Aryes: So FireofShandora asked me for some MarcoxAce fluff and it ended up being a story with 3 chapters and an additonal 4th chapter filled with smut (though it isn't necessary for the enjoyment of the story) I hope everyone liked this story, I wish someone would massage me so I write ACe in honor of all the people who have started having discomforting back pain and just pain. MAY THERE BE RELIEF IN YOUR FUTURE!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

WARNING: THIS HAS FLUFF, PAIN AND PETTY REVENGE ALONG WITH SWEAR WORDSSSSSSS~ YOU HAVE BEEN WARNEDDDDD~~!

hope you like it!

~Aryes

Start of Pain

"So you say your back is hurting you real bad?" Thatch said seriously looking at Ace with an intense look of skepticism. The weird haired fool was evaluating his physical outward appearance then said with a discerning look of observation, "I hardly doubt it's something big, I bet it's from slouching when you pass out from narcolepsy."

Ace snapped over at him with doubt on his face, "No way, it can't be from that! Then every narcole-narco-" Ace huffed before he finished the word he was trying for, "narcoleptic person would have a bad back." Thatch leaned in with an arched brow and a smirk as he leaned on the table with his arm to prop his head, "Do you know anybody else with narcolepsy?"

Ace opened his mouth then paused with a hand to his chin and he suddenly looked slightly panicked which made Thatch laugh from his face as Ace realized suddenly, "I don't!" He then looked over at the other whitebeard pirate with fear as he murmured to himself, "is this the burden I bear now? Was fainting not enough? Now I gotta deal with a back that aches? I'm still young goddammit!" Ace sighed and flopped his head on the table groaning as he groaned Thatch's name. It was all his fault because what if it really was his back! He was too young for back problems!

"What are you moping about?" a voice said from behind the raven, and he didn't have to look up to know it was Izo. He said something along the lines of hello, but it was groaned out as well. Thatch laughing when the shirtless male turned his head to look at him, his eyes looking dead shocked by the new information he now knew. Thatch was having a grand time enjoying Ace's pain and Izo looked slightly concerned at the two of them knowing full well something was up. The 4th commander managed to speak through his laughter, "Ace is having back pain! He is being a baby about it!"

"No I am not! It really fucking hurts! It's been like this for a week and hasn't gotten better!" Ace whined a bit and looked pleadingly because they had to have some sympathy right because he wasn't making this up! Thatch was shrugging while Izo knew a thing or two about back pain with all different type of shoes he wore so he gave a look of thought at Ace.

"When did it start hurting?" Ace's face changed to one of thought as he turned over to look at Izo now, looking up from the table, "I mean, it's always been there kinda for a while, but lately, this week at least, it's become….unbearably bad." Izo took a seat next to Ace and asked slightly more serious, "When did it start to get worse?" Ace tried to rack his brain and he got a smile suddenly as he said,

"After I visited my little brother down in….what was that pla-oh yeah! Alabasta! When I came back the pain started to get worse, and it just keeps getting worse!" Izo hummed with thought as to what to do and Thatch watched them dumbly for a moment then suddenly had an epiphany! "Marco!" Thatch exclaimed which was followed up by a questioning Ace who repeated the name of the 1st commander in confusion, "Marco?"

Izo jolted upright and yelled, "Of course! Marco could help you!" Ace looked dubious at them but mainly confusion as he asked to both of them in a groan, "How is Marco gonna help my back?" Thatch spoke (while he chewed on an orange noisily), "You know how he has those phoenix self healing powers and stuff and his blue flames? Those blue flames are an extension of the power, in other words, Marco can fucking heal people with his hands in a way. Plus he actually is good at massages!"

Ace looked over a bit excited as his back ached with pain, a massage sounded wonderful! But….It was Marco though. He felt odd trying ask Marco things, he may have been the one to try and welcome him into pops arms, but after Ace became part of pop's crew officially he hadn't been in contact much. He wasn't even much of a friend of him plus Marco was always busy as first commander. Plus asking someone for a massage….it was something vulnerable.

That was something he really didn't want to admit to Marco, because what if he refused? Ace already got in enough trouble as it is! What if Marco started thinking he was weak or something!? That would be a blow to his pride, there's no way he could admit to pineapple hair that he was having issues and needed a massage! Ace chuckled and then said casually trying to blow off the whole thing, "Nah, I'm sure i've just been sleeping on it wrong or something, maybe I will change the way I sleep normally! Maybe that's it! After all, I only fall asleep for small naps, they shouldn't be long enough to do any real damage."

Izo touched his hairless chin and hummed a maybe, Thatch shimmied over to Ace and saying with a smug all knowing smile, "What? Are you too embarrassed to tell him? I can tell him if you want~" Ace looked at him with an equally smug smirk and lit his hand up suddenly saying, "Tell him and it will be the last thing you do Thatch." Thatch looked over Izo and held his hands up in surrender as he spoke to Izo, "See what I get for trying to help?" Izo looked at him with no pity in his eyes, "You deserve it for the way you tease him, plus Fire Pants will deal with it. As long as he knows he can be helped that's all we need to do."

Ace relented his fire with a sigh, Izo was right as usual with his wisdom. Thatch still looked smug though which almost tempted Ace to deck him just for fun, or maybe steal his clothes while he was in the shower, but he gave that up. If he ever ended up needing that massage, which he wouldn't but you never know, he should be a bit less trouble for the crew.

Well….one thing was for damn sure, the instigator of this back pain was not his sleeping position normally. In fact, sleeping different worsened the pain. It was affecting his day time work now, he had to take more breaks and more narcolepsy attacks happened that left him unable to work for at least 20 minutes at a time. He even considered checking in with the doctor but then even pops would know about his pain.

He didn't want pity looks from the whole crew because Whitebeard felt the need to tell everyone...he just wanted the pain to stop, but he could handle it, this could get better, maybe it was like a messed up knee and the weather. Maybe it was the season making his back tense? He hoped that was the case at least.

He had thought about it again, the temptation of a massage. It was the reason he was looking at Marco wondering what type of massages made Marco so good? Was he good at fixing muscles? Maybe relaxing people till they were puddles? He hated to admit how nice it sounded to be made over like that and reduce his pain. Was he a crazy massager, you know, the one that went crazy on your backs with karate chops so hard it worked? Ace smirked at that one as he watched Marco talking to Jozu about something probably related to a report he put in for his last mission. Marco didn't seem like the crazy one, not that old man.

Despite the fact that the man put up some insane fights and had a rep for being unbeatable, on the ship though, he was rather stoic. Not in a normal way but it was more mellow and laid back, but somehow calculated way, Marco always seemed to know what you were thinking without any words. Maybe he just knew where to move muscles in an instant, like some sort of master at massaging? See that, that was definitely more believable. Maybe he was nerdy enough to have incense all around his room or something? Man, there were a lot of maybes here and nothing to pinpoint as a true one. Why even bother wo-

His breath caught in his throat as he realized Marco looking at him dead in the eye with a puzzled look, oh welp, guess he caught the staring. He smirked and waved his hand, then felt tired all of a sudden. Something he knew well as his body hummed with the feeling of fatigue. A narco attack right now of all things and of course it had to be when he was caught staring. Now Marco was gonna watch him pass out, probably looking dumb as he waved his hand without knowing what was going on as he fell into his attack. Sure enough he gave into the sleep, he couldn't fight it today with all the pain hunched in his back he fell asleep. He knew his hand still kept moving as his body was still somehow conscious but his mind dead asleep.

When he woke up slightly groggy, he coughed a bit, his throat feeling drew as he felt his hand asleep, he probably waved for too long. Who was he waving at? Ah, Marco, where did he go? Probably left and Ace sighed, "So you're awake? The long drawling voice instantly resonating beside him drew his attention in shock before he recognized it. "Yeah, guess I am." the calmness in Ace's voice was the only thing giving him confidence not to ask Marco for the massage right then and there.

He turned to look at Marco, noticing the way his lazy eyes drew everyone in with an intense charm. No wonder he was 1st commander, it would be hard to resist the way he gives his attention like you are the only thing that matters. Marco smirked and drawled his voice as he always did, "Gotta say, it never gets old watching that happen, you kept waving for like half the time you were asleep yoi." The weird ending on his sentence made him wonder with Marco, what was this man hiding to make him sound so odd? "And i'll never know why you say yoi after things or have that haircut, but we all have weird things about us, especially on this ship."

Marco gave him a weird look that he couldn't figure out but he chopped it up to the fact that he had mentioned Marco's haircut and not got talons in his throat as a good sign. "What's wrong with you?" Marco asked suddenly beside him as he leaned on the table and Ace chuckled, "Do mean in general, because there are a lot of this wrong with me." Marco shook his head humming as the blonde was almost assured he was right by his actions. Dammit! Marco was like a fucking detective!

"I'm pretty sure the things you were gonna list off wasn't what I meant yoi." That was when Marco gave Ace a look that told him everything, that if he didn't leave now he would give in to the temptation and ask him for a massage like a baby. He wasn't going to give in, this would go away anyway. "I don't really know what you are talking about then, but I gotta take a leak though so I will see ya around." Ace walked away after that choosing to keep his head forward, but on his back he felt a gaze burn into him. If he had turned around he would've noticed the observant eyes following his figure with curiosity. He half expected Marco to call him out on his bullshit escape but it seemed the blonde was busy, trying to be one step ahead.

Marco couldn't quite piece everything together. The way Ace had been acting as of lately was becoming noticed by the whole crew. He had seen Ace WALKING to dinner, the fire brat never walked to food, he ran at it to get there first. Marco knew this pretty well as did most people since it was hard to miss Ace with his flashy cockiness, always hollering as he came to eat.

More recently he had been walking slower than everyone to eat and eating later than everyone as well. It was beginning to worry Pops even, nurses wondering if he disliked it here and rumors of him even receding back to what he was when he first came. That's what has brought Marco on a manhunt for Ace with dinner in hand. He was searching for him since he missed dinner for the first time ever. Marco was curious about what was happening, he would even say he was a tad concerned for the fire brat. He thought Ace would be lurking around, but he wasn't so the blonde went to where most of the pirates on the Moby Dick slept.

He walked into the room that was flooded with patterned hammocks meant to differentiate them from each other. Everyone had their own hammock color and location. Marco hadn't been in this room for a while for many reasons, the main one being he had his own room. So searching for Ace's hammock took some work but he saw a movement in the back from the empty room and saw a head of raven hair peeking out.

"Ace," he said and the reaction was immediate, a sudden turn then a sharp intake of air as their eyes met, Ace's in shock. There was a nervous laugh from Ace in his hammock as he layed on his side, his body hidden from view but his eyes were looking at Marco. "Heya there Marco," more nervous laughter, "what are you doing down here?" Marco lifted his hand holding the plate and Ace's eyes went the size of the saucer itself as he spoke, "Is that for me Marco?"

Marco smirked at the earnest interest in Ace's voice, glad that the raven was clearly interested in food and living. That only made Ace's behavior unpredictable and confusing now though and that seemed to bother him more.

"Yeah yoi, the food is for you….so why didn't you come to get it at the mess hall?" Marco asked, handing the plate over to Ace and Ace held it tightly and smirked, "Did you miss me then feather breath?" Marco raised and eyebrow and crossed his arms with a smirk, "More like it's hard to miss you when you come into the mess hall. Everyone noticed you were gone, people were able to hold a conversation for more than 10 minutes without interruption so obviously you were missing. So...where were you?" Ace started to stuff his face instead of answering and Marco decided to stay still and watch, hoping Ace would admit to him what he was feeling at the moment.

After Ace got a breath in from eating, at least his vigor for food hadn't waned at all, that would be more concerning. Ace not eating in general was a scary concept to even visualize and Marco wondered what could be wrong. "I have just been really tired, you know, just some sea fatigue setting in," Ace said suddenly as he munched on another bit of some sort of meat (Marco just put things on a plate so he had no idea what he had even fed Ace) Marco made a face at the bold faced lie.

"Don't lie to me yoi, if it was something that simple there would be signs of it, like yawning and bad hand eye coordination, but you haven't had that and whatever is affecting you has been happening for weeks." There it was, that look of guilt that Marco had seen once before so the familiarity of it assured him that Ace had lied.

Then there was a glare that Ace gave him that filled him with anger, "Well fine then! It doesn't matter, i'm fine!" Marco looked and at him with a calm gaze as he spoke with his irritation flaunted in his voice, "Fine, but when you decide to stop acting like a brat and start acting like an adult, let me know along with what's actually bothering you." The blonde watched the younger male's eyes widen with something pleading that made him pause, were his words too harsh?

He knew Ace had a complex about how he looked young, but he wasn't too harsh since Ace was really acting like a brat. "Sure, whatever makes you happy old man!" Ace's eyes glaring and the man putting the plate down and rolling over in the hammock. It was an abrupt end to the conversation they were having, an outcome that Marco didn't foresee. He had thought Ace had turned over a new leaf from his old ways of acting like a child.

He sighed audibly and watched Ace for a moment, the way he was curling into himself seemed too defensive. Marco smirked a bit, guess he would have to bug him a bit more and break down the brat's walls once more. Thatch would call his smile sadistic looking if he saw him right now, but the blonde couldn't care less.

He had been ridden with paperwork and now a spunky raven haired manboy thinks he can walk all over him? Guess he needed more presence around the ship again, he had been gone too long it seemed if Ace forgot what type of guy he was.

"Whatever makes me happy huh? You're gonna regret those words if you aren't careful," Marco said eerily and watched with internal delight as even the sulking Ace turned to look with a single eye at the older male with a mix of emotions boiling in them.

Marco walked away, leaving without another word, finding himself tune in his head begging to be let out as he ambled across the wooden planks. He noticed the commander twins talking to one another and both turing to see him, "Woah, Marco. What's wrong with you?" asked one of twin captains, the other twin chiming in beside him, "Yeah, you look a little too happy." Marco raised an eyebrow feeling his joy raised higher knowing it was visible for all to see.

"Oh nothing too special yoi. Just found a fun new game to play, that's all," was all they received as a response as Marco went towards Whitebeard's dwelling place with a haunting tune that could send shivers down to all who heard it. Thatch and Izo were one of the one's who had heard the tune and known Marco a long time, that when he smiled and sing songed his way to Pop's room that there was gonna be someone who was in trouble. Everyone could only hope that they weren't the victim of it's deadly tune.

Aryes: Hope you enjoyed the next chapters will be out soon, I have finished and am editing them as we speak but I must sleep now! I love comments and reviews, I hope I wrote Ace and Marco well!

Till next time!

~Aryes