Sorry if this update is shorter than usual... i really shouldn't have put these into this one into a 2 parter...
Anyway, hope you'd enjoy!
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:40]: I missed you already
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:40]: Why do you have to be out of town now
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:41]: Roger and Rouge came at 4am this morning, apparently after seeing the live broadcast from Mariejois Award
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:41]: And Ace isn't home
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:42]: Have you tried stopping an adult man from filing a missing person report at 4am and then trying to stop him from reporting someone for abduction at 5am
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:43]: I need coffee. And emotional support
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:43]: And i need youuuuuu (╥﹏╥)
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:49]: Oh god
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:50]: Please tell me Ace came home
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:50]: He did
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:51]: And Marco's with him
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:51]: No i miss you too? (╥﹏╥)
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:52]: Oh that poor, poor man
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:52]: Yes, yes, i miss you too
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:54]: Wish i was there with u….
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:54]: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:55]: …to see Roger freaking out on Ace's 'boyfriend'
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:56]: Baaaaaaaabeeeee (╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:55]: (๑òᗜó)
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:56]: Ok, ok, i seriously missed u too.
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:56]: Jinbe's smart and all, but his lectures are seriously boring and there's still 3 more days of this.
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:56]: I rly wished i was back home with u rn
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:56]: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:58]:…Oh no
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:58]: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:58]: Sabo stop
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:58]: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:59]: Ok, i know you. Now you're just doing this to annoy me
Sent to ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [07:59]: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
New Text Message from ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ [08:00]: I regret everything
If there was ever a way to see how Ace would look like in a few decades, or if one wondered how Ace would look like if he had been born a female, then they would need to look no further than his own parents.
Really, Marco had never seen a child who was the spitting image and also the perfect mixture of their parents. In his mother, Marco could see where Ace had gotten the soft waviness of his hair and the littering of freckles, and when she smiled at him, offering him a cup of aromatic tea and introducing herself as, "Rouge Gol-Portgas, Ace's mother and a big fan of yours too! So nice to finally meet you in person! Would you like some tea?" Marco could also see where Ace had gotten that sun-bright disposition and heart-stopping smile.
Then in come Roger Gol-Portgas swooping in on that pleasant - if a bit too overenthusiastic - greeting, and here, Marco could see where Ace gets just about everything else. The matching dark hair was obvious, the very expressive face, and when he talks, Marco gets a violent flashback of every time Ace was in the car in the middle of a bad traffic, "Rouge, stop offering strangers those nice tea from Skypiea. And especially not this stranger," the glare that Roger gave him was cold, and for a brief moment, Marco felt like he was a protagonist in a horror movie, right in the climax when he stared into the eyes of the devil himself.
It was rather bone-chilling, to be perfectly honest.
Thankfully it was gone, when Roger sighed and turned to his son, sitting right next to Marco with both of his arms crossed and the most petulant expression to ever grace someone's features, "Ace, i already warned you times after times to be careful about getting into this sort of career. It's not that i don't like you making a name for yourself while doing something you love, but fame comes with so many these unscrupulous lifestyle and i don't want you to be involved in it! I let you off my sight for one moment, and you're off dating and kissing strangers in public,"
"What do you mean 'unscrupulous lifestyle'?! Don't start accusing Marco of weird things! And he's not a stranger!"
"You're right, i've seen enough of him all over your bedroom walls,"
It felt like he just heard a rather important piece of information, but Marco was too shocked by the indignant screech that left Ace, "Shut it, dad!"
The snicker from his side took Marco's attention away - probably because his mind is just looking for any distraction from the brewing argument next to him - and he caught sight of Luffy taking a slice off the mountain of toast on the plate in front of him, tearing a bit of the edge and tossing it into the open mouth of a green haired male dozing open-mouthed right next to him. He gave a silent, victorious clap when the bit of the bread went in, joining the other bits he must've tossed beforehand.
"Luffy, Zoro's going to choke when he wakes up. Stop doing that," Sabo chastised from the very end of the table, without once looking up from typing vigorously on his phone. Marco couldn't exactly see what it is he was doing, but when he moved the phone around as he thanked Rouge for the cup of tea, he could see that whatever it is seems to involve text messaging and an entire 3 rows of heart emojis. And by the looks of the chat bubble before it, it seems like he had sent a few before that, and whoever was on the receiving end of that bizarre text has even typed 'Stop this' right before this new one.
Meanwhile, the back and forth argument still continues on, this time even moving on to different subjects, "—Why can't you just listen to one thing i said? You always take everything lightly! I told you that not everyone out there who may recognize you will have good intentions, and what did you do? Your fired the bodyguards i had Ray hire for you!"
"That's not true, i just told the security company i only need one, and Oars Jr. is still working to guard the complex, isn't he? I probably helped him to earn more now with how grateful the rest of the neighbourhood are with him,"
"They're meant to keep you safe at any given moment! Sabo told me you still liked going around crowded places in stupid disguises, how many times did i tell you how dangerous it is?! You can get mobbed!"
Ace snapped his head to the side, levelling a death glare at his middle brother. Said middle brother either doesn't care, or was still too absorbed in terrorizing whoever it is on the other side of the phone with multitudes of unsolicited love declaration in pixel form to care.
"And you, blondie," He couldn't possibly just imagined the resounding crack that came from his neck, but Marco was less worried about any possible damage to his anatomy than the fact that Roger was back to glaring at him. Though he looked about Pops' age, like Pops, he held a commanding presence and larger stature, showing to all that he's not the kind of man to be trifled with despite his age. And Marco had known Pops for long enough to know not to underestimate that, "What kind for sick bastard are you? A guy your age got no business sniffing around kids, especially not my kid. What are you, 30? 35?"
"34 years, 2 months and 16 days old," Marco's eyes flicked to the side, his head cocked as he began to count his own age. He hadn't even finished with the months when Ace continued, "Not that it's any of your business because i'm 21 and is old enough to make my own decision, including who i want to date!"
This time, Marco frowned, slowly turning to Ace in mild confusion. Is he not going to tell his own parents the truth…?
"He's much too old for you—"
"Roger, you were nearly twice my age when we met, don't be a hypocrite,"
"Rouge!"
A cup was suddenly offered in front of him, followed by the aromatic scent of an exotic blend, just as Marco felt a dainty hands draped on his left shoulder, "Here you go, be careful, it's still hot," Rouge said she appeared on the side of Marco's periphery, smiling down at him, "And don't mind Roger too much, he's always been a worrywart. I, for one, would like to thank you for taking care of my son, i know Ace can be a handful sometimes and i hope he's on his best behaviours around you,"
"Mooom," Ace whined, in that very characteristic sound a child would always make whenever they thought their parents were embarrassing them in front of the general public. Marco glanced back just in time to see Ace aiming a cute little pout at his mother, who simply giggled, sounding she wasn't even a tiny bit apologetic.
"Ah, no, i'll.. i'll say it's the other way around, actually. Ace has been really good to me," Marco replied honestly, taking the offered tea and giving it an obligatory sip. He's not much of a tea drinker, and he could guess this would be one of those types of hoity-toity beverages someone like Izou would enjoy a lot more than he does. Still, this was given to him by Ace's mother, and the way she kept standing right next to him told Marco she's probably waiting for a feedback of sorts, "This is really good, thank you, Mrs. Gol-Portgas,"
True enough, a larger smile blooms on Rouge's face, "Oh, such a polite man," she giggled, "Please, just call me Rouge. Or mother-in-law, that works too,"
"Mom!"
"Rouge, can you please—"
"I'm just kidding, you two," the red haired woman told her husband and son, before giving Marco a wink.
Marco could only laugh nervously in return.
Across the table, Roger grumbled under his breath, a sound that quickly put Marco's attention to him, "Listen here, you—"
"Dad, he has a name, can you please use it?"
"I'll call him whatever i want when he's under my roof," the grey-streaked, moustached man retorted, and ignoring his son's protest, continued on, "Listen here, you little punk, right now, i don't trust or even like you one bit, so don't expect me to be cordial and shit. You can trick my starry-eyed baby into thinking that you're such hot shit, but you're not going to put a wool over these eyes. I don't know what your game is, but i know you got one. Think i don't know your type?"
By now, there's barely any other sound in the room - except the muffled snoring from Luffy's poor mouth stuffing victim - and Marco could feel his stomach churning in anxiousness. On the table, Roger's hand balled up into a fist, "I've seen guys like you. You saw someone young, impressionable, vulnerable, and you got this power from knowing just how strongly they feel for you. You'll use them, you'll make them into your little plaything and when you're tired of 'em, you'll toss them aside and let me tell you right now, if you think i will just stand here when i can nip this in the bud, then you have another thing comi—"
A resounding bang on the table stopped Roger in the middle of his tirade, "Dad, what the fuck?! Where did this all came from?! You literally just met Marco minutes ago! How dare you fucking talk to him like that!"
"Ace, watch your language!"
"Roger, that was out of the line! Worried or not, you can't accuse people like that,"
"This isn't about accusing—"
He never did deal well with people shouting and screaming, especially at such a close proximity and over him. Marco could feel it in the way his hands shook and his increased palpitations, the need to flee badgering the back of his head so much that his sight turned hazy. It's been years, it's been years so he shouldn't be like this anymore, and he can't do this here, not when he's in a house full of people he barely knew, in front of Ace's parents and Ace himself…
Breathe. That's right, he needs to remember to breathe.
"I," the word just slipped out of him, much too loud in his own ears. And what's even worse was that he could hear the voices around him dying down, leaving his own echoing the silence that now felt a lot more daunting than the cacophony from earlier. Marco looked up, eyes darting from side to side to see that he's got the attention of the whole room. Even Luffy's friend who was slowly waking up, "I…I'm not… like that,"
Inside of his ribcage, his heart was racing for an entirely different reason now, and he didn't know whether or not this was a good thing. Marco caught the frowned eyes of Roger Gol, distrustful and full of vitriol, and the words seems to flow back, "I won't.. i won't do that to Ace. It's fine that you don't trust me but, but i swear, i never thought of any of that. Your son meant a lot to me, i would never take him and our relationship for granted. If anything, i'd be scared of doing anything to lose him,"
For a second, nobody made a move. Marco's breath hitched when he felt a hand grasping on to his, the weight and warmth allowing him to anchor himself as he finally get the courage to look away. Ace was staring at him with a frown, his gaze worried and lips downturned. With another deep breath, he tightened his grip on the younger's hand, and felt a little bit at ease when Ace squeezed back.
"Well, Roger," he could hear the soft feminine voice from behind him say, "Are you happy now?"
Marco couldn't see him, but he heard the older man scoffing, "Hmph. Whatever,"
"Whamp de hemph ith— Hack! Lu— Cough! Luffy!"
"Oh, Zoro, you're up!"
"Stupid, what did i tell you?! He's choking!"
With all attention immediately shifted away from him, Marco was only barely aware of the tug on his hand before he was pulled up to his feet and dragged away.
"I am so, so sorry for that," Ace gave a wary glance to the door he's standing in front of, right as a shout and a boisterous laughter was heard almost simultaneously.
Marco shook his head, finding small amusement in the exasperated expression across the younger's face, "It's alright. I'm sorry for being… being so awkward in front of your dad,"
Ace groaned, slapping his hand in front of his face, "And that too, i'm so sorry for the things he said, i don't know what the hell is wrong with him sometimes," he sighed, "You really don't have to feel bad about that, he's just being an asshole on purpose,"
"He's worried for you. I get as much,"
"You don't have to take his side, like i said, he's an asshole," with another sigh, Ace leaned back against the door, arms crossed and lips pressed thin. When he look up again, there's a small frown on his brows, "More importantly, how are you feeling? You don't look so good earlier,"
Well, his hand has stopped shaking, that's one. As soon as Ace brought him outside, the outdoor air had certainly helped, but the distance away from the noises was probably what made it easier for him to come down from it, "I'm sorry about that too. I," he paused, trying to look for the correct word to describe it. In the end, he settled with, "I don't really do well with confrontations,"
The way Ace narrowed his eyes further spoke of curiousity, but he dropped it when Marco kept silent, "You don't have to be sorry for anything. I mean it, Marco,"
"But i still do," the blond insisted, "Especially about what we talked about this morning,"
At the reminder, Ace fell quiet. He didn't say anything, yet Marco could see it from the faint gestures he gave, when he tightened the arms crossed in front of his chest, and how he quickly averted his gaze. Before he could say anything further, however, the dark haired singer beats him to the punch, "No, i should be the one saying sorry for that. I'm sorry for getting angry and… for even making it such a big deal, you know?"
"Ace…,"
"You were drunk. Extremely so. You were drunk, i was… less drunk, and it's a mistake. I guess i thought you," he trailed off, only to shake his head later, raven locks swinging along with the motion, "Never mind. I should just know better," About what? Marco wanted to ask, but Ace smiled, even if it doesn't quite reached his eyes, "You're really good with words, you know that? Like your speech last night, and what you told me in the car, then what you said to my dad. You got quite the silvertongue, you could accidentally break some hearts if you don't truly mean it,"
Not really expecting that or knowing what to reply with, Marco could only stammer, which made Ace laugh, "I'm kidding,"
"But i," as Ace's laughter faded away, he waited patiently, still with a smile that still doesn't look as genuine as usual. It caused a pang in Marco's chest, knowing that somehow, he did that, "I do mean what i say,"
The smile disappeared. It came back a moment later, smaller, honest, and pained, "I know you do," It doesn't sound like a simple platitude. He really doesn't know what to make of it.
Another crash sounded inside of the house, breaking the sudden silence that settled between them. Ace rolled his eyes with a groan, "I better go back inside to do some damage control," he moaned irritably, before glancing at Marco, "And i think you should leave before my dad could get his hands on you again. I'm really this close to punching him after everything he said,"
"Please don't punch your father,"
The younger gave an exaggerated sigh, "Fine, only cause you asked,"
He moved to open the door, but before he could, the words escaped Marco first, "Ace?"
"Hmm?"
'This isn't going to change anything, right?' He wanted to ask, but the words just won't come out. He knows, deep down, he knows something has changed between them, that he had caused them to go pass a certain point they can never go back to. 'Are we okay?' made him sound like a clueless child, the way he always felt that he is whenever he's dealing with Ace. And just like a child, he's a little afraid of hearing the answer.
He wanted things to be okay. He wanted things to changes.
But this isn't about what he wanted, not when he caused all of this.
"See you later?"
Ace grinned, nodding, "Yeah, I'll see you later. Maybe i'll call you once things died down here,"
His smile still hasn't reached his eyes, like it's just a lip service to ease Marco down.
But he didn't have the right to call that out, "Okay,"
When Marco finally drove off, if he had looked back for just a second there, he would've seen the smile completely disappearing from Ace's face right before he stepped back into the house.
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [21:09]: Hey hey hey, quick reminder for everyone that there's going to be an early rehearsal tomorrow to prepare for the cliffside battle scene so come to the set an hour earlier. See ya all tomorrow
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [21:16]: Heeeey Marco, heard you got to meet Old Roger today.
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [21:17]: Please tell me he kept you intact, i don't want to recast in the middle of production
Sent to Shanks (Director) [21:59]: Nice to hear how much you care for my well being
Sent to Shanks (Director) [21:59]: How'd you know?
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:01]: He called me asking about you. Just some random stuff, like what kind of guy you are, how long i've known you, your character, behaviour, your background
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:01]: If he needs to call the old 'pirate crew'
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:03]: Just normal stuff
Sent to Shanks (Director) [22:05]: ….I'm sorry?
Sent to Shanks (Director) [22:05]: Pirate crew?
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:06]: It's what he called his drinking buddies
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:09]: Okay, they're paid mercenaries he sponsored to guard his ships and cargos. And sometimes to 'take care of problems' for him
Sent to Shanks (Director) [22:10]:WHAT
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:10]: Yeah, believe it or not, freight ship business is a lot more cutthroat than one may think
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:10]: Relaaaaax, i told him you're a swell guy! I even vouch for your relationship with lil Ace and how lovey dovey you both are, don't worry
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:10]: You're a good guy, he'll love ya. He doesn't have anything to worry about but he just doesn't know it yet.
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:11]: Give him time, he'll come around
Sent to Shanks (Director) [22:11]: Thanks… i think.
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:13]: Np
New Text Message from Shanks (Director) [22:13]: If there's any cradle-robber that i'd actively support in their cradle-robbing, it'll be you, buddy
Sent to Shanks (Director) [22:15]: …I'm feeling very insulted right now
I know that i say repeatedly how this fic is supposed to be all rainbow and sunshine and shit, but even during the conception of the idea, i already slipped in some… not so nice things. I think it wasn't until this chap i can make another proper hint to it again.
What am i talking about you ask? I don't know either.
Well i do but my doubt on whether or not i can actually write it properly shall be kept for myself.
ANYWAY, forget all of that, thank you so much for reading and thank you for your patience! IRL had been incredibly busy as of the late and i've been having terrible block for everything, including writing. Well, now it's back. I guess.
I hope you liked it!