Surprise! I finished it! HAHAHAHA!

I actually finished this at 5 am last night, but figured I'd give the sneak peak on tumblr time for y'all to reread if y'all wish~

I really hope y'all like this chapter~ half of it's been written since 2016 lol, I just had to write the last 3k ^_^

BUSINESS START!

Ace didn't get a lot of sleep last night, despite how comfortable and loved he felt all wrapped up in Sabo's arms.

He was half anxious about the…confrontation with Marco about the video Luffy had accidently sent him. The other half was the normal feelings that started acting up around his and Sabo's anniversary.

Sabo thought that all those thoughts of self-hate had long since burned away with the blond's love. And they had…to a point.

Instead of hating himself for his parentage or his worthlessness, Ace now hated himself for chaining Sabo to him for so long. He knew he wasn't worth all the effort his blond boyfriend put into their relationship. He knew it. So he always felt horrible knowing that he's been selfishly stealing Sabo's better options by continuing to stay with him.

Normally Ace was very good at pushing those thoughts aside, but their anniversary always brought them back.

So he spent the night fitfully trying to sleep and watching Sabo's already sleeping face.

When their alarm went off, Ace jumped in surprise, he didn't think it was so late…early?

Either way, when Sabo groaned, Ace jumped out of bed, heading for the closet to grab Sabo's and his work out bag and their suit carrier thing…he still couldn't believe Vivi had gotten them that for their anniversary…

"Mmm…Ace? Why are you up already?" Sabo's voice was rough from sleep and the darker haired partner flushed at the sound.

His blond really was attractive in every aspect…

"Just some…trouble sleeping." Ace didn't look at Sabo as he spoke, instead taking their stuff out to their living room.

There were a few noises from the bedroom and Ace knew Sabo was hurrying to throw on his yoga pants and tank so he could talk to Ace…

But he didn't really want to talk, so he buried himself in making some egg bowls to get them through their work out without passing out.

It was a doubled edged sword, that action, because while it made him too busy to talk with Sabo, it also meant that he couldn't hear the blond come up behind him.

"You were thinking about the video all night, weren't you?"

Combined with the still sleep heavy voice, Sabo wrapped his arms around his waist and spoke directly into Ace's ear, the breath caressing his neck.

Ace opened his lips to reply, but his mouth dried up when Sabo decided to place his lips on Ace's neck.

Every so often the blond would lick the taunt neck and Ace would shudder, enjoying Sabo's ministrations. Luckily he stopped when breakfast was done being cooked.

Quickly Sabo walked over to the cabinet, getting out two bowls and some forks from the drawer. Ace was still flushing as he plated up the food.

"It'll be fine, hun. You're worrying too much about an accident."

"And you're not worrying enough, Sab…" Ace glanced up at his blond boyfriend and sighed shakily, "Don't you remember last time an employer got personal info on us?"

Sabo froze at Ace's quiet statement and glared at the door that led into their breaking down house.

He shouldn't have brought up that moment, it was the reason Sabo started keeping his personal and work lives so extremely separate. Ace felt bad but that was a big reason why he was panicking about this so badly. They really couldn't afford another situation like that.

"Of course I remember what happened, Ace…I don't think I'll ever be able to forget…but…"

"But what?! Sabo…you have to see how similar these two situations are! The only difference is that we're both working at the same company! THIS WAS HOW EVERYTHING STARTED!" Ace slammed his empty bowl on the table and winced when he heard the wood creak and groan.

He let out another shaky sigh and placed his hand over his eyes, leaning back in the chair to breathe slowly. The sleepless night was getting to him, and Ace had to fight back against his leaking eyes.

Fighting with Sabo was something he tried to actively avoid. They could always work out disagreements rather calmly because they were never that serious.

But this…this was their JOBS. That they needed…to keep living…

Suddenly there were arms around his neck from behind, a chin resting on the top of his head.

"I agree…that…I never want that situation to happen again…but…these people are different…they aren't…they aren't like that past employer…they…they care…and I…I don't think Marco will take advantage of us, okay?"

Sabo's hands trailed down Ace's chest, brushing softly in a repetitive pattern, knowing that his anxious mind needed something calming to focus on. The blond moved his chin, rubbing it through Ace's hair until Sabo was pretty much nuzzling the black locks.

Ace breathed in heavily through his nose, letting the air out in a huge whoosh from his mouth. He nodded his head slightly; reaching to grasp at Sabo's wandering hands, holding them tightly in his own.

"I really really really hope you are right, Sab…I don't want to look for another crappy job after having this not so crappy job."

They stayed just like that for a few moments, soaking in each other's presence for just a bit more. It was nice to simply enjoy each other's company with no outsiders around.

But all too soon they had to separate and put the dishes into the sink, grab their stuff and head to the bus stop so they weren't late.

The bus ride and the tram ride was quiet, Sabo and Ace not holding hands but sitting as close together as they possibly could get.

Whitebeard Corp's current building was dark but the rising sun was slowly bathing it in warm colors and Ace smiled. The gym always soothed his frazzled anything so he was glad Sabo decided to join him today.

Normally the blond would just come and watch Ace but that was boring. He much preferred it when Sabo joined him, even if the younger wasn't doing the same exercise.

Besides, Ace was a muscle training kind of person and Sabo was a yoga kind of person. It worked out in a weird way regardless of how others saw it.

The trip up to the gym and to the locker area was less quiet with Ace filling in the space with a song he made up for Luffy about islands and idiots.

After they put up their suits and dropped their gym bag, Sabo gave Ace a light kiss on the cheek before he headed over to the treadmill. For some reason the blond preferred to walk his muscles loose before he started into his yoga routine.

It was strange to Ace simply because the proper procedure for exercising was muscles then cardio. Thatch did the same thing so why didn't Sabo do it that way?

Speaking of the red-headed cooking enthusiast, Ace wondered where he was as he headed over to the bench press equipment. Normally he'd wait for Thatch to spot him but he needed the strain on his muscles to get the stress out.

He'd be apologizing to Marco in about an hour, after all.

Ace did a few repetitions, enjoying the burning of his muscles as he moved over to do some squats before hopping on the treadmill.

About thirty squats later, Ace was moving to the running equipment as Sabo was hopping off. The blond smiled as they passed, also laying his hand on Ace's butt for a quick squeeze, which made said gym rat squeak.

Sabo was laughing loudly as he made it to the front of the mirror, looking at Ace through the reflection. The blue eyes were sparkling with joy.

But the elder couldn't let his boyfriend win, so he used the attention against Sabo by pulling his sweaty black tank top over his head.

The best known fact about Sabo, that every single one of his friends knew, was that he LOVED Ace's chest; almost as much as the blond loved the darker man's back.

Ace threw a smirk at his boyfriend, grabbing some light dumbbells, hopping on the treadmill, and starting it in short succession. It was his turn to laugh when he heard Sabo's huff of breath.

It was always fun to exchange teasing motions so Ace's face stayed stretched with a wide smile as he glanced to Sabo doing yoga every now and then.

He just let the mindless running take over and kept running at the same pace for who knows how long. Ace often forgot to pay attention to his surroundings and the time when he ran. It was why Sabo always told him when they needed to shower or they'd end up late.

Ace just kept on running until his breath was coming out in huffs and his body was practically soaked in sweat. His running shorts were starting to feel uncomfortable with how saturated in his sweat they were getting.

That made Ace wonder a bit. Did he start running earlier than normal? His shorts had never gotten to this point at work before; Sabo always stopped him for a shower before they could reach this point.

So Ace flipped his head back, his goal to see what Sabo was doing that would distract him from the time. The blond was punctual like that.

Ace was hoping to see his boyfriend in one of the more straining positions so he could enjoy the view like he was sure Sabo was doing to him.

Maybe Ace should suggest to Thatch that they turn the treadmills so Ace could properly ogle his boyfriend.

That wasn't what Ace saw though. No. He saw Marco standing in the doorway with his eyes closed.

Oh shit.

Time to face the music, Ace's mouth was suddenly dry as he stopped the treadmill and stepped off. His jaw was moving up and down as he tried to call Sabo's attention but he was too nervous to do anything.

Luckily the blond had a sixth sense when it came to Ace and his uncomfortableness, so shortly after he had stepped off the machine Sabo looked over his shoulder.

The widening of the blue eyes keyed Ace into the fact that Sabo wasn't expecting Marco to be in the doorway either.

There goes the idea that Sabo set this up so Ace couldn't back out of their apology…

Sabo quickly pushed himself off the ground, rolling over in a back roll before he made it onto his feet. Ace took a moment to be in awe of his boyfriend's flexibility and nimbleness, it was always something he enjoyed seeing.

Said blond quickly made his way to Ace's side, sharing a look that conveyed the same question that Ace had.

With a shrug of his shoulders Ace continued breathing heavily as he looked at Marco.

His boss was attractive. It was unfair how attractive the man always looked, but today he looked extra handsome.

Marco was wearing a dark navy three-piece suit offset by a black button-up and tie. His shoes were the same nice black Oxfords as always and his blond hair was gelled back like it always seemed to be. How did he get his hair to stay like that anyway? It always looked the same at the end of the day as it did in the beginning. Maybe it was magic?

Suddenly Ace couldn't stand the silence anymore and he shared a look with Sabo before they both spoke. Ace's voice dotted with heavy breaths and Sabo's as calm as ever.

"Marco?"

-Wow! A wild line has appeared!-

Marco was not panicking, okay?

He was absolutely not floored with the sight of the two younger men in mid-work out, he was not completely captivated by their alluring muscles, and he DEFINITELY was not thinking about how stupid he was to shun Ace because of something he thought was happening.

Pops always did tell him that he denied what he was really feeling, why should this situation be any different.

His eyes were still closed, Marco's head was now tilted back and he was so very tempted to pinch the bridge of his nose to cut off the thoughts his brain was supplying him with. This was a serious conversation, and Marco needed to ignore his body's impulse and focus on apologizing to Ace for being such a shit the past month.

Easier said than done when Marco opened his eyes and was once again greeted with two very sweaty, very attractive young men.

Gods help him.

Slowly Marco took a few subtle deep breaths, focusing on his lungs expanding and contracting slowly while still keeping his eyes open and glued to Sabo and Ace.

That staring just made it quite obvious that Marco was unnerving the two. They both kept shifting from one foot to the other and exchanged glances every few seconds, like they weren't sure how to continue on with the conversation.

In just a few seconds, that felt like hours, Marco was finally worked up enough that he felt like he could truly start this apology.

But just as he started to open his mouth to begin the speech, that he definitely didn't practice last night while he was awake in bed staring at the ceiling unable to sleep, Ace beat him to the punch.

"Waitwaitwait! Before you say anything at all, I just-I wanted to, you it was an accident-there was a lot going on-my brother just-he doesn't think, you know, and he wasn't paying attention to the contact lists. And really it's my fault anyway for leaving my phone in his reach. And he just wanted to record the moment, and he always just sends it to Nami because she's the one who compiles everything, and really it was just bizarre circumstance, and please don't fire me. I know it was inappropriate anyway, but it was really just an accident, and I really like this job even though there's a lot of physical labor, and everyone here is really cool and not at all like other coworkers at other jobs I've had have been-and I need this job really, I don't think we'd be able to pay our bills if you fired me and I just wanted to apologize-"

Marco couldn't stop his rapid blinking as Ace seemed to work himself into a frenzy, words spewing forth from his pretty red lips in no discernable pattern.

It seemed like he wasn't going to stop himself without any outside interference because Ace just kept going. Words coming out faster and faster until Marco didn't even know what he was trying to say or if the words were even in English.

So of course the obvious thing to do was to look to Sabo for an explanation.

Though Marco realized that wouldn't do much good because said blond had his face buried in his hands, his head shaking back and forth like he couldn't believe what was going on.

Marco looked back to Ace, who was still rambling, his hands now moving together with obvious nervousness. The fidgeting was rather reminiscent of Thatch when he did something he was sure Izou wouldn't approve of.

But if Sabo wasn't going to stop Ace from continuing with his word vomit, then Marco probably should, if just so he could find out exactly what the younger was talking about.

"…but really all I'm trying to say is that I am so so sorry that that video was sent to you."

Now Marco was really confused, why on earth was Ace apologizing for what was clearly an accident?

Marco opened his mouth to ask his question but he paused before giving voice to it completely, a thought coming to him just as quickly as Ace was just speaking.

Ace is tripping all over himself to apologize to mefor an accident…why would he think he would have to do that?

Looking at the two much closer, Marco noticed a few things he hadn't while Ace was spewing a completely unnecessary apology at him.

They were both sweating, obviously because they were just exercising, but on a second glance Marco noticed they were both sweating much more than someone would after cooling down for a little over five minutes.

Ace couldn't actually look at Marco, and Sabo was shifting from side to side, and Ace was still playing with his hands, and Sabo's gaze was shifting back and forth from looking at Marco to looking at the man beside him.

These two were clearly nervous, and for the life of him, Marco couldn't figure out why.

His brain was practically spinning at what could possibly be going one, when a phrase from Ace's ramble seemed to start flashing behind his eyelids on repeat every time Marco blinked.

"Please don't fire me."

Ace thought he was going to get fired. Why would he be thinking that? It was just a simple mistake, one that didn't even mean anything in the long run, especially since the only thing the video did was make Marco realize how much of an asshole he had been.

"I don't understand why you think I would fire you, yoi?"

Marco's brain was too overloaded to work this whole situation out himself, so it was better for him to just ask his questions than make assumptions.

The whole reason this mess exists in the first place is because Marco made assumptions, and he was never one to repeat a mistake twice.

Though it seemed that straight out asking his question made both males more confused than they were before, if their narrowing eyes and furrowing brows said anything.

"Uh…because I um…there was-the video…I mean…" Ace was stuttering now, and Sabo was looking at Marco's face with the widest eyes he'd ever seen.

"It was just an accident, yoi. The only thing that video really did was make me realize how much I needed to apologize to you." Marco was impressed with how even his voice came out, but the two's reaction almost made him want to laugh.

Sabo was really looking the epitome of shocked, his eyes were even wider than before, his eyebrows probably the highest they could go and his mouth just dropped open at Marco's words.

Ace's mouth looked practically sealed shut, his lovely brown eyes were just as wide as Sabo's blue ones, but unlike the blond's raised eyebrows, Ace's were furrowed like Marco just asked him the world's hardest riddle.

"Why…why would you need to be the one to apologize?" Sabo finally spoke, his face still stuck in surprise.

Marco coughed quietly, clearing his throat and trying to remember exactly the speech he had prepared for this situation last night. However, that was hard to do considering how not like his plan this conversation was going.

But Marco was nothing if not adaptable.

"Because I have been unforgivably rude to you, Ace, for the past month over a misconception I never even tried to confirm, yoi. I just assumed I was right and therefore clear to treat you in the most deplorable way, and I truly must apologize for doing so. You did nothing to deserve it and I never bothered to ask the question that would clear the fog over the situation, yoi."

Marco bowed slightly as he apologized, indicative of his upbringing in Pops' house, so he didn't see the quick look Ace and Sabo exchanged, but he could practically hear their heads turning in the completely silent gym.

"Um…if you don't mind me asking…uh…what misconception could be cleared up by a video like-like that?" Ace asked softly, his voice still stuttering but a bit more solid than it was in the past few moments.

And Marco flinched slightly at the question, because he was really hoping he could keep a little dignity, but it was fine. They have a right to know how much of an asshole Marco was really being.

"Ahh, well that your relationship is clearly mutual. Just from observing you two at work I had assumed, wrongly, that Ace as pushing himself on to you Sabo, yoi." Marco was fighting the urge to rub the back of his head. His hair was gelled back for work and like hell was he going through the trouble of fixing that.

Now it was the other two's turn to blink rapidly at Marco's words, because they were clearly not expecting that to be the reason he was being such a dick.

"What?!"

"Look, it's just a personal hate of mine, okay? It really looked like the whole relationship was one-sided and that Sabo was clearly not interested in whatever you wanted from him, Ace, yoi. I interpreted the whole situation as something that happened to me in my past and I didn't want the same thing to be happening to you, Sabo, yoi."

Sabo and Ace both took an obvious step back and Marco had to breathe deeply and actually gave in to the desired to cover his eyes with his hand.

Now the conversation was bringing up bad memories and really all Marco wanted to do now was to lay out the offer for dinner on Friday and head back to his office for a nice cup of Izou's homemade rum.

"Wait…someone tried to pressure you into something you didn't want?"

Marco wasn't sure who asked that question, but he was really regretting even mentioning it now.

He forgot how inquisitive others could be with subtle statements.

"Yes, yoi. It was in the past and it was the worst feeling ever. I just wanted to make sure that no one in this company had to go through something like that. Especially not when I had the means to do something about it, yoi."

Silence once again permeated the room and Marco slowly dragged his hand down his face, pausing it's descent to rub at his light stubble while he tried to be patient for Ace and Sabo's response to his explanation and his apology.

"Uh, I guess in that case I accept your apology? I mean after that reasoning I don't really think you have anything to be sorry for, but I'll accept it anyway."

Now it was Marco's turn to be flabbergasted. Nothing to-

"Nothing to be sorry for? I treated you like crap for the past month, for something that I completely made up in my head, yoi!"

"You hardly treated me like crap! It was just some physical labor and some obvious preferential treatment for Sabo! It's not like you made me do anything illegal, or under the table, or corporate espionage, or something weird and creepy, or even spying on another company! Everything you've done is tame to some of the shit I've seen."

Ace through his hands in the air and huffed over to the weight bench, plopping himself down lazily, his brown eyes still locked on to Marco.

He wasn't serious right?

"You aren't serious, right, yoi?"

"You've seen my resumé! All those jobs? I've done some horrible shit in the name of money and experience…"

"…that's fucked up…"

At this point there were many different ways Marco was expecting the conversation to go. Sabo opening his mouth to laugh his ass off was not one of them.

Marco just looked at the other blond blankly, watching as his laughs got louder and louder with each passing second. A glance over at the weight bench showed that Ace was just as done with his blond boyfriend.

Shit, that's right, they were boyfriends…

"Oh my gosh…Oh…my…gosh…that was-that was the funniest-the absolute funniest thing ever. Oh god I'm dying…I'm dying…hahahaha!"

"I…have no idea what he finds so funny…" Ace muttered, glancing over to Marco with a question on his face.

Sadly Marco didn't have the answer either.

"Yeah…me neither, yoi."

The two just sort of waited until Sabo was done laughing before they tried to talk anymore about anything.

Marco was actually trying to figure out how to invite the two out to dinner while Sabo was busy busting his gut over something that didn't really have any comedic value.

When the other blond finally brought himself down to weak chuckles, and then to just sporadic intakes of breath, Marco decided to just throw the offer out there and see what happens.

"And to fully apologize, I was hoping I could take the two of you out to dinner on Friday. A restaurant of your choice and all on me, yoi. Because I don't really think a vocal apology is enough in this situation, regardless of whether or not you think I need to be sorry or not."

That certainly caught their attention, both younger men were back to staring at him with open mouths and quickly blinking eyes.

"You want to take us out?"

"To dinner?"

"Yes. In fact even if you decline, I'd like you two to take a paid day off on Friday anyway, yoi. We've really been working you too hard and I think you need a holiday, yoi."

"A day-"

"-off?"

"Yes, yoi." Marco breathed out heavily, not quite believing that these two were questioning literally every word that was coming out of his mouth.

"Wait…let me just clarify…you want to take us both out to dinner on Friday, and you want to give us Friday off for paid vacation, as an apology for something we already told you that you didn't need to be sorry for?" Sabo's whole face was pinched and Marco was seriously worried that he had said something wrong again.

"Yes. Because even if neither of you think I need to apologize, I do. And this makes me feel better about the whole thing, yoi."

"So you are only asking us out to dinner because you feel guilty?" Ace asked harshly, and Marco finally realizes what he did wrong this time.

Luckily it didn't take him a full month or an accidentally sent video to figure out what was going on.

"Ah…well no…I genuinely want to get to know the two of you, yoi. I always try to spend some time off work with new hires, yoi, get a feel for their personalities and see if they have a possible future in Whitebeard Corp."

"So you're asking us out on a date."

Marco's face lit up in a bright blush at Ace's deadpan statement and he seriously wished he could meld into the floor right now. The younger man had dug right into his motives without even pausing for a second.

"You can-you can call it what you want, yoi. The point is, its half an apology, and half a way for me to get to know the two of you out of a work setting…"

His face was still hot and he did stutter, but Marco wasn't going to give them any more possible ammunition against him and his embarrassment.

Marco would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in dating these two. They were younger than him, much younger, sure, but besides his own reservations about what he thought was going on between the two, he genuinely liked the two.

And it had been years since his last meaningful relationship…

"So a date." Marco could hear Ace's smile in his short statement, and his brain just stopped working when he looked up and saw said smile.

Ace's smiling face should be illegal…it could stop traffic on the busiest highway in this stupid city.

"You know what, yeah. You can totally take the two of us out on a date this Friday. We'll meet you here, and you can take us out."

Sabo's smile should be just as illegal as Ace's and honestly Marco would be surprised if his blush died down sometime today at all. One was bad enough for his mind, but both?

Marco would die an happy death to his imagination with the two of them.

Gladly.

"So now that this whole kerfuffle is dealt with-" Sabo started speaking but Marco had to stifle a chuckle at Ace's bewildered face as he mouthed out 'kerfuffle', "Ace and I should finish up our work out, and I believe you have a date to plan…sir."

The shit-eating grin that spread across Sabo's lovely face was the only clue Marco needed to know that Sabo had called him sir on purpose. To get a rise out of him.

And damn the attractive blond if it didn't work.

Marco's blush was definitely going to last all day at this point, but with a date to look forward to, Marco really didn't mind in the least.

He turned around and walked with purpose back to the door, determined to not look back and see the two using those glorious leg muscles.

No, Marco just exited the gym, shut the door, and leaned against it for a minute.

Too much had just happened in that little room for Marco to completely process everything, but one thing did keep pushing its way into his thoughts.

Inside the gym were two attractive college students, both smart in their own right, good workers, and they both agreed to go out on a date with him. They were even the ones who called it a date.

There was a situation that Marco was positive he wouldn't be forgiven for, but the two really just waved it off, and seemed to be more emotional about the fact that Marco asked them out to dinner.

And called it a date.

Marco had planned for this conversation to go so many different ways, he stayed up late last night thinking about all the different scenarios. But the one that actually happened? The one that Marco was still trying to digest? Better than any of the possible outcomes he had thought of.

He couldn't have stopped the smile from spreading across his face if he tried. His whole face moved with his lips and Marco didn't remember the last time he was this excited.

Walking towards the elevator, Marco started whistling a common drinking song, ideas flowing in and out of his head for Friday.

After all, he had a date with his two summer temps to look forward to.

BUSINESS COMPLETE!

So~ that's the end of part 1 of 3, of Corporate Cues. I know it's not completely satisfying, but ALL of part 2 is focusing on the development of MAS~

I have absolutely no clue when I'll get started on part 2 . I wanna put some more effort into Full Coverage, part 2 of Mythicals, and my eventual entry into the next opbigbang~ so we'll see :)

Thanks for reading y'all~

See ya next time!