A short update today. What I have prepared for this week ranges from relatively short (this one isn't the shortest) to far too long xD Just so you know, so far I have written up to day 6 with the exception of day 5 (because I couldn't think of anything to do for Dancing), and here is the Cuddling story :)

Beta-read (in the last moment, because I wrote this one yesterday) by the lovely Aerle :D

Of All The Stupid Things

Marco rolled to the side, careful to pull out of Ace beforehand, and dropped on his back on the bed with a content grin. All that sexual tension while the brat had still been refusing to join the crew had been annoying, but it had also been so worth it.

Next to him, Ace was sprawled on the bed, not having moved since his own orgasm, and his breathing slowing down. Marco turned, about to wrap an arm around the other's body to bring him close when the boy sat up, using his arms for support because it looked like he wasn't completely steady yet.

"Ace?"

The freckled man didn't look at him as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"That was good," muttered Ace, scurrying away to search for his clothes. Marco watched in dismay —not that Ace would have noticed with his eyes averted— as the other dressed and let out a barely audible "goodnight" before leaving his cabin.

Marco dropped down on his bed again and groaned. It seemed he had read Ace wrong, because he hadn't thought the other pirate only wanted a one night stand. Apparently, that was all Ace had wished for.

It had been very good sex, the blond wasn't about to deny it, but he had been hoping for something more all this time and, when Ace had kissed him that afternoon, he had thought Ace wanted more, too.

It seemed he had been wrong.

Probably, the only reason Marco didn't lash out in surprise was that he had felt it coming, so instead he let his back hit the wall and wrapped his arms around the body that was suddenly all over him, kissing and groping with as much enthusiasm as he was receiving.

"Ace?" he asked when they separated for air. The other just kissed him again. Marco returned the kiss and tried once more the next time they parted. "What-?"

"What? You don't want to?" was Ace's reply, a smirk on his face, and this time the younger man began to drag him in the direction of Marco's cabin, kissing the older man again in the process. Marco might have tried to pull apart, to ask what exactly was going on, but it was a hard choice to make with that eager mouth trying to devour him and those warm hands exploring every part of his body they could reach.

He would ask later, for now it was a difficult enough task to keep all his clothes on before they reached his room, because he dreaded what could happen with said clothes if they were left in the middle of the hallway.

Marco knew he shouldn't have felt hurt when Ace stood up once more and, without really looking at him, got dressed and left. So the boy had liked it the first time so much that he had wanted a repeat, it had been obvious once they were done and he had been able to think more clearly. He shouldn't be bothered by it and instead take it as the compliment to his skills that Ace coming back for more meant. But, the truth was, Marco was annoyed. Why couldn't Ace just talk to him about it, try to reach some sort of deal instead of fleeing every time?

It wasn't as if Ace had started to act weirdly around him. Outside Marco's cabin, the boy was perfectly friendly, had no issues about joking with him, teasing him —sometimes even with bold sexual innuendos— and even issue challenges everybody knew Ace would lose.

Ace's actions regarding sex made absolutely no sense; the boy wasn't ashamed, his behavior made it clear, and he didn't seem to have any problem with Marco, either, so the older man had to wonder about what he was doing. Marco guessed Ace just wanted a casual sexual relationship, friends with benefits perhaps, but it made no sense that the boy wouldn't ask.

After the third time of fuck and flee, Marco decided to confront Ace with it. It was too frustrating.

When Marco grabbed Ace by the arm and pressed him against the wall of a not too used hallway, the boy smirked up at him, licking his lips, and the older pirate had to remind himself that he wasn't there to fuck the brat senseless against the wall.

"What's going on, Ace?"

The dark haired man blinked, confused, and looked put out for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Ace finally asked, and it was obvious conversation hadn't been on his mind the moment Marco had trapped him against the wall.

"This," Marco said, gesturing a hand between them, "us. What's going on between us?"

"Oh." Ace bit his lower lip, and once again Marco firmly told himself he wasn't there to fuck him. "We're having sex," stated Ace, tilting his head to the side and looking at Marco. And damn if that wasn't a sexy gesture. The blond refused to believe the other wasn't doing it on purpose.

"Yeah, that much is clear, but that's not what I'm asking and you know it. Why do you just leave every time?"

This time Ace looked taken aback and he shrugged.

"Because we're done," the boy answered casually, but those words weren't enough to distract the older man from the faint blush spreading over Ace's cheeks.

"That's bullshit."

"Oh, come on, Marco," Ace practically whined, "are you really gonna stand there interrogating me? We're alone, and it's been three days." And the brat raised a hand to cup him through his clothes. "Can't you think of something else to do to me?"

Marco growled and kissed him. If Ace was trying to distract him, that meant he wasn't about to answer more questions and Marco didn't have enough information to corner him into doing so. He might as well take the brat up in his offer and think later about what he had gleaned now.

Marco lay on bed that night, thinking of the afternoon. Aside from his words, he had obtained a new, unexpected piece of information when, after sex, Ace hadn't fled like all the other times. Instead, they had searched together for Ace's belt —that had somehow ended up perched on the frame of a nearby door— and then, seeing the very obvious stain the boy had left on the wall, they had chuckled and went to get something to clean it. It had been very normal, no trace of the obvious awkwardness Ace had shown all the other times and Marco had to wonder why that had been.

That afternoon got rid of any of the remaining —and very improbable to begin with— doubts that it might have been the sex itself that embarrassed Ace, but that had Marco wondering what, exactly, had been the difference between today and all the previous times.

"Because we're done."

That had been Ace's answer, and now it made even less sense than it had made back in the hallway. They had been done after Marco came inside of Ace, too, but the younger pirate had stuck around and they had even gone together to the mess hall for dinner and another normal night, like all others on the Moby Dick.

The only difference in the sex itself that Marco could think of, really, had been that they had done it in a hallway instead of on his bed.

But about how that would change Ace's behavior so much…

Wait, don't tell me… Of all the stupid things…

That time Marco didn't let himself enjoy the afterglow and give Ace an opportunity to slip away once more. Instead, the blond moved while the freckled man still tried to gain some control of his breathing and wrapped an arm over Ace's shoulders, bringing him closer.

Ace tensed and Marco had to hold back a frustrated groan. Because, seriously, of all the stupid things…

"What are you doing?" Ace asked, as tense as he felt beneath Marco's arm, and there was no trace of the teasing and playfulness of earlier.

"Hugging you."

It took Ace a while to answer and while he was silent he squirmed, still tense. In other circumstances, Marco would have already brought him closer, so the freckled man was resting his head on the blond's chest, and perhaps wrapped his other arm around him as well, but now he was waiting.

"Why?" The strangely small voice Ace used to utter that question was too out of place for him, and it somewhat reminded Marco of when the boy had asked him why they called the captain 'Pops'. Marco began to softly rub Ace's skin with the hand he was holding him with.

"Because I want to."

"But why?" insisted Ace. "It's got nothing to do with sex!" he exclaimed, and Marco had to wonder how much of his tension was really discomfort.

"Is that really a reason not to?" When he received no answer, he asked again. "Have you ever embraced someone you had sex with?"

It took a while but Ace answered this time.

"You don't do that with one night stands."

Marco moved closer to Ace, and used his free hand to lift his chin, because the boy had been talking mostly to the pillow so far.

"I'm not a one night stand."

"No, I guess not," Ace conceded. "I still don't see how that means doing this. Cuddling is for little girls," the freckled man muttered and Marco chuckled at the sheer childishness of the gesture. So that was the problem. He sobered immediately, however, when he realized the implications of that statement.

"Ace, have you ever been hugged?"

"Of course," Ace growled. "Luffy used to jump me all the time. Sabo sometimes passed his arm over my shoulders, and Gramps tried, too, but those were more like crushing attacks than anything else."

Marco knew those names, and he wasn't sure he liked what that meant. Sabo had died when Ace was ten —he had heard that story the day of the anniversary of said death, when the crew got worried because there had been no murder attempts and Marco had decided to track the kid down to make sure he was fine— Garp was a violent nutter and Marco somehow doubted the man even knew how to give a caring, not bone crushing, hug; and Ace had met Luffy, his beloved younger brother everybody had already heard a lot about, when he was ten. That meant Ace had grown without much non-violent personal contact aside from his other brother until he was ten, less of all a loving parent who could provide it, and that could explain his reaction to it.

This time Marco wrapped both arms around Ace and brought him closer, noticed how he tensed at the gesture.

"Hugs aren't for little girls. It's not required, you're right, but many couples do it. If you don't want to I won't, though."

Ace was silent for so long Marco began to fear some explosion, probably in the form of an attack. He hadn't expected the small voice that came from the boy.

"…Couples? Us?"

Marco pulled away just enough to look him in the face, arms still around Ace.

"Yeah. I'd like that better than friends with benefits, but-" Ace's mouth against his cut him off and he was soon pushed on his back onto the bed.

"Me too," Ace breathed out, hovering over him, and Marco had the feeling the younger man —even if he would never admit to it— hadn't asked for fear Marco would refuse. Ace had a strangely low esteem that clashed with his cockiness and overconfidence in the battlefield. "But if we're a couple now I'm going to fuck you."

Marco smirked up at him.

"Thought you'd never ask."

The end