I now have two 145,000+ word stories to edit. And I'm also writing a new one. I'm stupid but I can't help the ideas! I'm halfway through editing one of the long ones and will post it once this story is over in two more weeks :( Light mentions of sexy times but only a conversation. Enjoy~
A week after the noble incident, with the Moby Dick nearing their next protected island, a new bounty poster came, slipping out of the newspaper and into Ace's blue hands. He adjusted his hat and looked at the poster, which had many new or updated wanted papers. There was a message a while ago about Kid's death, so he was no longer in any of the papers.
It was a new wanted poster for Ace, now him in his normal form and human colors. Ace sighed, a bit irate, but he was expecting it. He was blamed for a noble being harmed, of course it would raise. It looked different from other wanted posters since there were two separate images, one of each of his most used appearance. The bounty had raised to 160,000,000 of this world's currency.
He folded the posters back into the paper to bring to the captain at lunch. Ace had been practicing more control over his fire now that he could focus on something other than trying to get rid of headaches. He went inside, walking past everyone and to the captain. Marco wasn't in the room, and had finished his meal as well.
"Whitebeard, I have a new bounty. And they got each of my appearances," Ace said in a disappointed voice. He handed the paper to the captain, who pulled the pile of posters out. He frowned at it, as did those around him at the table.
"Well, bright side is that you can wear your hat out in public again," the captain said, trying to bring anything positive to the situation. "Just keep practicing with your non-fatal attacks so that no one needs to worry, including you."
"Yeah, I will. Are we arriving at the island soon?" The captain nodded, and Ace excused himself to go back outside and practice. He went to the back deck, furthest from the sails, and tried to shoot flames off the back of the ship. He wouldn't use it against someone, but had come to the conclusion that burning things could help him get away or deter any enemies. Looking at the poster, it said nothing of his abilities.
No one knew what he could do, just that he was a blue human. The aim was improving, but he wasn't able to shoot it much of a distance. He created balls of fire and tried throwing them with all his might, but they didn't go far, weakening in the air and becoming nothing. So that's why he was trying to make bursts of it to reach further.
Using the power in huge bursts, at least huge compared to what he'd been doing previously, it made him tired. So, he went to the library to relax. When he next woke up, it was due to movement all in one way, out onto the deck. He extended his hearing and heard the sound of land. Land sounded like bugs, birds, the rustling of plants that you wouldn't hear on the sea. He wiped his mouth in case any drool had come out (which was embarrassingly often), and put his hat on to leave and see the new island.
Since it was a protected island, they didn't need to worry about marines or other pirates. That would be nice, and there were no bounty hunters, and no one would be afraid of him by the wanted poster. He was a Whitebeard pirate, and this was their island.
"Thatch, what's this island's weather?" Ace wondered when he ran into him in the hall. Ace had been fascinated by the fact that islands had their own separate climate systems, not shared by the entire world, or at least large chunks of it.
"It's a winter island. You'll be perfectly fine, but everyone else will have to wear thick clothing," Thatch replied. "They have the best snow cones, since snow is always there, and I can never make it taste right! I've tried countless times, but it's never right," he complained.
Ace patted his back. "It's okay. Everyone has things they can't do," Ace said.
"Oi, don't you turn 36 on me. You're staying 20," Thatch replied almost snappishly. Ace looked confused.
"What does that mean?" Ace wondered.
"You're the littlest one, you have to stay the youngest," Thatch said, like he was talking to a child.
Ace was a bit confused. He was 20 in his years. So he was 20, not 36. He'd noticed multiple people hung up on that, but Marco told him they just didn't see him as being 36. "I'm still 20, even if it's not in your years. I'm not 36," Ace replied.
"Good! Then we're in agreement, you are 20," Thatch said with a satisfactory look on his face. Marco walked up behind them.
"And you are definitely not 43. You act 12," Marco said in an amused voice. Thatch fumed and tried to hit him, but Marco skirted away, even if any blow wouldn't harm him, especially a harmless punch from his brother.
Ace chuckled happily as they went out on deck, and he saw the beautiful snow world. Pirates were bundled up in thick jackets, boots, and long pants. Some had gloves and scarves on. Ace looked up and saw Marco was wearing the beanie Ace had knit for him. It was a bit of a failure, but he wore it anyways.
Whitebeard walked out and looked at the snowy island. "Alright sons and Ace, go crazy," he said with a laugh, and the full grown men launched off the ship and into the snow to play like children, violent snowball fights, building inappropriate snowmen, and making forts.
Ace was a bit away from everyone else, taking Marco's gloves even though he wasn't cold. He was trying to build something and his heat kept melting it. So, he was left to his own devices, the commanders having a snowball fight that got more and more aggressive. Ace was making a sceere, the giant birdlike creature from his world that rivaled airplanes. It was, of course, not realistic size wise, there wasn't enough room and probably not enough snow.
He had a lot of fun building the thing, even if it didn't turn out very lifelike. He had to make the wings furled since he had no way of suspending them outwards. Ace stopped building when he sensed a handful of people approaching. He was at the edge of the clearing, so he noticed them first. A bunch of human children, all bundled up tightly, breath puffing out in the air.
"Hey, want to help me out?" Ace asked. He must have looked out of place, shirtless and in shorts on a winter island. They looked wary, but Ace turned around and pointed to his back. "Don't worry, I'm with them."
A few of the kids ran out and to Ace, looking at the huge snow sculpture he was working on. "I'm making a giant bird. Want to help me make it even cooler?" Ace was in human colors so not to scare the kids or make any of the adults worried to be near him.
"Yeah!" a little boy said, and soon Ace and four children were working on it. Ace knew that it wasn't going to turn out looking realistic with kids who were clumsy and didn't know what it was supposed to be. Ace hadn't been around kids since he landed on earth. He used to like them, too. There had been toddlers in his unit, so he was used to being with kids of all ages.
Whitebeard seemed to be the only one who noticed Ace and the kids, since everyone else was so distracted. Ace heard his laughing in the distance.
"I'm making a baby one!" one of the little girls said happily. Another one of the kids, a little boy went to help her.
"My name's Ace. What are yours? I have to know who my fellow artists are, after all. They need credit for helping with my snow bird," Ace said with a friendly smile.
The four introduced themselves as: Mocha, Sind, Doran, and Konbu. "It's nice to meet you. Jeez, these pirates sure are noisy," Ace commented.
Mocha asked if Ace was new, since she didn't recognize him. "Yeah, I joined last year. Thatch found me after falling from the sky!" Ace knew they were young enough to believe he was telling tall tales. He'd have some fun, he liked children, enjoyed their smiles.
"Wow! Really?" Doran asked.
"That's right. The sky is suuuper high, too. It was scary," Ace replied. "The rest is a top-secret that only pirates can know." The kids moaned, and Ace laughed. "How about I repay you by showing you something really cool?" the sayla asked, in a hush, like it was a secret. He wasn't going to scare them with fire, so when they asked, he showed his hand and changed it into different colors.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Ace asked. Mocha grabbed onto his hand and inspected it. He had taken the glove off to show.
"Wow, that's amazing! Are you magic, Ace?" Sind asked in awe.
"That's right. But you can't tell anyone. My secret has to be kept," Ace replied. He had a feeling they'd blab, but he could say it was part of his devil fruit. That changing his temperature rapidly made him change colors. That was false, but he felt no one would be nosy due to the fact he was a Whitebeard.
"We'll keep it, we promise!" Sind said. Ace played with them in the snow some more before getting into a much more civil snowball fight. Ace purposely did not dodge and use his haki, getting hit in the face on purpose sometimes and falling down into the deep snow.
He hadn't noticed most of the pirates behind him were watching until Thatch and Haruta came running up to join. "Thatch!" Mocha shouted excitedly. "Are you going to make us yummy food again?" she asked excitedly.
Ace took a break to catch his breath, sitting in the melting snow, glad for a distraction so he could recover from running around in the deep snow for a few minutes. Marco came up behind him, footsteps loud in the deep snow, and sat down, not caring about soaking his pants. The cold didn't bother him either, he just wore the winter clothes to look the part.
"Didn't know you liked kids so much," he commented. Ace smiled.
"They're refreshing, even human ones," the sayla replied.
Marco nodded in agreement. "You're very cute with them. You looked so excited." Ace chuckled, and wondered if Marco saw Ace as 36 now, too. Was it weird to call a 36 year old cute?
"Marco, do you see me as 36 now? Even though to me, I'm still 20?" Ace asked while watching Thatch and Haruta play with the kids while others relaxed or started building their own things, the inappropriate sculptures destroyed once the kids were noticed by most.
The phoenix zoan shook his head. "No, you're still 20. Even though it makes sense why you seem so much more wise than a 20 year old human, you are who you are, and that goes with your age as well. Though it may be hard to keep track of with our years being different than your old one," Marco explained.
Ace smiled, wanting to kiss Marco but not in front of anyone else, especially the kids. He didn't know human etiquette, but back at his home planet, affection was in private, especially around children. He was so happy Marco put up with his aversion to PDA. it was ingrained in him to not do so.
"Marco, I'ma fall…" Ace warned, seeing his sleep attack with his future haki, for once useful. Marco picked up the unconscious, blue Ace and walked away from the kids quickly, hiding Ace's body with his own torso, carrying him back to the captain's chair. He laid Ace down against the side of it, sunk into the snow that melted under him until he was in a little hole, touching the grass beneath, which was rarely ever seen.
"That was quite endearing," Whitebeard said. Marco cracked a smile and nodded. "Ace is a good kid, I have no doubt. Not that I ever had before. I'm sure he'll be a new favorite at our protected islands."
"I agree. When are we heading into town?"
"Soon, once everyone has had their fun in the snow. Then we can check up how everything has been since we last came here," the captain replied. Ace woke up, his sleep period pretty short. He stood up in his hole and climbed out.
He asked if the kids had seen him turn, and Whitebeard said they didn't, too distracted with the other pirates. There were thousands of holes in the snow from pirates running around and walking about. Ace looked around again, and the beautiful landscape of white snow was a bit less beautiful with all of the holes, trails and body shapes. Though he was making footprints and melting more snow than the others, so he couldn't complain.
Ace put his hat back on, since it had fallen on his back when he fell asleep. Marco took Ace's hand and he smiled, releasing heat from his body so the snow melted away, allowing them to avoid it and walk on the ground. Marco chuckled. "See, there are everyday uses for your fruit," the phoenix zoan pointed out.
The flames barely on Ace's legs, helping to keep the heat going, attracted Marco's flames, which came out on their own to mix into Ace's, turning them purple as the red and blue mixed. Neither paid much attention to it, it wasn't something out of the ordinary. They went back to the kids, who had pretty much ruined Ace's sculpture, though he wasn't too upset about it.
"Why don't we go into town so we can see how things are going with your island?" Marco asked Mocha, who nodded, throwing her final snowball at her blonde friend. The pirates migrated into the town, which wasn't too far past where the Moby Dick was docked. Ace thought the village was very cute, with snow covered houses and shops with tall roofs. It was a dinky, but cozy, feeling.
Marco and Whitebeard headed straight to the mayor's house to ask how things had been since their last visit. Ace felt more presences coming up behind them and turned to see a bunch of kids running to him. "Ace, Ace! Come meet my friends!" Dolan said excitedly. Ace grinned and said sure, telling Marco he'd see him later.
Ace was swarmed by children, and followed them to their playground, though the bars were cold and they had to have gloves to play on it. Ace was introduced to younger children, while the older ones didn't pay much attention to him. "Ace, show Sora the magic?"
"Which kind? I have many kinds of magic," Ace said with a grin.
"Wow, really? More than the changing colors?" Mocha asked, holding a toddler bundled up in a very thick jacket and little boots. He had a puffy hat on. Ace nodded in response. "Want me to show you guys everything? But you can't tell the grown ups. It's a secret between us." If the grown ups found out, it wouldn't be much of a big deal. Ace wouldn't do anything dangerous.
"Alright, pick a color, any color."
"Blue!" Ace changed his whole body to his normal blue, keeping his eyes the same grey he used for looking human. He then changed his body into constant colors, filtering through them like a rapid rainbow. The kids were cheering, and Ace did a theatrical bow.
"What else is there?" a four year old said. At least, he looked like a four year old to Ace. Though, with the different years, technically the kids at Ace's planet were older than these ones. Ace held up a finger, and showed a tiny flame. Nothing big or scary. "Is that fire?"
"It is. But I have good control of it, so there's no need to worry. Would you like me to melt the snow off your playground? It looks pretty cold," he offered. The kids cheered. Ace walked under the structure and heated himself up to melt the snow off the metal, but did not make it too hot. A nice warm feeling that he knew would not hurt anyone. They took their gloves off and played enthusiastically as Ace got to work melting all of the snow across the entire play ground until they were running around happily.
Sid walked to him with his little sister, since they looked similar. "What other magic do you have, Ace?" he asked excitedly. A few others heard this and ran over to listen while the more distracted ones continued to play on the jungle gym. More kids had congregated, and only a few parents were around. Ace had heard one of the original kids introduce Ace. And the tattoo on his back was pretty self-explanatory.
"Okay, we all have to be very quiet now. No loud noises. I'm gonna make it so we can hear everything around us," Ace said in a hush, and then made the sound raise so the sounds of birds and snow softly hitting the ground. The birds sounded so near, and he then lowered the volume. "Now shout as loud as you want," Ace said, and lowered the volume.
The kids shouted at the top of their lungs, though the only sounds was faded, like it was blocked by a thick wall. They laughed, and Ace rose the volume back to normal. "I can control sound, too," Ace explained, getting "Wow"s and "so cool!"s. Ace grinned.
"Ace, how old are you?" Mocha asked curiously.
"I'm 20." Because he was. He was not 36, no matter what some of his crew now thought. It was a bit annoying, but he didn't complain about it as long as it had no real consequences or people treated him differently. "I'm currently the youngest on the Whitebeard crew. Speaking of them, why don't we go and find some more people to play with?"
The herd of children agreed, and Ace was swarmed with them as he walked. None of them noticed his rapid breathing. A young boy was piggy backing while the sayla's hands were held by different children. They chattered all at once, but Ace was able to separate the words so he could hear them better.
"No, I'm not a commander. I'm actually part of the division that fixes up clothes. Pirates are not very gentle with their clothes, so we have to fix them up since you don't have regular clothing stores out on the sea," Ace explained.
"But you're so strong, why not a commander?" Sid asked. He was one of the older children, along with Mocha, so they knew more about the pirates and their workings.
"I'm not real commander material, and I'm happy in my position. I don't think I'd be a good commander. Pirates have to fight often. I don't like fighting much. I'm strong, but I don't use it against other people, even if I don't like them," Ace replied honestly. Someone asked him why not. "I was raised as a pacifist. Meaning I don't believe in needless violence or war. I know it's strange to hear a pirate like that, isn't it?" he asked with a smile.
"You're so nice, Ace!" Kari said, one of the youngest that wasn't a toddler. Ace thanked her with a bright grin. He brought the parade of children to where they lead him to the building the mayor met with the leaders of the Whitebeards when they arrived. Ace knew he wasn't allowed in, not being a commander and all, and so played outside with the kids.
Ace sat on a bench, warming it so the ice and snow dripped away and chatted with the kids. "Hey, Ace? Is your family cool like you, too?" Appi asked, one of the little girls that had taken to climbing on Ace's shoulders. It was like a swarm of cetrels, a pet back at home similar in size and shape as a cat, only with scales and not fur.
"My family was very cool," Ace replied. "I don't see them anymore, but they were very cool."
Mocha asked, "Why don't you see them? Is it cause you're a pirate? Mommy said pirates can't have families outside their crews."
Ace was honest, knowing the children wouldn't be mean about his answer. "Well, they passed away many years ago. That's why I don't see them anymore. But they'll always be a part of my heart." He almost said "hearts", but he only had one anyways, now. The kids' faces turned sad and sympathetic.
"D... do you miss them?" Dolan asked hesitantly. Ace nodded, and said he missed them every day. Before anyone said anything else, some of the commanders left the building, chatting and putting their gloves back on. Ace really did stand out with being shirtless while everyone else was bundled up tightly to keep warm.
"Looks like Ace has a little group of followers," Izo chuckled.
"Izo! Izo, Ace is so cool! He showed us magic," Toby, one of the boys, gushed. Ace did his best not to blush blue, or that might seem strange. "He can change colors and melt stuff and make us hear things!"
Izo was surprised Ace had showed them so much. "Guys, it was a secret remember? You can't tell anyone else about my magic," Ace said, voice a bit stern. Toby put his hands over his mouth as some of the other kids glared at him. "Izo, Marco and Thatch are fine, but no other adults. Okay?"
"We promise!" Ace gave them a bright smile, and chatted about random things, Ace asking them about their lives in the village. Ace was like a magnet to kids, for those who were out by had not been with the original group flocked to him to see why everyone was crowded.
Ace wondered why their parents weren't watching them.
-x-
Marco sat with four other commanders and Whitebeard as they were updated on what had happened since their last visit. Marco was taking notes, being the best at multitasking and listening at the same time. No pirates had attacked the island since the last visit, and they'd only had two times a marine vessel had stopped and restocked. They had not caused any trouble, and were not unwelcome unless they caused any problems.
The crops had been growing well, so they sustained just fine with trading themselves. Marco had always been fascinated when little places like this could function with no real trading coming from any other islands. They mostly kept to themselves, but the Whitebeard's protected them because Pops was friends with the previous mayor long ago. He repaid the old friendship by taking care of his old city.
Marco wondered what Ace was doing, if he was still playing with the children. He was able to think about that, while also recording what was being said, reading glasses on. He hadn't known Ace was good with or even liked children, but that was proven today. He knew Ace would become a favorite, just by how kind he was.
A few of the commanders filtered out of the room when the talk became less formal and more catching up. "Marco, you are dismissed," Pops said after everyone had left and only Marco was there. He nodded, and folded up the papers, putting them in a folder and pushing it on the surface of the table to Pops. "Thank you, son."
"Sure," Marco said, stretching and then leaving the room, last hearing Pops start to talk about Ace. Of course not in truthful detail, but he sounded almost bragging, and Marco beamed as he left the room.
When he left the building, it was snowing lightly, and he found the commanders playing with the kids. Almost all of them, with Ace standing to the side, watching with a smile. The kids were tossed from commander to commander in a wide circle. Marco wondered how this came about, and walked to Ace.
He took his hand, not wanting to show romance in front of the kids, not knowing what they would think, and Ace would be extremely averse to PDA in front of the children he'd been playing with. "The kids think I'm magic, and my powers are a secret," Ace said with a laugh.
"You showed them your abilities?" Marco asked in slight surprise. Ace shrugged, as if saying "why not?" Marco could understand that. Kids weren't likely to think too hard into it, realizing that there was more than one devil fruit. And if the kids did tell their parents, they would probably think they were exaggerating about him being magic.
"Want to get out of here?" Marco asked Ace quietly. He had been released and was able to go around like the other commanders. Ace nodded, and Marco passed Thatch and told him they were going to explore.
"Ooh, can I come?" Thatch asked excitedly. Marco gave him a pointed look, that they were going on a date not just a walk around the town. "Ohhh, okay. Have fun, Acey-chan!" Marco hadn't heard Thatch say that in a while, and rarely directly to Ace, who looked confused at the nickname.
Marco explained that saying "chan" after a name was a term of endearment, and Thatch was just being weird about the "Acey" part. "He adores you, so he made that nickname at the beginning, though I haven't heard him say that in a while."
"Oh, okay. So, where are we going?" Ace asked, his hand in Marco's, the only real PDA he was okay with.
"I know a really nice place, pretty private in the coldest time of the year. Since neither of us is affected by the cold, we can go there when no one else is," Marco said, leading Ace out of town and to the forest, which were unlike the trees Ace had seen so far. They were pine trees, nothing Ace had seen so far, so Marco explained what they were and their difference.
The snow and pine needles crunched under them, and soon they found a clearing with a frozen lake and waterfall next to a snow covered beach with pebbles underneath the white blanket. "Wow, this is beautiful," Ace said in awe. Marco looked at him and couldn't help but think he was beautiful.
Marco smiled, and asked him to turn normal, which Ace did happily, back in the blue Marco loved. The snow melted under and around him, making a straight path to where Marco was leading him. Both of them flopped down on the snow, Ace purposely trying to make himself a normal temperature.
"Do you know what snow angels are?" Marco wondered. Ace shook his head, probably never knowing what an angel was. It was a human sentiment. "You spread your arms and legs out back and forth to make an impression on the snow, like this." And soon both of them were making snow angels, Ace laughing while they acted like children.
"I like the snow," Ace said, taking a break from the snow angel making. It was strenuous, though he had been able to do it for a while. Marco had stopped, too.
"I do, too. It's nice coming to peaceful winter islands with no marine bases. Nothing to worry about while just having fun. You were very cute with all of the kids," Marco commented. Ace laughed.
He smiled and replied, "They were really cute. I haven't been around kids since coming here. I had fun with them, melted the snow so they could play on their playground. It was nice." Marco grinned, loving Ace's kindness to anyone and everyone. He was such a pure soul and Marco was so happy his time on the Moby Dick hadn't changed that. It gave him hope that Ace would stay who he was despite being a pirate.
"You'll be a new favorite. Thatch and Haruta are the usual favorites. And Raykuo cause they're fascinated with his weapon," Marco said, turning back onto his back, small flurries of snow landing on both of them. "I love you so much, Ace. I'm so glad you landed near our ship and Thatch brought you aboard," Marco muttered. Of course, Ace heard it, and blushed dark blue.
His hand reached to Marco's, and he said, "I love you, too. I'm glad I landed there, as well. I can't image having been found by a bad person. I was so clueless and had no idea where I was or what planet and what kind of life was on it. I'm glad I found kind people, even if we had a rocky start." Marco nodded in agreement, and they laid in the snow, content to be quiet and just enjoy each others' company.
After a while, the snow covered both of them, burying them like they were in sand. It bothered neither of them, but soaked their clothes. Marco noticed a white fox digging into the snow, before it pulled out some sort of rodent and ran off with it's food. Ace was watching as well, looking happy seeing something new. It was so hard to think of Ace as some other species, even if he was blue.
"Ace? Do you still want to go back to your home planet?" Marco wondered, almost afraid of the answer and worrying if he'd hear something that made him feel terrible.
"Only if I could bring you with me," Ace replied casually. Marco grinned, and his body went warm inside, feeling so loved, and rolled over on top of Ace, and they both sunk into the snow a little deeper. Marco kissed him passionately, wanting to just how much he loved Ace. Again, the privacy made Ace a lot more willing to be a bit handsy.
He threaded his hands into Marco's hair as Marco kissed him and then went to his jaw and under his ear. Ace shuddered and Marco wondered if it tickled, but the salya didn't stop him. Marco kissed down to his chest, pecking the many white freckles with soft kisses, his hands spreading across Ace's strong chest and torso. Ace still didn't stop him.
Marco kissed across Ace's nipples, which were firm from the cold, showing his body still reacted to the cold even if it didn't harm him. Ace was breathing quicker than he usually did, and Marco worried he'd hyperventilate. So, he stopped, and brought his lips back up to Ace's mouth, tongue slowly pushing into his mouth and feeling his teeth and soft mouth from the inside.
The phoenix flames were coming out and dancing against Ace's body. His own reacted and soon the snow all around them was melted and Ace was on his back on the ground. Ace pushed Marco's head back a bit, and took deep breaths. He was having trouble breathing.
"Are you okay?" Marco asked in concern as Ace tried to bring his breaths back to normal. He nodded, breathing deep breaths.
"I'm okay. I just need a little break," the sayla said.
"That's fine. I'm sorry I made it hard for you to breathe," Marco said sadly. It was abundantly clear now that Ace's body could not handle anything more intimate than that. Marco would probably never get very far with him. He wasn't angry at Ace, it wasn't his fault. He might cause Ace to get injured or sick if he even tried anything more intimate than the strong make out session.
"I'm sorry," Ace said, maybe seeing the sadness on Marco's face. "I can barely handle kissing." He sounded ashamed and embarrassed. Marco put his forehead to Ace's.
He said, sincerely, "It is not your fault. And I am not upset about it one bit. I want you to be healthy, and hyperventilating is not that." He put his fingers on Ace's neck, feeling his racing heart. "Are you okay now?"
"Just a little bit longer," Ace replied, and Marco nodded. Ace's breathing calmed and he looked embarrassed still. Marco sat up more, sitting with his knees on either side of Ace. "Marco, I don't think I could ever go further than this."
Marco was surprised Ace was the one to bring up this topic. He had not said a single thing in the seven months about sex, which was what he was clearly meaning. "I don't know how it works with humans, or if we'd be compatible, but I think it would be unsafe for my body if it was strenuous."
Both of their faces were flushed at the conversation. Marco leaned down and put his head against Ace's. "I already knew that was what would happen. I've never expected to have sex with you. You don't seem to want it and we might be unable to. Which might be uncomfortable for both of us."
Ace nodded, but then said, "I've never been opposed to someday trying, I even snuck into the infirmary to see what human anatomy was. One of the nurses caught me and thought it was funny. But now, I know that I just… I can't do it even if I really wanted to," the sayla said honestly. Marco was thankful he was being so open about the topic.
"It's okay, I'm not mad," Marco said, knowing if he said he wasn't disappointed Ace might take it the wrong way. That he hadn't looked forward to maybe doing it someday. Ace nodded, but Marco knew he was still embarrassed and there was nothing to get rid of but some time.
Eventually, they decided they were hungry, and headed back to the town. The snow had covered over their footprints, so they followed Ace's hearing, where he heard voices and the sounds of movement that weren't animals.
"Marco, why is no one stocking anything or doing our jobs?" Ace asked when he saw pirates everywhere just goofing off.
"We always stay longer at protected islands, and there's not much to stock up on here since it's so small. That's why we went overboard at the last island, to make up for not getting much here," Marco explained. Ace's clothes were dry, since he let out heat on his body to make the water evaporate. Marco was still soaking.
It was dinner time by now, though the sky wasn't dark yet. The feast was not outside, since it was freezing outside. The pirates ate in the largest building there was on the island, eating with the citizens.
The children flocked to Ace, and there was barely any room for any of the other pirates besides Marco and Thatch. Thatch was a fan favorite from the kids as well. Marco was there because he sat down before any of the kids had come.
The party lasted late into the night, and everyone was tired and ready to sleep in their nice, warm beds back in the ship. Ace had to be helped to the ship by Thatch because he was unusually tired. Marco came later, having to stay up later with working with Pops to organize things for their stay.