Auricularia

Wherein you ask Ace out but he's taken off guard because he thought that you were already dating.

It happened when you and Ace were playing cards deep in the night, both of you unable to sleep.

"Aw come on! Rematch please!" you bawled as Ace, yet again, puts down a straight flush and wins the 9th round of poker.

"Can't you just accept the fact that you'll never beat me?" he smirked, brushing his hands through his hair, revealing a triumphant expression.

"One last round.", you plead

"We've been at this for hours.", he yawned as he stood up to lay on the couch.

"If you win, I'll do anything you want!"

Ace suddenly stopped, "Go on. I'm listening."

He shifted closer to you, not wanting to miss out on a single word.

"If you win this round, I'll grant you one wish—anything you want."

"Hmm...tempting. But if you win?"

"same thing."

"Alright."

Ace sat back down on the living room carpet, and started shuffling the cards once more.

Hours sped by and just when the both of you thought that there'd be no end to this game of poker, you slammed a full house on the coffee table.

"I win!" you yelped

Ace threw his cards in defeat and collapsed on the floor, proclaiming that it technically doesn't count since he had won more rounds than you.

"Well too bad! We made a bet, I won, and that's that!"

"Alright alright, well...what do you wanna do now that you've won?"

You already knew what you wanted, long before you even made that bet. You've spent enough time with Ace to know that you didn't want to be just friends—no, you wanted something more than that.

"Let's go out."

"Go out where?"

"I'm asking you out."

The more time passed with just silence and nothingness, the more anxious you started to feel. You half expected Ace to either jump up in shock or flat out reject you. But he didn't say or do anything, until—

"what."

Ace suddenly sat up from the floor, eyes as wide as a tarsier's. You didn't know what to make of his reaction.

"What did you say?" Ace repeated.

"Look Ace, if you don't want to, you could've just said no." You sighed, feeling somewhat offended. You knew full well he wasn't obligated to agree, but the thought of Ace being absolutely appalled at the mere idea of dating you left you feeling hurt. And just when you were about to leave and cry yourself to sleep, Ace said something you'd never be able to forget.

"Wait, weren't we already dating?"

This left you completely dumbfounded.

Both of you just sat there, in the living room, staring at each other in shock.

"Hold on, what did you think we were?"

"Uh...friends....?"

Horrified, Ace stood up from the carpet and started pacing back and forth—probably processing what you've just said.

"We've gone on several movie dates together! Just you and me!"

"That's because Deuce never comes with us!"

"We sleep on the same bed when I'd stay over. Does that mean nothing to you?"

You didn't know what to say. All this time, you've never once considered these moments to have meant something else—at least not for him. You, beyond a shadow of a doubt, knew what you truly felt towards Ace, but never has it crossed your mind that he might just feel same.

You started retracing every single interaction you've had with Ace the past few months, trying to pinpoint when and what exactly convinced him that you were dating—and you were apparently unaware. Right when you were getting caught up in your own head, you felt a soft touch on your hand which snapped you out from spiraling.

"Do you like me?"

You saw Ace kneeling in front of you with the most sincere expression you've ever seen—completely devoid of his frivolous disposition. His thumb rubbed the back of your hand, as if gently pressing for an answer.

"Yes, I like you Ace."

He gave you a tender smile, squeezing your palm and slowly inching closer to you.

(An Ace Trappola x Reader fic wherein Ace asks if he could continue to crash at Ramshackle dorm for a couple more days, but he does it in the most awkward and endearing way possible)

It’s been about five days since Ace has been crashing at Ramshackle dorm. His belongings practically covered the entire living room, now it looks messier than when you first got there. A new set of laundry or unfinished homework appears each time you’ve just finished tidying up the place.

“There’s no way I’m going back there!” he protests every time you nag him to pack up and leave.

“You broke the rules, so you should own up to it!”

“You call drinking lemonade with honey past 8pm breaking the rules? That’s ridiculous!”

He was right though. However, as ridiculous as it may be, he had indeed broken rule 256 which states that ‘You must not drink lemonade with honey past 8pm’.

“Come on Ace, you can’t keep on crashing here every time you get kicked out of your dorm!”

“And why not?”

You gave him a look of utter annoyance and gestured to the piles of paper, snacks, and laundry lying around the living room floor.

“Alright alright, I’ll clean that up later…I was just taking a break after finishing my potionology essay.”

He spread himself across the couch, leaving no room for space.

“That’s it. I’m calling Deuce.” you huffed, throwing a pair of his dirty socks onto his face. But before you could leave, you felt something tug behind your shirt.

“Don’t go.” Ace mumbled, holding on to the hem of your shirt ever so slightly.

You turned around to swat his hand away, but was taken aback by his face flushing into a light pink hue.

“Please?” he muttered—almost inaudible, but you very well heard it.

You didn’t know what to say at first, but seeing his ears quickly turn red as each second passed by with only silence in the air, you couldn’t help but cave in.

“Alright."

“Really?” His eyes immediately lit up.

“That is if you clean your mess up, right this instant.” you said firmly.

“Yes ma’am!”

Ace quickly stood up from the couch and started frantically picking up his things from the floor. You headed back to your room, tired from the errands Crowley had given you earlier today.

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Later that night, while you were already drifting off to sleep, you heard the door creak…Startled, you immediately sat up on the bed and tried to wake Grim up. Unfortunately, he was completely knocked out.

“Hey prefect.” a familiar voice cut through the quiet air of the night.

“Oh, it’s just you Ace.” you sighed in relief.

“Geez…you almost gave me a heart attack!”

“I’m sorry.”

Ace just stood there in the door frame, as if he was waiting for you to invite him in.

“Well are you just going to keep on standing there or…?”

“Oh uh, can I?”

“You’ve already opened the door so yeah.”

He awkwardly stepped inside your room, slowly closing the door behind him. His hand delicately turned the knob so as to not make any noise.

“So…what’s up?” you asked him.

“I just wanted to ask if…” He scratched the back of his neck—something he’d always do when he gets nervous.

You shot up an eyebrow, “if what?”

He took a deep breath before finally continuing his sentence.

“If I could stay for a couple more days.” he blurted, his hands covering his face as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

“Ace…”

“I know, I know, I said that the last time but can you please just make an exception?”

“You’ve been saying that for the past four days.”

You could tell he was getting really antsy. He looked at you disheartened, then looked away. He paced the corner of the room and near the door a couple of times before finally coming into a halt.

“Do you want to talk about it?” you suggested, patting the space next to you.

He sheepishly walked over and plopped himself right over.

“It’s just that, I haven’t been feeling well these past few days…I’m not sick or anything! I just…”

You listened to him intently, patiently waiting for him to continue on.

“I’m tired.”

“—And the reason why I wanted to stay here a few more days is because I feel better when you’re here.”

You were left speechless, warmth creeping up your cheeks. ‘Thank goodness it’s dark.’ you thought, embarrassed at the idea of him realizing you were flustered at what he said. Ace must’ve realized the weight of his words, because then he started rambling utter gibberish, bringing up completely random topics like “Isn’t the moon so bright tonight?” (It was not. In fact, it was completely dark.)

“Man…I’m so lame” he sighed, burying his face in his hands.

You found the sight of him stumbling over his words and being embarrassed about it quite amusing—and somehow a little endearing. You let out a little chuckle.

“So can I stay here?” he asked, brushing off hair away from his face.

“A few more days wouldn’t hurt, I guess.”

A wide grin spread across his face, and even in your dark, unlit room, you could clearly see the little twinkle in his eyes.

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