Hello everyone, here is the next chapter
This is a bit of a short one, but hope it is enjoyable
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
Marco walked out on deck, going to overlook those on duty, and as he was walking over deck, Izou moved over to him. "Hey Marco, could you check on Ace?" Marco blinked at Izou. "Why me, yoi?" Izou sighed. "I just, I saw him barely, but I am sure he had blood on his sleeve. I am just worried, if he…" Marco nodded. He got it, if Ace had cut himself, or otherwise harmed himself. "I will check, yoi." Izou gave a thankful look to that, and Marco headed to find Ace, ultimately finding him at the back of the ship. It was still early, so not many were out. When he found Ace, he checked him over, seeing he looked like himself. "Ace, yoi." Said Marco when he was close, making the other turn to him. "Marco, do you want anything?" Marco nodded, seeing Ace's sleeves, and his left one, did have some blood on it. That was worrisome. "Yes, let's head to my room, yoi. It's personal." Ace nodded and headed after him.
When they got to his room and Marco had closed the door, Ace looked at him. "What is it, Marco?" Marco took a breath. "Are you hurting yourself again?" He would be blunt about this, not beating around the bush. Ace blinked, before he frowned. "No, why do you think that?" Marco made a motion to his sleeve. "You have blood on your sleeve, yoi." Ace blinked, looking at his sleeve, before he sighed. "It probably happened when I was shaving. I nicked myself and used my sleeve to dry it off." Marco nodded. He could probably buy that, but he would still need to see. "Can I check?" Ace nodded. "Sure." Ace then dragged his sleeves up, before he showed his arms, rolling them to show them entirely. There were no new wounds on his arms, which made his story truthful. "I'm sorry for assuming, but I needed to check." Ace shook his head. "I get it, I would have checked too. It only means you care." Marco nodded. "I'm glad you think of it like that. Many might have felt put on the spot, as if we didn't trust you, yoi." Ace smiled. "I know you care, and this shows it. I am done with harming myself, I haven't for some time." Marco nodded. "If I may ask, how long ago?" Ace sighed. "About 5 years. I had a small relapse back then. It wasn't as bad, but still." Marco nodded. "I am glad you're done with it and fine now. You should change your sweater." Ace nodded. "I should. I'll see you later, Marco." Marco then went and found Izou, telling Ace was fine and he had just nicked himself while shaving, the reason he had blood on his sleeve. Izou accepted the reason, especially when Marco said he had checked his arms, finding no new wounds on them. Izou did mention he had mentioned it to Pops, as he had asked why Izou looked so worried before, and he had told he was worried for Ace, giving the reason why. It was fine, and Marco would be sure to speak with Pops when he had the chance.
-x-
Ace walked out on deck, not feeling tired enough to sleep. As he was walking around, he met Marco once, who was out on watch, and they had a small chat, before he headed on. He then headed to Pops' chair, Marco having mentioned he was out. When he got over, the man gave a smile to him. "Hello, son. How are you?" Ace hummed. "I'm fine, just couldn't sleep." Pops nodded. "I see. Izou was quite worried for you before." Ace sighed. "Yeah, I get it. I don't know why I wanted to shave, I don't need to do it as I can just burn it away. But, I wanted to try. I shouldn't have wiped the blood with my sleeve." Whitebeard nodded. "Don't feel bad. It happened, one doesn't usually think and they just do it automatically." Ace nodded. He hadn't thought about it, the reason he didn't think to check if the blood was visible. "Yeah. But, it went fine. It means a lot that they checked, it means they care." Whitebeard nodded. "It does, and we do. You are important to us, as all my children are to me." Ace nodded. He liked to hear it. He hadn't had many close to him, and here he was, with many close ones, people that cared for and about him. He felt loved and cared for.
And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed
Ace deserved a small break from telling everyone about his past and this was a small interlude to that, and hope it was enjoyable
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