not gonna lie, thought you were straight,” Ace said before shuffling back a bit and grinding down on Sanji.

Sanji chuckled. “So did I.”

Ace froze. “Wait. Am I your first experience with a guy? Are you sure this is what you want?”

Sanji practically growled before wrapping his arms around Ace’s neck. He bucked up into Ace, hoping the man could feel the hardness in his boxers. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Fuck, yeah. Alright,” Ace said, turning his attention back to kissing Sanji. Sanji’s only response was to kiss back with equal enthusiasm.

Things were getting heated, quickly, and Sanji couldn’t deny he was living for every second of it. Ace had moved onto kissing down Sanji’s chest until he finally arrived at the top of Sanji’s boxers that were doing nothing to conceal how turned on he was.

“Wanna suck you off,” Ace said, gripping Sanji’s hard cock through the fabric of Sanij’s boxers. “Can I?”

“Yeah,” Sanji said, feeling slightly dazed. He couldn’t believe how fast things had escalated. One minute he was trying to ignore his attraction to this man, and in the next they were, well, like this. Not that he was complaining, though.

Ace pulled Sanji’s boxers down and Sanji’s hard cock sprung free. Ace was quick to wrap his hand around the base and cover the tip with his mouth. Sanji bit into his lip, trying to stifle his moan. He had to change his strategy once Ace took more of Sanji in his mouth. Sanji raised his wrist to his mouth to bite down on it, but it still couldn’t completely silence his moan. Ace must have noticed because he reached his hand up and pulled Sanji’s wrist away and took his mouth off.

“Wanna hear you,” Ace said and proceeded to lick a stripe along the underside of Sanji’s cock. Sanji bit down on his lip. In that moment Sanji was equal parts glad but also pained by the fact they were in the dark. He wanted more than anything to see Ace taking him in his mouth, but at the same time Sanji was grateful he himself couldn’t be seen. He was certain he looked pretty indecent or perhaps thoroughly fucked was the better term.

Ace interlocked his fingers with Sanji’s and stroked his thumb over Sanji’s. Moments later, he took Sanji deep in his mouth to the back of his throat. Sanji moaned at the sensation and didn’t try to completely silence himself this time. He hoped it was quiet enough that Usopp didn’t hear, lest he scar his friend.

The heat around his cock grouped with Ace’s technique was proving too much for Sanji — he was close. Sanji put his hand in Ace’s hair and almost bucked up when he heard a small hum of pleasure come from Ace. Huh, that was interesting. Did Ace like hands in his hair? That was a question Sanji only hoped he had the chance to investigate later. But right then he was at his limit.

Sanji gave Ace’s hair a gentle warning tug, which only elicited another hum around Sanji’s cock. “Ace, I’m gonna — “

But Ace didn’t take his mouth off of Sanji, instead he did the opposite and let Sanji come in his mouth, keeping his mouth on him throughout his orgasm.

And it was some orgasm. Sanji felt spent. He only wished he could see Ace’s face. Were Ace’s pupils blown and lips red and slick with spit, like they’d been thoroughly worked? What a sight that would be. He heard Ace shifting in the bed to lie next to Sanji.

“Wait,” Sanji said, as he heard Ace stroking himself. Before Ace could even ask if everything was okay, Sanji mustered all the energy he had — which was surely in the negative margins now  —  and flipped them over so their positions were reversed.

Unfortunately, as he did so they felt the bed underneath them buckle and with a loud bang it broke — the mattress and the two of them on top of it dropped to the floor.

Well. That was unexpected. Sanji had been meaning to get a new bed but he didn’t think it was this close to breaking.

“Sanji! Is everything okay? I heard a loud bang,” came Usopp’s voice as he barged into the bedroom, turning on the main light as he did so.

Sanji, who was still straddling Ace, quickly moved off of him but even so he was still too slow. The damage had been done. Usopp had seen enough. Ace, for his part, couldn’t stop laughing.

“Everything is fine, Usopp. The bed just broke,” Sanji said.

“I see. I also see I’ve made a grave mistake coming here,” Usopp said, looking everywhere but at Ace and Sanji. He turned the light back off and slowly backed out of the room, closing the door as he did so. Sanji would apologise and make it up to his friend in the morning.

Sanji reached across and turned his bedside lamp on. He surveyed the damage of the bed and concluded that he could deal with it in the morning. For now the mattress was good enough to sleep on.

“I think he handled that pretty well,” Ace said, rolling on his side to face Sanji and grinning. With the light on, Sanji could see how good Ace looked. His hair was an even more unruly mess than it was to begin with and his cheeks had a red tint. To think Sanji had made him that way was thrilling. Damn, Sanji wanted a repeat.

Sanji reeled in his thoughts and chuckled. “He’s seen worse. I’m actually surprised he ran through… though, he is pretty brave when it comes to his friends.” He sighed and smiled at Ace. “Cockblocked by my own bed. Who would’ve thought.”

Ace reached over Sanji and turned the lamp off. “Trust me, we’re not finished there. We’re definitely resuming that later,” he said, giving Sanji’s butt a squeeze as if to prove his point. “But we should sleep. Wouldn’t wanna scar Usopp more than we already have.”

“Yeah. Though, he’s never gonna let me live this down. The whole squad will know by the time we wake up,” Sanji said.

“Ah well. Look on the bright side, it could’ve been a lot worse had your bed broken moments earlier,” Ace said, and then wrapped his free arm around Sanji, pulling him in close.

“Oh, you’re a cuddler, are you?” Sanji said and even he could hear the affection in his voice.

“Of course. Especially when it’s someone I want to see again. Why? Are you not?” Ace made to let go of Sanji but Sanji was quick to pull Ace’s arm back.

“No, I am. But you want to see me again?”

“Duh. I like you, Sanji. I thought that was fairly obvious.”

Sanji settled in Ace’s arms with a smile on his face. “I like you, too.”

The night and morning had sure been something. If someone had told Sanji before the party that he’d be sharing his bed with a man and said man would show him a good time, he would’ve laughed in their face and called them an idiot. But there he was, and there Ace was, and being held in his arms felt damn good.