A quick update that's unfortunately not as long as others, but hey, just wanna let you know i'm not abandoning this thing!
(How else am i going to get my daily dose of writing absolute crack with no rules)
Well, hope you like it!
INCURRING DEBT TO NAMI: B. 23.890.550,00
5 Participants
StrawhatLuffy! /vid/sjdnemslw63us&ns
StrawhatLuffy! Next video idea!
StrawhatLuffy! 2kg Spicy Noodle mixed with 2kg Black Bean Noodle + 1kg Steak
RoZoro nice
StrawhatLuffy! The steak has to be made with Sanji's special marinade
CookPrince denied
StrawhatLuffy! D:
CookPrince That special sauce is made with black truffle mash, 2 days fermented yak yogurt and special mushrooms imported directly from Drum Island.
CookPrince In other words, very expensive and priceless
CookPrince I'm not letting one of my special secret sauce be used for a MushiTube video
StrawhatLuffy! But it could be a really good hook!
StrawhatLuffy! Collab with , my viewer's been asking about for us to make a video together again!
CookPrince Absolutely not
CookPrince That's trade secret
TangerineGirl It might not be a bad idea
TangerineGirl Sanji's cooking + Luffy always gets us the highest views
CookPrince THANK YOU NAMI-SWAAAAN I WORK HARD JUST FOR YOU!
TangerineGirl So you'll make the sauce after all?
CookPrince D'X
CookPrince PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME
CookPrince NAMI-SAN I WILL GIVE YOU MY SERVITUDE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE JUST PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME DO IT!
LongNoseGreenThumb Hey! I saw the movie that clip came from with my dad once!
LongNoseGreenThumb It's got some real heavy symbolism about the difference of rich and the poor's lifestyle and that dish is one of the more memorable metaphors for it. Cheap dish that everyone could enjoy but the rich family added expensive meat on theirs because they couldn't stand not being distinguished from the poor.
LongNoseGreenThumb Yeah, adding Sanji's gosh darn expensive sauce is going to make for a perfect tribute to that scene
CookPrince Oh
CookPrince I guess if you put it that way, it doesn't sound too bad. Might get a hit in with the film nerds demographic.
StrawhatLuffy! Nice Usopp!
CookPrince But we are not going to show how i make that sauce! RoZoro you better make sure no cameras are rolling when i'm creating my magnum opus or i'll make a seaweed soup out of you.
CookPrince LongNoseGreenThumb You better edit out whatever fuck up that idiot's bound to make
StrawhatLuffy! THANKS SANJI!
StrawhatLuffy! I'm going to shop for the noodles now! Brb tweeting this!
RoZoro - CookPrince
2 Participants
RoZoro [Forwarded] I guess if you put it that way, it doesn't sound too bad. Might get a hit in with the film nerds demographic.
RoZoro As if there isn't just one film nerd you wanna get a 'hit in'
RoZoro You're so fcking obvious
CookPrince [IMG_27383902]
CookPrince Oh my, what's this
RoZoro You fucker
CookPrince Is this a screenshot of Roronoa Zoro texting me at 3 am about his feelings to a certain food maniac
RoZoro You know i was drunk and you said you deleted them
CookPrince Mention this ever again and my twitter will mysteriously get hacked and started posting my friends compromising screenshots
CookPrince [IMG_37290384]
CookPrince Oh look! This is when he started waxing poetry about kissing Luffy under the moonlight!
RoZoro I will murder you in your sleep and send your corpse to Usopp
CookPrince Is that a promise?
"I don't know why i still cook for you guys,"
She was smiling, but the irritation was clear in Koala's voice. And Sabo doesn't even argue, he just massaged her arms harder, making sure to press little kisses on her dainty fingers each time he reached her hands, "Love you," he sighed happily, using all of his might to press on her deceptively hard bicep, "Thanks for making us pancakes,"
Koala gave him an exasperated yet fond smile, "Yeah, all 200 of them,"
"Love me a hard working and understanding girl,"
"Don't understand where you two put all of those food away, though," Right as she said that, Luffy shoved another 5 layers of fluffy pancakes into his mouth, and started chewing noisily, "I know a lot of women who'll be jealous with the kinds of metabolism all three of you has,"
Before Sabo could reply, there was a sudden bang followed by clutter from the front door, and instinctively, he glanced to the clock on top of the kitchen pantry, "They'd only been gone for an hour and a half," he commented airily, noting the thumping footsteps that seems to move closer like impending doom, "I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but i guess we're about to find out—"
Right on cue, Ace appeared on the doorway, 2 large bags of takeaway from one of his favorite delis in hand. Luffy quickly cheered at the sight of more food - seeing as he only got 10 pancakes left on his - and Koala whispered a low '100 pancakes. He ate 100 and he's going to eat more?'. Sabo, however, was more preoccupies in carefully watching Ace's face, which was contorted in half-smile, half-grimace and entirely too close to hysteric.
Mustering all of his bravery, he finally ask, "So?"
Two heavy bags of deli food fell right at the same time with a mixture of heavy thud and crunch, flopping to the side unnoticeably as Ace dramatically fell on his knees, eyes upward to heaven in the perfect display of a man screaming for the injustice in the world.
"I got fucking friendzoned!"
Look at it this way, Sabo said after 2 hours of a roller coaster of non-stop ranting, exhilarated shouts, depressed moans and tears of joy, good and long lasting relationship mostly were based on good friendship first.
Ace agreed with him enthusiastically for about 5 minutes, before quickly screaming in frustration because they Kissed. With a capital K because that was some good damn Kiss. Friends don't kiss with the same amount of vigour he had been kissed with that night, in front of at least hundreds of attendees and who knows how many people were tuning in and would watch later on from MushiTube. That's the kind of kiss that after days of awkwardly avoiding each other should at least warrants a 'What about a replay and a date?'.
But Marco, no, Marco his perfect guy, his absolute dreamboat, that ride he's now tall enough to get on - and oh does he want to get the fuck on, would buy the fast pass and everything - his greatest torture, just smiled so innocently and called him 'best friend'.
Ace didn't care that there's a picture of him demolishing half a deli's stock and got him scolded from Law again for forgetting to maintain his image in public, bitch, he's grief eating.
But it's been a few days now since then. Ace is fine now. He's cool. He got his bearings back.
Sabo printing out the picture of their deli outing, blowing it up to poster size and laminating it to put on Ace's overcrowded walls with the writing 'First Step to Everything' attached to it might had done numbers on his bad mood, but the point is, he's fine now.
And that's why he can smile genuinely when Marco picked him up for a quick breakfast together before dropping him off to his destination. It was a routine that was quickly picked up again, and despite everything, was something to look forward to day by day. They took turns picking out new spots to go to, between nice conversations that can slip into comfortable and companionable silence without a problem.
"So, first day shot for this music video, right?" Marco asked when the studio where Ace would be filming finally came to sight, "And which song is this for again?"
"The bonus track," Ace curled his lips knowingly and pointed at the other man, "And no, you can't know what the song is. You just have to wait like the rest of the general public,"
The blond actor laughed, "And here i thought knowing you personally would give me some exclusive inside scoop,"
Could give you something more exclusive, but you playing, "Company policy, sorry. But don't worry, soon as it's out, i'll let you be the first to watch,"
The ride from the security post - who quickly let them pass the moment he took one look at Marco, apparently he's a fan and follows the news - and to the designated studio was far too quickly over, and it was with the same reluctance as ever that Ace went out of the car. He only had one foot out to the pavement when Marco called out, "Is that a promise?"
The freckled faced man turned back and oh, he was not ready for that teasing smile. He ignored the way his heart skip a beat by pumping his adrenaline even more, easily achieved by reaching out to poke his clueless crush on his cheek and emphasising his words with every poke, " .Work,"
Ace entered the building greeted by a crew member whose greeting was cut short by panic when he crumpled to his knee and shrieked.
"What do you mean he's a no-show?!"
Apparently, he wasn't the only one stressed out that morning, because Ace's arrival - followed closely by Marguerite, the flustered crew who caught him screaming earlier - was serenaded with what is very obviously Boa Hancock's enraged scream. The statuesque actor-turned-world class director had her back to him, silky black hair cascading down from her head like a fountain when she tossed her head back dramatically in a way that reminded Ace of a ghost possession horror movie he once saw.
"Sandersonia, send our most scathing review to him and his agency. Marigold, send out scouts to call other agencies, maybe we can still salvage this. Kikyo, i am trusting you with the most important part, send word to the rest of the crew to make sure Spade never finds out—"
"What's going on?"
Hancock swivelled so hard her hair actually hit some of the women in front of her. She gave a shocked gasp at the sight of him, and gone was the stern, angry expression, she was now nearly in tears, "Oh no, big brother in law," she gasped, "Oh, what must you think of me now? I failed you in something so simple, now you will never think i am good enough for my dear Luffy—"
"Hancock, whatever's going on, it couldn't be that bad," he tried to reassure her, and gracefully side-stepped the rest of that sentence, "So what's up?"
But Hancock was still sobbing - something concerning Luffy, he didn't have to hear clearly to know - so it was her green haired sister, Sandersonia, who replied with a wary sigh, "The actor who's supposed to be playing your love interest for this video didn't show up. We contacted both him and his agency, and it seems that he's gone dark,"
"There was a change in casting so it was in such a short notice i didn't have the time to look into his history as deep as i should've," Marigold continued, a guilty pout on her lip. From what Ace could remember about the Gorgon sisters and their all female crew, she was the head of casting, "But it looks like he had some history with negligence and attitude problems. But he almost perfectly resembled the specification that big sis had in her mind, so i quickly got him on board without checking too much. This is my fault,"
Specification?
"This is not your fault, Marigold!" Hancock bellowed, already recovering from her brief bout of depression, "This is why men are so often unreliable! Oh, to shame me like this in front of Luffy's brother, forget it Sandersonia, i myself will write that scathing review. For now, we need to quickly salvage this situation, even if we need to forsake my vision for this video. Marigold, have all your girls go through all of your agency contacts, see if you can find anyone available in such a short notice. Sandersonia, continue on with the set preparation,"
One by one, the gathered women began to disperse to follow through with Hancock's order efficiently, while Ace himself waved off Marguerite's polite 'see you' as she quickly went off to join the lighting crew. It's not like he was really worried, he worked with Hancock plenty before, and knows that whatever it is she had her mind to will get done. They don't dub her Empress of Showbiz for nothing.
Still, he wondered what Marigold meant by specification.
Ace was about to walked off to the make up set, thinking it's best he also didn't catch any of her ire by dawdling, when there was a warm poke on his cheek that almost made him yelp.
"Payback," said the warm, chuckling voice behind him, and Ace turned to see that he really wasn't imagining that Marco was there, smiling as he held two take away cups with steams coming off from the lid. One of it was offered to him, as the older man continued, "Sorry, but the guard outside let me in. Looks like i can get some exclusive look to your music video after all,"
Blinking, Ace glanced between the offered cup and the older man, "Wait, shouldn't you be on your way to your own shoot right now? I thought you're filming Shanks' movie,"
"Yeah, that," Marco grimaced, and once Ace took the coffee from him - black, no sugar, just a bit of milk, his favorite - he took out his phone and tapped around the screen for a while before showing Ace what looks like a set lighting down in pieces on the floor, and a man's green clad behind jutting out from the rubble of a fake medieval construction, "So that happened, and it's cancelled for the day,"
"What the heck was that?"
"That was Bartolomeo, one of the producers, in the aftermath of his usual morning fight with Cavendish. Unfortunately, this fight ended up with property damage that can't be fixed in a day and will cost us precious time," the blond sigh, running a finger over a single strand of hair that fell to his eyes. Ace followed the motion while silently wishing to do it for him, "There's been some discussion about removing one of them, but Shanks was adamant to keep both. Kept the entertainment up, he said. Beckman, his First AD's chewing him up in our group chat,"
"Sounds… fun,"
"You don't know the half of it," he sighed with a familiar kind of exasperation, and honestly, remembering Shanks from his childhood and the table during that Blursed (Blessed/Cursed) award nomination, Ace somehow believed that he truly knows nothing, "But what's going on here? You haven't started shooting yet?"
The younger stifled a sigh as he glanced back to the hustle bustle that were Hancock's crew, with her in the middle, the Queen Bee delivering orders, "Dealing with my own slice of unprofessionalism. The guy who's playing my love interest's a no-show, so they're scrambling to look for his replacement in such a short time,"
A deep frown appear between Marco's brows, "Love interest?"
"Yeah, the," and immediately, Ace stopped.
Wait. Fuck.
How could he had forgotten. They're shooting for that song. The song that maybe, kind of, a little bit inspired by the man standing next to him. And maybe also inspired by similar experience, but also a little bit by Marco.
Maybe. Like, it was 99.9% written with you in mind before i know you personally song.
Shit, shit, shit. That's what Marigold meant by specification. He'd pay his entire fortune and gave all of his song rights if the guy who didn't show up isn't tall, with blond hair, maybe a bit of stubble, stunning physique and absolutely stunning blue eyes.
"Listen, Marco, maybe you shouldn't—"
"You!"
All activity around them seems to stop following Boa Hancock's booming exclamation. With a bright, happy smile on her usually stoic face, she pointed a long manicured finger to the direction of the door, where both Ace and Marco stood, "You! You are the answer to my dilemma! Fate must've brought you here for my vision is too great for me to fulfil it with a pale imitation!"
With long strides ominously accompanied by the train of her long cheongsam, Hancock approached them with arms spread wide and shining eyes, "Of course! Who to better play big brother's obsessive, feverish, passionate love than his own beloved!"
"W-what? Me?"
So this is it. This is how e's going to die.
"You don't look happy with this turn of event,"
Ace pursed his lips further, while trying his best not to frown while Nojiko is dangerously applying eyeliner on him, "They can't just drag Marco to do something like this," he finally said, with a heavy exhale, when she finally stepped back, "He's a busy guy. A-and, what if he had something better to do—"
"Didn't his manager said we're free to use him for the day since he doesn't have any other schedule today?" The lilac haired makeup artist quickly interjected, and with a knowing smile, patted his foundation-layered cheek. Never too thick, his freckles are too die for and they need to still be visible, "Don't be nervous, i'm sure won't be awkward working with your own boyfriend. Besides, with the kind of things we'll be doing today, i'm sure you'd much prefer doing it with someone you're intimate with, right?"
It is exactly for those reasons that he's so nervous right now. Because that guy isn't his boyfriend, they're definitely not intimate and oh god, they just made things un-awkward between them, and now this?
Ace looked down at his attire, to the oversized shirt he had on and the tight black singlet he had underneath it, a simple attire by any means necessary if the shirt wasn't suppose to make it clear that it belongs to someone bigger that him, someone about Marco's size. And that's not saying about the damn tight pants he had on.
"There, you're done. Don't forget to grab the handcuffs on your way out, okay?"
And that.
Five minutes later saw Ace walking out of the wardrobe section feeling and looking like a man led to his execution, only he's the one holding handcuffs and the churning grip of guilt made it felt like he's the one who's going to execute someone. That someone being Marco.
Once he stepped into the set, he was quickly greeted by a very enthusiastic Hancock, who cooed over his appearance and was all too eager to show him the set. A fake model of a desolate storage room, dimly lit except for where it matters, which was a purposefully empty spot on the very back of it, almost hidden by crates covered by white sheets. A creative recreation of a suspicious basement room, made even more so when one caught sight of the chains spread across the back wall, with arm clamps, even more handcuffs and hooks that held up said chains.
"Sandersonia and the girls completely outdone themselves with this contraption," the dark haired director said almost gleefully, "It looks complicated, but don't worry, big brother in law, it will all depend on yours and your beau's acting. Oh you're sweating, is the set that hot? Girls, turn the AC on a little higher, big brother's face is turning really red,"
Distraction, deflection, anything! He had to stop this from happening, this is so fucked, he is not ready, his heart is not ready, "Listen, Hancock, what if we just go look for someone else—"
"Make up for love interest is done!"
"Perfect!" Hancock's attention was completely stolen away, and so was Ace's. And while her reaction was all too ecstatic, spouting something along the lines of her vision and viral video, Ace's attention was on the figure that was practically being shoved to the set by a group of giggling women, some who he heatedly noted were pawing on muscles made even more pronounced by make up and eyes all staring at the dark tattoo in the middle of sculpted chest.
If Ace was already self-conscious about dressing like this, Marco doesn't even get a shirt, and the pants he wore were tastefully ripped to show neglect without it being purposeful. The rest of him was completely bare, showing not only the tattoo that may or may not have haunted Ace's dreams since he was first made aware of its existence, but the well trained body of an action star, with strong legs and wiry muscled arms.
This one needs to go on his wall, but for now, this one'll stay in the confines of his memory.
There's something he supposed to be doing, he realized, something like saboteur or distraction, but he didn't know why those words pops up in his head. Why would he ruin this sight? Marco, half naked, walking closer to him. Marco, looking adorably confused despite everything, being led to that empty space and instructed to sit down. Marco, whose toned arms were now raised, muscle rippling with the motion, and wincing as his wrists were being locked by those arm clamps, and oh, the contrast between his skin and the dark paint of the clamp looks absolutely stunning—
That! Ace needs to stop that!
"W-wait! We can't have Marco do this! Let's just postpone today's shoot and look for someone else—"
But his shaky voice was no match to Hancock's voice through a screeching megaphone, "Oh, my vision! It's all coming together! We have Spade, our protagonist, whose voice will guide us through this story! You are entrenched with love, with passion, with obsession over your beloved, Marco. And you have him now, at your mercy, chained down and locked in the deepest confines of your heart. This is your playground now, your dirty little secret; Those chains, your tools, him, your favorite toy,"
"So uh," came a meek voice from underneath Hancock's fervent monologue and directing. Ace didn't want to turn to Marco, but he knew it was him all the same, "Is this supposed to be a dark song?"
"W-well, it's a song about… obsessions," Ace stammered, clutching the hem of his shirt tightly, "It's kind of, a confession of sorts. Admitting that you're crazy about someone and all you want to do was keep them for yourself to love and… play with," His face felt like someone just splashed boiling water on it, he thought he could feel steam coming out of his ears, "It's not dark, but it is… really… um, sexual,"
Marco was silent, and after a while, he gave a quiet, almost flustered, "Oh,"
"Yeah,"
Hancock was still talking. He understand that the purpose of this kind of direction is for her to picture the scene to the actors, but Ace couldn't really picture anything but the handcuffs in his hand and the sight of Marco behind him, in chains. And that is really, really distracting.
"Uh," Marco spoke again, and this time, he gave a little awkward laugh, "Wow. I think i should be worried about jumping to a project without knowing anything about it, but hey, if it's with you, it can't be bad,"
That made Ace turn, and now he's all too aware of his thumping heart. But the sight of Marco bound and what will soon become a very sexual scene wasn't really the cause.
Marco was smiling at him, and though tinge with a little confusion and something else Ace couldn't tell, it was reassuring and kind. His blue eyes dropped down to the hand still wringing the front of Ace's shirt, "It's okay. This is just another day at work, right? If you're nervous about doing this sort of thing in front of people, then just pretend they're not there. Just focus on me and think there's just the two of us here,"
Oh.
Marco.. Marco thought he was nervous about doing what is obviously going to be a sexual scene. And he's trying to reassure him.
Ace felt like he could melt with both embarrassment and affection. He's so kind, but if only he knew what's truly in Ace's head.
"Are you really okay with this?" he decided to ask instead, "I know it's not going to veer off to… graphic territory, we're not making something like that, but this is still…,"
"Am i okay with working with my favorite singer?" Marco chuckled, shifting one leg and dragging along the chains that had been draped over him, "If anything, i'm excited for this. F-for the work, not… excited for.. other things,"
I'm extremely okay if you got excited for the other things, the thought pops up in Ace's mind like an unwanted intruder and was quickly squashed off, "Well, i'm looking forward to work with my favorite actor of all time, then,"
They gave each other secretive, little smiles. It took Ace a while to notice that he finally stopped wringing his shirt.
"Beautiful!" Hancock's voice and the crackling megaphone shocked them both to awareness, and towards the hundreds eyes on them, especially the tall woman on the even taller director chair, face alf concealed by various monitors, "The chemistry, the love, oh, this reminds me of my darling Luffy. When my actors could look at each other like that, i just know this will be an amazing piece! Now then, roll the camera!"
One of the girls, with dirty blonde bob raced to the front of the camera on cue, a clapperboard in hand, "Music, get ready!" somewhere from Ace's periphery, he could see activity in the sound system booth stilling, "And actors, remember your roles. Spade, this is your greatest imagination, you control everything in this space. Marco, you are his greatest desire, surrendering completely to him. Channel all of your passion for each other, "
Ace glanced back to Marco, who gave him once last reassuring smile. Then his body seems to undulate, losing all of the tension it previously held, and he was no longer someone roped into all of this confusing mess. There's smoulder in his eyes, and a lilt on his lips that made Ace's knees goes weak.
His grip on the handcuffs in his hand grew tighter, suddenly all too eager to press these cold steel against that expanse of fair skin.
Oh, this is going to be so hard.
Literally.
He can already feel it coming.
Technically speaking.
He dearly hoped he's not that fast.
"And, action!"
Me, making ZoSan vitriolic best buds who are hostile to each other but secretly moon over their respective crushes to each other: nice
Me, taking even the smallest opportunity to slip in my numerous rarepairs like SanUso cuz i love them so much: *holding back tears* Nice.