VERY IMPORTANT NOTE
... ACE IS BLIND. Our favourite Firestarter, without fire since this is Modern AU, doesn't see a single thing besides black! He wasn't born blind, but well, still thinking of how he lost his sight.

We're starting in Ace's POV and then it will keep switching haha

Humming he walked the last few meters to his house, tapping his white-cane in rhythm to the little song he had stuck in his head. He knew this street part by heart by now, he didn't really need his cane, so why not have fun.

In the building he used the stairs instead of the elevator, they still kind of scared him after he got his cane stuck in the little space between ground and elevator once. Stairs were better. And this was a normal staircase, no funny twirling ones, so he knew what to expect.

At the exact 52nd step he took a right to start walking down the hallway, 16 steps after that he stopped and turned right again. Reaching into his pocket he got out a key and moved a hand forward, slightly missing the keyhole, but finding it moments later. With a smile he entered, closing the door behind him and locking it, it made him feel safer.

He hung his jacket and bag on the coatrack and hung his cane on a little hook next to it. Marco had put it up for him so he didn't need to balance his cane against the wall and it would always be in the exact same spot and in no danger of toppling over. ' It deserves its own spot too ', his boyfriend had said as he was drilling a hole in his wall. Small things like this really made him love the man.

Walking in he moved fingers over a wall until they brushed over the switched and clicked on it, turning on the lights in the apartment... hopefully. He didn't know if they were actually on, he didn't need them, but it wasn't only a habit from before, but also because there had been so many times where Marco had stubbed his toe and Ace finding out later that it was because it had been pitch-black in the room, no lights on, so the man couldn't see.
When he told the other that he could have just let him know it was dark, Marco shyly told him he didn't want to seem rude or anything by turning them on if he had had them off.

So now he just put them on himself, it didn't bother him if they were on or not, and this way Marco wouldn't get scared to death either if he came in and clicked on the lights, only for Ace to be standing right in front of him. 'Cause that's never happened before either... Marco definitely never screamed like a little girl when this event never happened...

Laughing at the memories he walked towards the kitchen, thinking of what to prep for food, Marco would be home in a couple of h- "AH!"

Before even realising what was going on, he harshly hit the ground and was barely able to blindly extend his arms to try and catch himself.

"W-what?"

Looking behind him he tried to find a cause for why he fell, which was an utterly useless thing for him to do. He had felt his foot catch behind something heavy, but there shouldn't be anything there. The closest things should have been de furniture of the living room. Two more steps further and 4 to the left and there would be a couch, one step in front of the couch was their coffee table. But he was sure he didn't walk that far off course to have hit any of them.

When he tried to turn around and feel what he tripped over, he cried out in pain, tears springing to his eyes. Pain was blossoming in his ankle and spreading around the whole area.

He carefully reached down and touched the sore spot, a sob leaving him when he did, it hurt. It hurt so bad. Moving his hand he traced around it, he couldn't feel any wetness, that was good right? No blood then? But he couldn't see if it was discoloured or if anything looked off. It did feel as if it was getting hotter, thicker.

He tried to get up, but it just hurt too much, and what would he do? There wasn't supposed to be a anything right there, he was very sure of it! Had... Had Marco moved things? No... He would never do that. The blond had had trouble in the beginning to remember to place things back as they were, especially chairs, but for the last months nothing had been misplaced anymore, it had become a natural part of the routine to put it all back in place so Ace could get around inside without his cane.

Though, Ace was always careful in the areas where there was stuff that moved a lot, like chairs, knowing it was impossible to have them at the exact same spot, so he knew to tread carefully to not trip. But something as heavy as he tripped over just now, didn't seem like anything that would be moved a lot. This... this could mean that other things had moved too... even if he would be able to get up, he wouldn't dare to move around in fear of tripping again.

Sniffing again he looked around again and instantly cursed at himself for doing so, as if ' looking' would help anything!

Phone! He patted over his pockets, but it wasn't there anymore. Damnit! Moving his hands around, skimming them over the floor around him, he tried to find it, he had to call Marco, it was the only thing he could think of to do. Where is it! He crawled forward a bit as he searched, if it had flown anywhere, it would be more towards the front, but the moment his leg moved he cried out in pain and more tears left him. Through snot and tears he moved on, luckily he was able to hit his phone with his hand and succesfully got a hold of it.

With a tiny bit of trouble, he got it to activate and called Marco.

Marco had been in the middle of reading over some paperwork as he walked to the meeting room in his office-building, preparing for his part of the meeting, when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out he saw that the call was from Ace and frowned at it. His boyfriend usually never calls when he's at work and just texts if he wants to ask or say something.

Seeing it was probably urgent he picked up as he kept walking.

"Hello Ace-yoi, is ev-"

"M-Marco"

"Ace!? What's wrong? Are you crying?" He stopped in his tracks, not caring that he was now blocking the hallway.

"I-I fell and-and hurt m-"

"Is anyone nearby to help you? Can you get up?"

"Noo, I'm alo-ne, I-I can't get up, it h-hurts."

Marco didn't waste any time in turning around and running back to his office, pushing his papers for the meeting in Jozu's hand when he passed the man and yelled out a quick excuse that he had to leave and couldn't join the meeting, never stopping his run as he did.

"Where are you right now Ace, do you know-yoi?"

"H-home."

Getting to his office he grabbed his car keys and was running out of the building to his car in the next second.

"I'm coming Ace, stay still alright, I'll be there as quick as I can!"

Hearing rushed footsteps in the hallway, Ace looked behind him and heard the door unlock not long later.

"Ace!"

He heard the absolute worry in the voice that called his name and his face was grabbed seconds later, hands on his cheeks in an instant.

"Marco!" Ace sobbed out and held onto the other. "I- I don't know what happened." He sniffed in between the words, "I tripped o-over something. My ankle hurts, I couldn't get u-up. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for calling you when you were working."

"Ace. Gods, please, it's okay-yoi. Thank you for calling me, okay, I want you to always call me when you need me, no matter what I'm doing. Now, let me check you out. I'm going to pick you up, put you in the couch, okay?"

"O-okay."

Carefully Marco turned Ace onto his back, apologizing when he heard the other hiss, and slipped his hands under knees and shoulders, lifting the other up and placing him on the couch.

Ace's eyes were clenched shut in pain, tear tracks over his whole face, it pained Marco so hard to see. How long had he been laying there, and had he crawled? He had seen the table, a table that shouldn't even have been there, that Ace most likely tripped over. But his boyfriend had been laying further away... No matter, getting Ace the right care was most important right now.

With the utmost care he lifted the pants-leg, only to gasp at the sight.

"W-what is it? Is it bad?"

"Oh Ace, love." Marco looked over at the grey eyes staring towards him in slight fear, he was far off though in where he was looking, fully missing Marco's being. Ace was usually very good at guessing the place where someone was at, but the pain must be throwing him off, he can't even see the state of his own ankle. "We're going to need to go to the hospital."

"Huh?"

"It's definitely broken. It's turning a very dark shade of blue and... there's a big bulge forming."

"I-I'll be able to walk again, right?" He already had had a hard time with having needed to learn to live anew after becoming blind, if he now lost his ability to get around by himself too, he wouldn't know what to do with himself!

Letting go of the fabric, Marco lifted his hands and cradled Ace's face, wiping a thumb over tearstained freckles and kissing his lips gently, "Of course you will, love. You will definitely have a cast for a while, but I'll be here to help you."

After a tearful nod, Marco left the other for a moment to grab an Ice-pack and place it around the injury. "I know it hurts, I'm sorry, but it should help with the swelling." He then gathered the other in his arms again and took him to his car, strapping him in and driving cautiously to the nearest hospital where Ace would indeed be diagnosed with a broken ankle.

Since it had been towards the late afternoon already, the hospital had decided to keep Ace there for the night after his surgery, just to make sure everything went well and that there was no head trauma from the fall. They had allowed Marco into the room briefly after the surgery was done, since it was after visiting hours, he was ushered out pretty quickly, but not without promising to come again as soon as he was allowed.

While he had been waiting for Ace to get out of surgery, Marco had wasted no time in going outside and taking his phone, dialling the one who he knew was responsible for the furniture piece that had magically moved places. He had seen that many other pieces had moved around too, it was a miracle Ace even made it that far into the house and was lucky he hadn't fallen a bit more to the right or he would have fallen headfirst into their coffee table THAT ALSO WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE.

In the meeting room at Newgate's Estate

Feeling his phone vibrate, Izou quickly checked with a glance to see who it was so he could judge if he should pick up or call back after the meeting.

"Ah, Marco's calling" he announced and picked up the phone, putting it on speaker-mode after their old man, the owner of their whole establishment, Edward Newgate, gave a hand motion to take it, it could be relevant to the meeting. "Hello dear bro-"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE THINGS-YOI!"

"Hello to you too, no need to yell like that."

"Well apparently, I do need to yell because you seem to be hard of hearing!"

"Is this about your apartment? I made your place a lot better, the way you had it set up was using so much unnecessary space."

"You don't decide how I have my furniture and how not, I don't care if you like it or not. Do. Not. Touch. It."

"Marco-dear, I just moved a few things, I didn't even move it far. Plus, I didn't even throw anything out this time! The way it's now will make it a lot more comf-"

"Can't you get it through that thick skull of yours, Izou-yoi! I don't want you to move anything! I don't want you to move even a single dust speck in my house!"

"Now that's overreacting."

"Overreacting? Overreacting-yoi? You don't like it when we, accidently, move even a single flower in your house by brushing against it and now you're saying I overreact because you moved whole furniture pieces? In a house that's not even yours? And when I specifically asked you, told you , to not move anything? You promised, you promised not to do it, YET still did it! But no, I am the one overreacting-yoi. Fine. If you can't accept that you did anything wrong, can't keep to your own promise, I'll be expecting my housekey back that you have. If it's not on my desk the next time I come in, I'll come get it myself. You're not longer welcome to come and go as you please."

"Marco, that's-"

"No. As long as you can't listen to something as simple as 'don't move my furnitur e', you're not welcome here."

"Marco, Nothing I did requires a reaction like this. You're being absurd."

"YOU MADE ACE BREAK HIS FREAKING ANKLE! Because YOU thought it would be 'prettier' to have a table right in the usual walkway!"

"Huuuh? Who is Ace and why are you blaming me for something like that? How did he even do that, walk straight into it? We've got eyes for a reason, you know. Is he young? Probably more on his phone then paying attention to his surroundings."

"You-! … Enough-yoi. I'm done. I'll get my keys from you, and if you don't give them back, I'll just change all my locks."

"Mar-"

Beep beep beep

The whole room was silent as the ending tone echoed out of the device. Izou staring uselessly at it, not knowing how to react. This reaction from Marco... it was the last thing you would expect from the blond. Yes, he knew the other would probably be annoyed and grumble about his stuff having moved, after which he then would just use his stuff as Izou placed it. But to react like... like this? It was practically unheard of.

It seemed his shock was also shared by the rest of the table as some swallowed and looked away when Izou turned to them. Only Thatch spoke up.

"What... What did you do Iz? I've never heard Marco this mad before."

"I- I don't know... I just... I moved some of his furniture, that's all..."

Pops sighed, he had an idea as to why the other was so mad and what had happened for Ace to break his ankle. Marco had told him about the kid, but asked him to keep it a secret for now, so that's what he'll do.

"Izou-son, even if you think Marco is overreacting, you know you shouldn't touch other people's stuff like this, be it your brother's or not. Especially if Marco specifically asked not too."

"Yes... but even then... Why was he so... so mad, he's never reacted like this."

"... He must have his reasons, son. I would suggest you simply try to apologize, speak to him about it all."

"I-… Yes... I'll do that when he comes back into work tomorrow."

Newgate nodded and announced they'll hold a brief break and start up the meeting again in 10 minutes, it would be no use to continue if no one's attention was on the meeting.

To be able to take care of Ace better, even if the teen said it wasn't needed, Marco had taken the week off from work to stay home with him. Pops had already agreed the moment he asked for leave, without even haven given a reason yet, saying it was about time he took some of his days off! When he did get to telling his reason, his old man had asked for proof by the end of the week that Ace was better, which they both knew just as well wouldn't be the case, but, if he wasn't, he would add another week of leave to Marco's schedule.

So now, the second day after the accident, they were both seated on the couch. Marco sitting at one side of the couch, while Ace was laying down, head in the blond's lap as big hands weaved through dark locks. Ace's feet rested on the armrest of the couch, keeping the casted limb elevated.

They were watching a recording of a comedy show, or well, Ace was listening and laughing with the jokes, while Marco was watching... Ace... the blond was enjoying the show that was called ' Ace's cute facial expressions and counting freckles ' and at the side was also listening to the jokes in the background.

Their relaxing moment got interrupted when the doorbell rang, Ace's eyes instantly turning to the door-area, squinting at it as if to see better. "Do we have visitors coming over?"

"No...?" Marco tilted his head, his hand going slower through Ace's hair as he tried to think if someone was supposed to come. When the bell rand a second time he helped Ace sit up and placed his foot on their coffee table, with a cushion underneath before going to the door.

"Yes-yoi?" he called as he opened the door, only to try and close it the second he saw who it was, a very pretty shoe however stopped the door from fully closing.

"Oi oi, don't be like that."

"Go away, Izou."

"No. Let me in. I want to talk."

"I don't. So, if you'll excuse m-" Before he could do anything, Izou pushed open the door and rushed past him.

"Geez Marco, you're so rude! I've been trying to catch you at work, only to find out you're suddenly on leave and maybe are for a while, so I especially come here to talk to make things better and then you still ac- oh... hello..." Izou trailed off from his rant as he saw someone sitting on the couch, "... I didn't know you had a visitor..."

By now Marco had closed the door and walked back into the house, he went back to the couch and sat next to Ace, shoulders touching, the other always liked the contact, it made Ace sure that he was nearby.
"He's not a visitor..." sighing he pointed between the two "Ace, the one who barged in so rudely is my brother Izou. Izou, 'this visitor', is my boyfriend Ace, and he lives with me."

Ace put a smile on his face and waved "Hi! So, yea, Like Marco said, I am Ace, nice to meet you." He stuck out a hand in the general direction of the new voice and was happy to feel the other reaching the resting distance to shake it.

"Yea... Nice to meet you too... YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND?! AND HE LIVES WITH YOU?!"

"Yes-yoi, don't yell, we're not deaf. We've already been together for a while and he's been living with me for the past half year or so."

While it all processed in Izou's head that the brother they had all thought would grow old single and surrounded by cats suddenly had a boyfriend who he lived with, a pretty handsome boyfriend at first glance, Ace turned to Marco, head cocked a bit to the side.

"Neh Marco, Izou, that was the pretty one, right? Long, dark brown hair, always in a unique hairstyle with pins and flowers, wearing kimonos in vibrant colours that he made himself." Humming he thought of what else the blond had told him, "About a head taller than you. And ehhhmmm, in charge of ehm Visuals? And... marketing?"

Smiling Marco kissed Ace's cheek, even if it didn't matter to Ace what others looked like, he couldn't see them, it was so extraordinary to see him try and remember what he had told him. "You got it." putting an arm around the other's waist, he pulled him close, "Today his hair is in a bun and he's wearing a long light pink kimono with darker pink ed-"

"Tyrian purple."

"Excuse me-yoi. Tyrian purple edges." Marco rephrased his last words with an eyeroll, making Ace giggle at the tone, "and matching lipstick to the whole thing."

Nodding at the explanation, Ace turned a bit and smiled, "You look very good!"

"... Thank you..." the geisha look-alike said slowly, "Why... why did you explain my whole look, Marco?"

"For me!" the freckled one smiled.

"Yea... But... Why?"

"Huh, Marco, did you not tell?"

"No-yoi, we were keeping this relationship a secret for now, remember?"

"Aaah right! Haha true. So ehm, well, Marco has to explain what things look because" he waved a hand in front of his eyes, not a single reaction such a blinking getting triggered "I'm blind."

"W-what?"

"Yeap!" Ace popped his lips at the end, "can't see anything! But I remember colours, a bit. So, if Marco explains these things, I can form a bit of a picture of what you look like, which is fun." He squeezed Marco's hands as he thanked the man and puckered his lips, receiving a kiss moments later. "Not a problem-yoi."

"I- you- that means? Huh?" It wasn't that he was in shock that someone was blind, but... he just... didn't expect the person that finally swayed Marco's heart would be blind... not that it mattered! But... still... And "But... You looked me in the eye? Before?"

"He didn't actually look into your eyes-yoi. By hearing you speak and move, he knew your general location and guessed around where your face would be and looked in that area."

"Haha yea" Ace scratched his chin, "I try to get as close as possible and if I can succeed in making eye contact, it's great. But well... I never really know if I'm correct."

Marco snorted, "remember when some guy thought you were staring at his girlfriend's boobs?"

"Ah! Don't bring that up Marco!" he covered his face with his hands, cheeks growing pink, "that was so embarrassing!"

Laughing he kissed the other's head, "I'm sorry, love, haha"

Still pouting he hugged the other, mumbling a ' I forgive you' as he squeezed him, simultaneously turning a bit and jostling his leg on the table.

The movement grabbed Izou's attention and he gasped "Your leg! You- Marco, you said Ace broke his ankle because of me! This is- he really broke it because of me!?"

"What? Marco, why would you tell Izou it's his fault? I tripped. It's my own fault."

"Izou mov-"

"It was my fault, oh god." He held a hand in front of his mouth as he looked around the house and back to Ace. Everything was back in their spots, in exactly the same place it had originally been in. But, with Ace being blind, it all made sense. He didn't see a cane or anything close to the duo on the coach to help him navigate, he probably didn't need it inside the house since he knew where everything was. If... everything stayed in the same spot. And he... he had moved things. "I'm so sorry!" Shooting forward he grabbed Ace's hand, making the boy flinch at the sudden contact. Izou cursed and quickly let go of the hand, apologizing even more.

Smiling Ace reached out and searched a bit, finding Izou's still lifted hands and grabbed them himself "Don't worry about it, it's okay."

"No, you don't get it, I... I came to get something from Marco, he gave me permission to enter if I didn't move anything around... But I did... I moved his furniture around because … because I just didn't like this set up... it's not modern... God, Ace. It's really my fault, I didn't know. You tripped because I put …" he stopped as he remembered Marco's words from their call, "Because I put a table right in the usual walkway..."

"You get it now-yoi?"

"I dooooo, I doooooo! I'm so sorry Ace! If I had known, I would never have done it!" He can't believe he made Ace trip, trip in his own home because he couldn't listen to Marco's warning. He fully understood why the other was so mad at him now. "If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, just let me know!"

"Hey-hey" Ace's eyes were darting around, trying to make sense of the situation, "It's really alright," he squeezed the other's hands, "you just wanted to help Marco, right? You didn't mean for anything bad to happen."

Izou nodded at it but quickly voiced out positive when no instant reaction came from Ace, and he remembered, yes, the boy was blind, he wouldn't see him nod.

"See, then it's okay. I'm not mad. Just, let me know if you move anything, then I know to take my cane inside so I don't run into anything."

Izou looked up from the ground to see Ace smiling at him, no anger or accusations in his eyes. He nodded frantically "I won't move anything anymore, but- but if I do, I will tell you, I will tell you exactly what I did!"

"Thank you, Izou."

Marco had watched the conversation in mostly silence, he saw that Izou really regretted his actions, but he still didn't completely forgive the man. Even if Ace hadn't been blind, his brother should still learn boundaries to not touch other's stuff, but he was glad Izou was taking it so well and honestly apologizing. Not just to him, but to Ace.
And besides that, Ace wasn't even mad, even though he's the one with a broken ankle. He was really an ange-

"Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Huh? Okay, that was maybe too nice of Ace.

Izou glanced between the two before him. Even if Ace had forgiven him, that didn't mean his brother had, and it was obvious that the blond would rather he leave them alone now.

"Thank you, Ace, but it's okay. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't! I offered myself, didn't I?"

"oh..." and wasn't the directed on him on that freckled face just adorable, "I..."

"It's okay, right, Marco? We have enough in the house for a third person."

The same smile was turned to the blond on the couch, and just like Izou, who surely couldn't resist, Marco also couldn't, so he simply sighed "Sure-yoi, we should have enough."

"... Marco, I-"

"Stay?" The blind one pouted, how did the soft grey wash over his eyes make him even cuter?

"... Okay..."

Ace cheered and squeezed the hands one more time before letting go and hugging his boyfriend, "It's so nice to have someone new over! We're having pasta, are you okay with pasta? I made the sauce myself!"

"ah ehm, yea, pasta is fine... You can cook?"

A warning tone came from the couch "Izou..."

"No, no, no, I don't mean it like that. Of course you can still cook when blind, I ehm... you just look young, ehm..."

"haha, you two are just the same! Marco was also afraid to ask and say things hahaha, don't worry, just go for it! If you ever say something insulting, I'll tell you. And I've lived on my own for a long time before meeting Marco, so I've taught myself to cook lots of different things. Some things are a bit difficult and decorations and looks I skip haha, but I promise that the taste is good."

Izou nodded and gave a smile, "I'll be looking forward to it then."

"Good!" Ace gave his own smile back, even if he didn't know he had gotten one from the other, and patted the space next to him for the other to sit down. "It's still a bit early to eat, so come sit down and watch this show with us, it's pretty fun!"

With an unsure glace between the Tv and Ace, - because... how did he even watch a show?- , Izou sat down, instantly receiving an explanation of what jokes had already passed. And by the time it was time for dinner, Izou would have already forgotten Ace was blind by the way he reacted to everything and seemed to actually be looking at the Tv.

Even during dinner Ace chattered about different things and ate as any other seeing person would, it somehow amazed him... It shouldn't though, this is a very normal activity for Ace but... He kept wanting to help the other with getting his glass, or pointing out where more food was if he seemed to search for a moment, having Marco lightly kick him under the table so he didn't interfere... yes, this was a normal day for Ace, he didn't... probably didn't need help, and if he did, Marco would know when he needed it.

Ace had seemed like a nice guy, a very cheery person and he was happy for his brother to have found someone he liked. He could see the love in Marco's eyes when he looked at the other, even Ace's grey shadowed eyes reflected the same amounts of love when he spoke to the blond.

When he left after having helped with washing dishes, he said his goodbye to Ace and wished him well, telling him he could have Marco call him whenever he needed anything, the same also going for Marco. And he promised Marco to keep Ace's existence a secret for now, until they were ready to reveal their relationship themselves, repeating his words when his brother gave him a sceptic look at the promise... Probably know he's a tattle... But he actually meant it, he had hurt Ace enough already, literally...

With a sigh Marco had stepped out with Izou and closed the door a bit, pulling Izou in for a small hug, chuckling softly at the surprised look in the other's eyes when he let go. "I'm sorry for yelling before-yoi."

"What? No, you were right, I shouldn't have done what I did, I-"

"Yes, but yelling also doesn't help," Marco sighed again and brushed a hand through his hair, "I was a bit overwhelmed by everything, I'm sorry."

"... No problem... I'm sorry too."

"Also, thank you." he continued and gave a small smile at Izou's confused look, "for tonight. For staying and treating Ace like a normal person and trying to accommodate him. You know, speaking out loud when you noticed he couldn't see you nod and things." Scratching his neck he laughed nervously, "It took me a while to get used to it, you know how I'm usually silent a lot. So, thank you, Izou. It means a lot to me, to Ace."

Smiling back Izou nodded, "That's nothing you need to thank me for, and please keep kicking me under the table if I forget. Ace seems like a nice guy, I'm really happy for you."

After another round of thanks, they wished each other a good night and split up, Izou going back home and Marco going back inside, locking the door and joining Ace on the couch to finish the rest of the show before going to bed. He may still be the tiniest bit annoyed at his brother, but he was actually glad he had come. If all his brothers reacted like this to his relationship, to Ace, everything would be just fine.

Soooooo... I actually also have a whole idea on how Marco and Ace got together already, just not written out. Should I have written that first and published it before this one? … Maybe... But I already had this done and was so excited to post it that I couldn't wait... So here you go haha, there's more to come at some point.

For now, I only have modern AU planned for Blind Ace. But I do want to write some of him as a blind pirate too. Just gotte get ideas haha.

Also! I gotte think of a name for this story, inside the compilation, if I'm going to add other realities to it such as Ace being blind as a Pirate... Well... We'll all find out together at some point what I'll name it haha