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[elisha2kings.livejournal.com]

Title: The Usual Place
Characters: Dadan, little!Ace, little!Luffy
Genre: Fic, spoilers for Ch 582!
Rating: G-er than a My Little Ponies episode!
Word Count: 300
Prompt: Habits

The Usual Place

For virtue of having been the closest to a parent that brat ever had, Dadan knew exactly where he'd be right now.  Sulking as he always did on that cliff overlooking the sea.  It was his retreat, from everyone and everything.  For Dadan, it was a welcome relief whenever he went there instead of causing mayhem and having yet another furious knock on her.

 

But now that the other brat was missing too, Dadan was a little nervous. That bastard Garp may have treated the kid like his own personal punching bag, but she had a feeling even he would mind if the bigger brat beat the smaller one to death!

 

So swearing her useless men up and down for not managing to keep an eye on the brats, she stomped off to her charge's favorite place.  If nothing else, he might know where the other brat wandered off to.

 

Sure enough, there he was in the same place as usual, slouching and… Wait…

 

Dadan was sure she was hallucinating.  There was no way this could be real!

 

The smaller brat was sitting peaceably next to him.  To be accurate, he was lying partly on the boy's shoulder.  Drool flecked his open mouth as he snored lustily away.  And the brat, he…

 

The boy, Ace, supported the sleeping brat gently with one arm.  He wore the strangest expression in his freckled face, like he was holding a soap bubble, fascinated yet so worried it would burst at any moment and vanish. 

 

She didn't dare approach.  Not to see that open and delighted expression vanish behind the cold sullen mask he wore in front of her and everyone else he was around.  She hurried away, leaving the two boys in that habitual place.  Now, for once, it actually seemed a sanctuary.

 

Muahahaha!  They thought they would beat me, but I showed them!  40 pg term paper over and done with!  Now I only have...two more 20 pg essays due.  *collapses* 

The last chapter really made me pine for more interaction between tiny!Ace and ickle!Luffy.  Which we're gonna get in spades (oh jeez, too soon!) it seems, so consider this a warm-up!  Oh and Dandan's a woman. *does the I-Knew-It! Dance*