(Celestial Dragon AU)
Ace slipped into the pen where all the fighters were kept and snuck over to Luffy's cell. Ace had been doing this for over a year now, sneaking down to visit his friend who was always so excited to see him.
"Luffy? Are you okay?" Ace called out softly as he sat down in front of the bars keeping the younger boy away from him.
"Ace!" Luffy beamed, his face full of delight as he moved off his torn apart mat that he slept on.
It was scruffy and a wreck and looked mouldy and damp which made Ace's nose wrinkle. He had never slept on something like that before and couldn't imagine anyone doing that. Ace wished that he could ask his papa for something better for Luffy to sleep on but his papa didn't know that Ace was coming down here to see Luffy.
"Why do you look so sad?"
Ace blinked at that, pulling his eyes away from the mat and back to Luffy who sat there, his eyes bright as he tilted his head at him.
"You're eight yet you're in a cage." Ace said, frowning at the bars. "It's not fair. Jormanic says you deserve it but that doesn't seem right, you're nice."
"Jormanic's terrible. He's nothing like you." Luffy replied, his tone firm, startling Ace. "You're a good person."
"I am?"
Luffy grinned. "You bring me food all the time! I like meat!"
Ace snorted as he fished out the food package out of his pocket, handing it over. "I aim to please."
Luffy beamed and began munching on the sandwich, quickly finishing it before starting on the fruit Ace brought with him. Luffy used to eat it slowly but one time Luffy had apparently been caught with one of the apples that Ace had brought down for him. Luffy hadn't told him what the guards did but it must have hurt because Luffy didn't leave his bed for days afterwards and all Ace could do was sit and talk to him from the other side of the cage.
He hated it. He hated it so much.
But he still hadn't done anything about it. He knew that his papa would be furious but Ace was meant to be a good person right? If what Luffy said was true...
"So what game do you want to play?"
"I brought some cards with me." Ace said, shaking himself out of his thoughts as he opened up the box, quickly shuffling them. "What do you wanna play?"
"What did we play last time?"
"I taught you 'Garbage' before, you want to play that again?"
"Yep!"
"Okay, I'll shuffle and pass you ten cards." Ace murmured, beginning their daily ritual all over again.
They would play then Ace would have to sneak out then Luffy would probably have to fight again while Ace did whatever he wanted. It was a never-ending cycle.