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dweetwise · 7 months

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[Riconti] The Long Con (part 5/6)

Probably my favorite chapter of the fic. Hope you like it 🧡 Rated T | 5.4k words | ao3 link [previous] [next]

Two days later, Ace took the train to Coburg.

It was a modest-sized town, so instead of a cab he opted to walk the thirty or so minutes to the Richter manor—in order to save money and be more incognito, of course.

It certainly was not because his skin was clammy with cold sweat and the urge to bolt was becoming more and more pressing with every step of directions his phone's navigation app gave him.

Ace really should have taken Meg's advice and simply mailed the keys.

His plan had just felt too good to pass up on. He'd go to Felix's house while Felix was at work, use the key to get inside, help himself to a few more shinies he'd been denied of when their evening was cut short, and leave the keys and a mysterious note on Felix's kitchen table like a suave gentleman thief. It would be the perfect ending to their short-lived romance.

But as Ace arrived at his destination and stared at the intimidating exterior of the Richter manor, all thoughts of his plan flew out the window. The house wasn't that big—at least compared to the awful McMansions rich people across the pond seemed to swear by—but it was old, clearly having been passed down through generations of accumulated wealth. The photos Felix had shown really didn't do the house justice.

The manor was clearly lived in, though. A couple expensive-looking cars were parked by the garage and while all the hedges and flowers were carefully trimmed, there was a bike leaning against a lamp post and children's toys scattered across the front lawn. The garden had to be behind the house; it was a little weird that Ace already knew from the pictures what the koi pond looked like and where Felix had built a playhouse for Klara despite never setting foot on the property.

But the very worst thing about the manor was that it wasn't even guarded. The yard was surrounded by a fence that was low enough to easily jump over, but even that was unnecessary because the gates were wide open for anyone to waltz right through and break in with a stolen key.

Ace's gut churned unpleasantly and an overwhelming sense of wrongness washed over him. He might be a gambler, but this was playing with fire; if he got caught and arrested, he'd ruin not only his own but also Meg's life.

What the hell was he thinking, coming all the way up here?

Ace spotted a mailbox attached to the fence and hurried over to it. Before he could second-guess himself, he flung the lid open and shoved the little plastic bag with the keys and keychain through the slit, until they fell in with a soft clang against the metal of the box.

His hands were shaking as he slowly closed the mailbox and stayed there leaning on it for a couple uneven breaths. His heartbeat pounded in his ears but this was it. It was done.

Ace winced as he realized he'd have to come up with some excuse to explain to Meg why he showed up empty-handed after promising to procure more of Felix's stuff. He'd just have to spin a tale about impenetrable gates and 24/7 surveillance, maybe throw in a couple feral guard dogs—

"Ace?"

Ace's head snapped up in alarm and he immediately locked eyes with Felix, who was standing next to the garage only a few meters away. He looked a lot different than before, wearing an ugly orange sports jacket and sweatpants instead of the festival outfit, staring wide-eyed at Ace like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Probably wondering how someone could be stupid enough to rob him and then come to the one place they knew where to find him.

For a moment, they both stood frozen in place. Ace's body was already tensing in a familiar reflex to bolt at a moment's notice.

Shit, shit, shit. Ace had even worn a disguise for the very unlikely possibility that they’d cross paths, but of course Felix miraculously managed to see right through the sunglasses and baseball cap. Why the hell was he even home at this hour!?

"Papa?" a soft voice asked from further away, breaking the awkward staredown as Felix immediately looked away.

Ace followed Felix's gaze to see a girl walk out of the garage and to Felix's side. She looked exactly like in the pictures and was wearing oversized rubber boots that Ace knew she used when feeding the koi.

"Ja?" Felix asked.

"Who is that?" Klara asked in German, staring at Ace curiously.

Ace, who should already be in full sprint and getting the hell out of here, but inexplicably still remained rooted to the spot. In all the time he'd spent putting his stupid plan together, he'd somehow completely managed to neglect the possibility that not only would Felix be home, but that he'd recognize and even talk to Ace.

Felix glanced back at Ace. "It's a friend," he said in English, then turned back to his daughter and continued in German, "Why don't you go wash up and then get the cookie I promised?"

Klara nodded enthusiastically and they both watched her clumsily run inside the house in her too-big boots.

As soon as the door closed behind Klara, Felix's sharp gaze was back on Ace and he started walking closer. "What are you doing here?" he asked, but it sounded about ten times less angry than Ace expected.

"What—what are you doing here?" Ace shot back dumbly. "I thought you were at work?"

"Klara felt ill this morning, so her mother dropped her off once I said I could stay home today." Felix stopped as he reached the fence and frowned down at the mailbox between them. "Did you just put something in my mail?"

"I…"

"Of course not!" Ace should say, or, "I'm just seeing the sights," or the classic, "Gotta go, bye!"

"Yes," Ace confessed instead. When Felix kept staring and waiting for him to elaborate, he sighed and took a step back. "Just open it."

Felix easily stepped over the waist-high fence with his long legs. He unlocked the mailbox while Ace stood guiltily beside him like a kid caught with his hand in the candy jar.

Felix grabbed the little plastic bag—in his panic, Ace had forgotten he was supposed to take the keys out with gloves to prevent fingerprints—and his eyes widened as he registered its contents.

"This is…" Felix's voice trailed off as he pulled out the keychain.

And that was when it hit Ace that Felix might not have had any idea before now just who was responsible for his missing personal belongings. He could have been too drunk to remember anything: maybe he thought he’d simply dropped the items during the festival or got targeted by some faceless pickpocket in the crowd.

And Ace, the idiot that he was, had just served him all the evidence on a silver platter.

"Please don't call the cops," rushed out of Ace.

Felix turned to him and frowned. "What?"

"I can't leave Meg," Ace continued, the panic rising in his chest. "She'll be all alone stuck in Germany, and—and I know I was an idiot for coming back, I just needed to…I don't even know—"

"Papa!" a shrill shriek interrupted. They both turned to look at the front door, where Klara's scrunched up face was peeking out. "The zipper is stuck!" she complained, her voice approaching tantrum levels.

"I'll be right there!" Felix called out.

And then he turned to Ace and smiled, and Ace swore he nearly had a heart attack. "Won't you stay for coffee?" Felix asked.

"Uh." Ace blinked to feebly try to clear his head and make sense of the situation. "What?"

"You…this means a lot to me." Felix clutched the keys to his chest. "Please. Allow me to thank you."

What the hell? Was this some kind of trap?

"I know you're not stupid," Ace said warily. "You know what I did, and I think it's best for both of us if I just leave."

"If you want to, I won't stop you," Felix said. "But do you really think I would let you meet Klara if I didn't trust you? That I would call the police for a meaningless trinket I got from some business associate?"

Wow, okay; Felix really just referred to his thirty thousand euro watch as a trinket. A voice in Ace's head that sounded suspiciously like Meg was screaming at him to run away, but it wasn't like Ace had ever been particularly good at listening to any voice of reason.

"Coffee sounds nice," Ace said.

Felix smiled again—a real smile, the same one he'd had at the festival while listening to Ace talk about Meg.

—

The inside of the manor was surprisingly cozy despite its intimidating exterior.

It didn't feel stuffy and stale like Ace expected from a building this old, nor was it tackily extravagant like so many upper-class homes Ace had broken into in his youth. At least the foyer Felix led him through and the living room Ace could see further ahead looked recently renovated, with light hardwood floors and timeless pieces of furniture that only highlighted the exposed beams and wood carvings that had to be original features of the house.

Ace should probably have guessed that an architect would have an eye for interior design.

The kitchen, however, was sleek and modern. Ace had half-expected to be served tea and fancy pastries in a formal dining room, so it was a relief when Felix gestured for him to take a seat at the small breakfast table by the window.

Klara was already waist-deep in one of the lower cabinets—probably rummaging around for the promised cookies—and Felix hummed softly to himself as he went to get the coffee started.

Ace still felt very out of place as he carefully sat down and somewhat reluctantly removed his shades, hat and jacket, leaving him in an old damask shirt and absolutely nothing to hide his face behind. If he'd known this was how the day would go, he would have worn something nicer or at least washed his hair.

But then again, Felix was only in a tee and sweatpants and didn't seem at all embarrassed about being underdressed. And as Ace watched him scoop regular filter coffee into the machine and Klara emerge from the cupboard with two plastic packages of cheap cookies, he felt himself starting to relax.

Maybe their worlds weren't so different after all.

Klara started making her way across the kitchen, only to be stopped by Felix's pointed words of, "I said one cookie."

Klara turned to give her father a thoroughly unimpressed look. "They're not for me, they're for our guest." The "you dummy" was implied, Ace assumed.

"Really doubt I'll be able to eat all that, princess," Ace said.

Two pairs of startled blue eyes snapped to Ace's.

Klara grinned. "You speak German?"

"Of course I do," Ace said, smiling back at her before glancing up to see Felix's reaction.

Felix had his head bowed and was pinching the bridge of his nose, but his shoulders were shaking with quiet laughter.

"Of course he does," Felix muttered to himself, then looked up with a small smile. "Why am I not surprised?"

Ace smiled innocently. "Because I'm very talented at a great many things?"

Felix blushed—hopefully thinking back to Ace's incredible flirting and kissing prowess—while Klara smacked the cookies on the table and eagerly demanded, "Can you draw!?"

Ace's cocky smile faltered. "Oh, uh… Not that well." But looking at the kid practically bursting with excitement, he remembered, "But your dad told me you're a very talented artist."

Klara's cheeks pinked but she was still beaming up at Ace. "Can I show you?"

Ace knew exactly how this would end even before he replied, "Of course!"

—

Ace should really stop underestimating anyone named Richter.

Over the next hour, Ace saw what was probably Klara's entire drawing portfolio since the day she was born. She kept explaining her art so fast that Ace struggled to keep up with translating in his head, all the while Felix tried his best to stop her from spilling over either of their coffee cups in her enthusiasm.

Ace was starting to run out of synonyms for "cute" and "great" but Klara showed no signs of stopping, getting carried away just as easily as her dad had with his photos a few days prior.

"This is me and auntie Élodie!" Klara said, pointing at her latest masterpiece.

"Well, you both look very pretty," Ace said.

"She gave me a backpack from Egypt!" Klara said excitedly. "I can show you—"

"Klara." Felix abruptly stood up and reached for his keys on the countertop. "Did you see what Ace brought?"

Klara paused and looked up at her dad—she had to tilt her head comically far back—before noticing the keychain he was holding.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, then turned back to Ace. "You found it!"

"I—uh," Ace floundered, because he couldn't very well say, "Yeah, I stole it from your dad when he was drunk. How funny is that!"

"He did," Felix chimed in. "And he was nice enough to come here all the way from Münich to bring it back."

"That far!?" Klara exclaimed, her mouth falling open in a surprised 'O'. "Is that why you look so tired?"

Ace huffed a surprised laugh. He even heard Felix snort, because apparently this family were all secretly little shits.

"Yes, it is," Ace lied, because, again, it was better than, "I was actually playing slots in a dingy bar until two a.m." "It's a long train ride."

Klara hummed. "Do you live in Münich?"

"I'm going to get more coffee," Felix announced before Ace had a chance to reply. "Klara, do you want another glass of juice?"

"Mm-mm!" Klara shook her head. "I'm going to watch TV."

Felix nodded and made his way to the coffee machine. As soon as his back was turned, Klara grabbed two more cookies before innocently walking out of the kitchen.

By Ace's count, she'd already had four in between showing her drawings, but that kind of stealth deserved to be rewarded.

Ace downed the last bit of his now-cold coffee and watched Felix wash a few dishes and fiddle with the coffee maker. It was a welcome beat of silence after the intensity of an excited six-year-old rambling about her hobby.

Ace should probably be on the edge of his seat from nerves now that the buffer of Klara was gone, but the atmosphere in the kitchen just felt…relaxed. Felix looked calm and ridiculously domestic in his home clothes, such a far cry from the stuck-up asshole or nervous wreck from the festival, and Ace—

Ace had really, really missed him.

Ace cleared his throat and stamped down on the fluttering feeling in his stomach. "If I'd known I was meeting the next Van Gogh, I would've taken German lessons in art critiquing,” he joked.

Felix chuckled and turned to look at him, leaning back against the kitchen counter in a way that made him look unfairly attractive.

"Thank you for humoring her," Felix said. "Your German is quite good."

It was nice of him to not draw attention to the part where Ace had lied in his face about that fact.

Trying to return some of that kindness, Ace smiled and said, "Being nice to your kid is really the least I could do."

Felix hummed in a non-answer. "I didn't expect her to want to talk to you for so long. She's usually quite shy."

"Well, you did say she was sick," Ace joked.

"Oh, that." Felix rolled his eyes. "Klara told me she went to the movies with her mother yesterday, and I'm pretty sure her 'illness' this morning was just too much popcorn and candy last night."

"Or she just wanted to hang out with you for a day," Ace said before he thought better of it.

Felix looked at him in clear surprise, before he winced and ducked his head. "Maybe you're right."

Wow, great move: shaming his more than a gracious host for bad parenting was surely the way to go.

"Sorry, I didn't mean—" Ace tried.

Felix sighed. "No, you're right. I need to figure something out with the company. It's one thing that I miss Klara, but if she misses me this much, I have to do something about it."

Ace stayed quiet and tried to ignore his steadily growing attraction to Felix, because this was ridiculous. Yes, Ace had dealt with absent fathers both when it came to Meg's and his own upbringing, but surely at fifty he was way too old to still be having daddy issues.

After a moment, Felix cleared his throat. "Sorry, I was just thinking out loud." He brought the coffee pot to the table and poured himself another cup, then turned to Ace. "More coffee?"

Ace glanced at the clock on the wall. "I really shouldn't."

Felix ignored him and refilled his cup anyway, and Ace got the distinct feeling that the conversation was far from over.

But Felix also got a carton of milk out of the fridge and placed it next to the bowl of sugar in front of Ace. Because even though Felix took his own coffee black, he remembered Ace's offhand comment about bean water from the festival.

It was such a small thing, but Ace's traitorous heart still skipped a beat.

"So…" Ace said once Felix retook his seat.

"I love Klara more than I love anything else in this world," Felix stated.

Ace instinctively straightened in his seat from the serious tone. It seemed they'd reached the portion of the visit where Felix would—rightfully so—chew Ace out for his lying and stealing.

"And there is nothing I wouldn't do for her. Nothing." Felix stressed the word, staring dead straight into Ace's eyes.

Ace swallowed. "I've gathered as much, yeah."

Rather than yell at Ace, Felix just relaxed and leaned back in his chair. "So why should I judge someone else for what they have to do in order to keep their family safe?"

"…What?" Ace said.

"It's obvious how much you love Meg," Felix said. "So if my stupidly overpriced watch allowed you two to travel more together or helped you save up for her college fund, that's a much better use for it than anything I could have done."

Ace bit the inside of his cheek as his instincts yelled at him to not say too much. Even if he doubted that Felix was secretly recording their conversation for the police, he knew he shouldn't just volunteer information like that.

But at the same time, there was a part of Ace that desperately wanted to talk about this to someone. Felix seemed to value honesty above all else and after the kindness he'd shown Ace today, lying would just put them back to square one.

And, well, if worse came to worst Ace knew that the front door was unlocked and only a room away in case he needed to make a quick escape.

"She's…Meg's not actually mine," Ace said. "There's no college fund or father-daughter bonding or whatever you're picturing. We're not even related."

Felix frowned. "But you care about her."

"Of course, but I only met her three, four years ago; she actually tried to pickpocket me, if you can believe that." Ace laughed, though it was a hollow sound. "She was just a kid, orphaned after her mom died—that part's true—and she had nobody, and I just…helped her get back on her feet. And then she never left. I mean, I know I'm not her dad—"

"You are," Felix interrupted, his voice surprisingly firm. "In every way that matters."

It was a nice sentiment, and some days, Ace desperately wanted to believe it. But he knew better.

Ace huffed and looked down at his coffee cup. "I don't think good dads teach their kids to hotwire cars or make them live in shitty motels for four years."

Felix fell silent and Ace prepared himself for the inevitable look of pity he was bound to receive. He always made sure they never looked homeless and that at least Meg had access to all necessities, but empty sympathy was the last thing either of them needed.

Though if Felix were to offer another of his thousand-dollar accessories, Ace would have to swallow his pride and accept it. Maybe he and Meg could stay at an actual hotel next time, instead of a shitty hostel with bed bugs.

Instead, Felix sighed and clasped his hands on the table. "You know, I was raised in a cult."

"Excuse me?" Ace asked, his eyebrows steadily creeping up towards his hairline. He must have misheard that.

Felix grimaced. "My parents were part of…they called it a secret society, but it was a cult. Both of my parents and a few others were murdered by its other members over twenty years ago."

Ace was openly gawking now. What on earth was this? Was Felix just messing with him?

"I was orphaned at seventeen and my best friend at even younger than that," Felix continued. "We spent years trying to leave that awful life behind: I had to suck up to my distant aunt until rightfully receiving this manor and the rest of my inheritance, and Élodie…" Felix paused. "Has been running errands for the black market since she was sixteen."

"Fuck," Ace commented eloquently.

"If we'd only had somebody…" Felix trailed off, then looked up at Ace with a smile. "You can understand why I look at what you did for Meg with nothing but admiration."

Felix might have been smiling, but the words "orphaned at seventeen" kept echoing in Ace's head. For a moment, he saw the same sadness in Felix's blue eyes that he'd seen in Meg's all those years ago.

It was difficult enough to think back to Meg barely surviving out on the streets as it was, nevermind imagine her having to deal with some crazy murder cult on top of that, or being forced to turn to the black market, or—Christ, what if she'd gotten trafficked?

Ace clenched his jaw as he realized that he hadn't even considered that possibility before. Realistically, he knew how the underworld worked and could think up a great many grim fates that might have awaited Meg if he hadn't intervened, but…she was still just one girl. And god knows how many people before her Ace had willfully ignored or even outright sabotaged for his own benefit.

He didn't deserve a medal for one singular instance of being a decent human being.

"I don't do this, you know,'' Ace finally spoke. "I never help people just out of the goodness of my heart or whatever. I don't know what made me decide to make an exception with Meg, but trust me when I say that was a once in a blue moon occurrence."

Felix tilted his head. "You've never thought about the reason?"

"I mean, I guess saw a lot of myself in her when I was that age." Ace said.

And wasn't that an understatement. Ace didn't have a sad backstory of losing a parent, unless being disowned after gambling away his mom's house and life savings counted. He'd managed to burn bridges and drive himself into such a corner that there had really only been a few ways out.

"Except I sold a kidney to get out of the country and Meg just had to put up with my shitty jokes,” Ace said. “I guess that's better."

Felix didn’t say anything, so to lighten the mood, Ace jovially added, “But let’s face it, not that much better—at least according to my exes.”

Felix blinked, and then as the joke sank in, let out an ugly snorting laugh that echoed in the kitchen and twisted his handsome face into a goofy expression wholly unfit for a serious architect.

Felix quickly covered his nose with his hand to hide it, but he couldn’t seem to stop quietly snickering. It made Ace's chest feel warm and his face split into a grin of its own accord. Felix hadn't laughed like that—really laughed—the entirety of the festival.

If Ace allowed himself to, he could easily fall in love with that laugh.

"That was terrible," Felix said once he'd recovered.

"Then why did you laugh?" Ace teased.

Felix side-eyed him, eyes still sparkling with amusement. Like he knew Ace was trouble but didn't care.

"Anyway," Felix said. "Because of the cult…ehm." He paused, glancing at the doorway that led to the living room.

Ace suddenly remembered that they weren't alone. "I probably shouldn't have talked about selling kidneys."

"Yes, saying it again surely helps," Felix deadpanned, and Ace barely suppressed a way too loud laugh at the unexpected sass.

He wheezed quietly into his sleeve instead, which was surely not much better.

When Ace managed to collect himself and looked up, Felix was smiling warmly. He wondered if Felix liked his ugly laugh too.

"It's alright,'' Felix said. "She's watching the Lion King. And based on the song…" He grit his teeth; the face of a father who had heard Hakuna Matata about two hundred times too many. "We have around half an hour before she even remembers that we're here."

Ace smiled. "I'll take your word for it."

There was a beat of silence as they both stared into their coffee cups.

"So, you were saying?" Ace asked. "Before the singing meerkat and ugly laughing happened?"

"Well." Felix cleared his throat. "I was simply going to mention that it took quite many years of therapy to understand that ritualistic animal slaughter and branding children with hot irons might not have made for the most balanced childhood."

Ace was very glad he didn't have coffee in his mouth because he definitely would have spit it all over the table.

"Holy shit," Ace said, his eyes wide. "Are you serious?"

Felix gave a small smile. "Hotwiring cars suddenly doesn't seem so bad, does it?"

Ace huffed. "Guess not."

"Don't worry, most of the people responsible are behind bars now—courtesy of Élodie and an investigative journalist," Felix said. "But I only recently finished painting over the summoning circle in the basement."

Ace was still reeling. Felix had seemed so normal and he never would have guessed that there was something this dark hiding underneath. No wonder he was so reluctant to let people close.

And Ace had trampled all over that hesitant trust.

He gave a shaky smile. "And here I thought living in the slums and picking pockets from age five was a shitty way to grow up."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—to make it a competition." Felix grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. "I haven't told many people, because…well, they always treat me differently, and…"

"And you don't want pity," Ace said.

Felix nodded. "The fact that you haven't said 'I'm sorry' yet amazes me."

Ace sighed and ran his thumb over the rim of his cup. "I think I've used up my quota of lies with you."

He wasn't sorry for stealing some of Felix's considerable wealth to provide for himself and Meg. He also didn't pity Felix for having a rough life: that was for the cult to apologize for, not Ace.

"I am sorry about the keychain, though," Ace remembered. "I didn't mean to take it."

"I know," Felix said. "You came to return it even when you didn't have to. And actions always speak louder than words."

Ace snorted. "Yeah? What does stealing valuables from someone drunk off their ass say?"

"That you'll do anything to make sure Meg has a good life," Felix said earnestly. "I also know that you're kind—and respectful. You were nice to Lauren and polite to me even when I was an asshole, and you waited six whole hours for me to make a move." Felix's cheeks pinked and he cleared his throat.

Ace chuckled. "I was wondering why my charm wasn't working."

"Some of us need…a considerable amount of liquid courage." Felix winced. "But even then, you could have simply left me back there after you got what you wanted. But you helped me into a taxi to make sure I got home safely."

Ace raised an eyebrow. "Are you actually defending me for tricking you and your friends and stealing from you?"

"No, I just—my point is," Felix said, "that I will never be upset at someone based on their past or the things they have to do in order to survive. I know it's not always black and white."

That was a surprisingly good point, and definitely not something Ace had expected of anyone with Felix's status to consider.

"I guess so," Ace said.

"And what about you?" Felix asked. "Now that you know all this about my past…do you see me differently? Do you think there's something wrong with me?"

Felix looked at him, and for a second, he seemed genuinely scared of Ace's reaction. He was wringing his hands nervously—a man who was so used to rejection, but still held out a sliver of hope.

"Well…kind of?" Ace said.

Felix's face fell and he hunched in on himself, so Ace quickly reached over the table to grab his hand before he could retract it.

"But trust me when I say that that is in no way a turn-off," Ace explained. "Who isn't at least a little fucked up in the head? That's just life; we all work with what we’ve got."

"I wish it was that easy," Felix murmured, almost as if to himself. "My first therapist kicked me out because he found my childhood too disturbing."

"His loss," Ace scoffed. "If someone thinks less of you because of any of that, that's their problem. The way I see it…"

Ace paused and frowned in thought. He'd meant to say he didn't care, but that wasn't exactly right either. If anything, knowing that Felix had a dark past just made him seem more approachable—more human.

"Actually, is it weird to say that I like you more because of the cult shit?" Ace asked.

Felix stared at him for a second and Ace almost regretted the words. But then Felix burst into laughter again, an absolutely hideous snorting laugh that made Ace want to keep him.

"It is." Felix said, still smiling. "It's absolutely horrible. And it's probably just as horrible that I laughed at it."

Felix gently loosened Ace's hold on his hand only to intertwine their fingers. His hands were more callused than Ace remembered but his eyes were soft, crinkling at the corners as he smiled and making Ace's heart pitter-patter happily.

Ace could almost physically feel the walls crumbling inside his head. The decades of lies, masks and self-preservation instincts weren't needed in this moment. Felix knew the ugly truth and he was still here, coaxing out what Ace thought were long-buried feelings of trust and affection and…

Hope.

And hope was a dangerous thing. Ace knew firsthand how hope always preceded disappointment, and betting his heart was the riskiest gamble of them all.

But without risk, there was also no reward.

Ace smiled, his mind successfully made up. Breaking the silence, he said, "I’ve gotta say, I didn't expect hand-holding to be on the menu today."

"Yes, I, ähm.” Felix’s face flushed but he didn’t let go of Ace's hand. "Me neither. But I'm glad. That…that you're here."

"Yeah," Ace agreed.

A beat of silence followed, though it wasn't necessarily awkward. They both no doubt had a lot on their minds with just how much had happened in the last couple of days.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ace asked playfully. "Though now that I think about it, I probably need that penny more than you."

It was another joke in poor taste, but Felix still chuckled at it.

Ace was definitely keeping him.

"I was just wondering…" Felix trailed off, then cleared his throat. "I know this is very sudden, and I don't mean to be presumptuous, but…how much does Meg like Germany?"

Ace smiled brighter than he had in years. "I think she can be convinced to stay a little while."

#riconti #ace visconti #felix richter #dbd fanfic #dweetwrites #dbd #dead by daylight

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