Author's Notes: :/ Alright, so I thought... *sighs* I thought for sure last chapter was going to be a flop. Had to be. Ain't nobody tryin' to read about a bunch of boys stealing a girl's clothes. Nah, my readers would never! And here we are with three new supporters, frame one. XD What? 0_o Like actually, what? Anyways, I don't have very many clips left to offer that aren't main story related, so we'll be coming to an official close soon. I need one more review to make this story into a new project, and I pretty much explained how I want this story to go and where my focus will be, so it's quite literally up to you all if you want to see that. Otherwise, you have an endless supply of snippets and clips to enjoy including the short story.
This particular clip is a gift to BlueLuna4 and bananas_55. XD Thank you for supporting my story. I appreciate the love. 3 Stay awesome! ;-D
To Books-n-Harleys: Thank you for bringing me two-thirds of the way to my destination. I'm eternally humbled by your reviews. I, honestly, didn't expect anyone to really read this since I'm so behind on One Piece and there's countless fictions that do a better service to the fans than I can, but my hope is that I can ultimately write about the privateers in the context of One Piece and still keep canon characters authentic. For you to have felt so strongly about Luffy's dilemma between wanting to tell Nesi the truth and being told not to by the dead guy himself, I'd say my work is one-third of the way complete. I hope you stick around to see my story project, but it'll ultimately fall on that third review.
I believe that's all, so I will let you enjoy this new chapter and disappear into the shadows. Oh! The original Spades will appear in this. I forgot about that. I f'ed up on my research and didn't realize the Spades crew members actually had names, so the name of the Spades ship will change from the Bloody Doubloon to I believe it's called the Spadille and the members will make appearances if I feel they'll do. All named Spades in this particular batch of snippets are Spades that stayed with Nesi after the rest became Whitebeards, so Corale, Deuce (whose name has to be changed since he's not the Masked Deuce), Triska, Cuatro, and Discount all live with Nesi on Seven Silver Mills Harbor as part of her privateering crew while the unnamed, canon members remain with Ace as Whitebeards. For this clip, I'll test out how I feel about including the original Spades. I don't know how they would respond to the world of the privateer, so I have to "test the waters" on this one. However, this is a short clip. 'Til next we meet! XD
~ ... Birthday Cake ... ~
"Uugghh... I should've just bought a cake," Nesi said, dropping the final layer of Ace's birthday cake on the kitchen counter.
"You should've just bought ale like a normal floor scrubber, skinny brat," Banshee inelegantly harrumphed.
Nesi and Banshee were in the kitchen, prepping things for Ace's birthday bash. The crew wanted to celebrate the captain's birthday, so they chipped in to buy the basic necessities. Ale... ale... and, you know... basic foods. Nesi, being the nurturing nee-san, said "absolutely not" and took it upon herself to throw Ace a proper party. Though she lost a lot of her fire when her parents died, she remembered what made a good party and just a couple of glasses of ale wasn't going to cut it. Cuatro and Deuce went with her through town to pick a few attractive women as showgirls, Nesi went on her own to pick a "dancing partner" for Banshee, and the three regrouped to design invitations for the occasion. Nesi went on quite the hunt for musicians, proper foods, and new cocktails to try. Banshee started to wonder why Nesi was putting in so much work. Her woman's intuition was sending off a signal, but a voice of reason was also keeping those thoughts at bay. After the last big argument between Nesi and Ace, Banshee had already started to suspect that they might be in the beginning phases of seeing each other... differently. The captain typically let Nesi wander off until she found her way back to the crew seeking forgiveness and another chance, but, lately, he had been getting worried about something. The floor scrubber was a bit more confident in her studies and she questioned the validity of the decisions the "brain trust" concluded with. Her studies were making her more dangerous, and she was visibly getting better in combat. It was taking Nesi longer to find the crew, and she was apologizing to the captain less. Maybe that was part of the worry, but that's what made Banshee's intuition kick in.
"What am I doin' anyway? Just stackin' the crap?" Banshee asked, one layer away from slapping the cakes together.
"Auntie!" Nesi reprimanded with a squeak.
She snatched the vanilla layer out of Banshee's hands and placed it back on its plate. Smirking, Nesi handed Banshee a piping bag and showed her how to prep the cakes with icing the way she wanted it done. Though the mermaid auntie wasn't the pâtissier her mother was, Nesi was happy and blushing that Banshee was helping her at all. Triska was helping, too. Out of curiosity mostly since Nesi was making a chocolate and ale-flavored cake layer, but he was also interested in learning how to cook more dishes the way Nesi did. Working at a restaurant had its perks. He was brushing flavors on the cake layers, careful not to drench them per Nesi's instructions, and placing them near Nesi so she could properly craft her art.
"So, what about the rest of the food? Are we just eatin' cake?" Triska asked.
"Nah, this has to cool in the glass cabinet. That's what it's for. While it's doing that, we start workin' on the overnight preps," Nesi explained, letting out a sigh at her finished works. She smiled before saying, "Tomorrow's gonna suck."
Triska and Banshee chuckled before slamming their hands on her shoulders.
... ... ... ... ...
"Happy birthday, captain!" the crew and guests cheered.
Ace was beaming from his spirit to the little hairs on his skin as he downed a mug of ale. His beloved crew did an amazing job throwing together this bash n' brawl. As he was running around and being overstimulated by one new thing after another, he noticed that he hadn't seen Nesi almost all day. The kitchen was constantly putting out fresh food and beverages, though. Girls were all dressed up and cuddling up to the boys, Banshee actually had a man interested in her stories, but... no, no Nesi or Baragon were around. Where'd they go? Fighting his last opponent in the ring, Ace walked around to go find his floor scrubber and her pink worm. They had to be in the kitchen.
No. He was wrong. No one was in the kitchen, actually. The desserts were freshly done and looking gorgeous. Ace, despite all the hype of his party, felt a little guilty. Nesi didn't have to do any of this, especially since they always found themselves in a bitter screaming match. But... he guessed it wasn't always bad between them. She found it in her heart to come back and try again, and he didn't mind having her around since she could do a lot of things. She was useful. He guessed the guilt was coming from a different place. He's never really given her anything in return other than space for her own room, and that was taken away after the alliance. He could admit to saying some choice words that were hurtful to her in their arguments. She didn't deserve a lot of it, but she needed to be tough. Well, maybe... he could try to be a little softer from time to time. Not finding her anywhere near the kitchen, he looked around the deck to spot a colorful headscarf and prancing worm. Nesi and Baragon weren't on the deck either. Just some girls and a few of his boys. Nesi wouldn't be doing laundry right now, would she?
No. She wasn't in the laundry room or the crewmate's cabin. Where was she? Checking his cabin, Ace found both Nesi and Baragon fast asleep and snoring at his desk. His birthday cake was phenomenal! He even had stacks of gifts packaged and organized neatly. Poor girl. She didn't have to do any of this! He didn't ask for it. It was just another day... Yet, she had papers laid out for everything she did. Accounting for the money spent, jobs she did while on land, a guest list for everyone who attended, items that needed to be restocked once the party was over, all of it. She even had a theft account ready to go! How'd he wind up with this kind of apprentice anyways? He set out to build up a crew, not have his authority challenged by this... beautiful bastard. Her mother was pregnant before her father married her. He could say that!
"Captain..." Nesi moaned, twitching from a dream. "That's too much. Your tummy will ache..."
"Takin' the cupcakes!" Corale declared in the background.
Nesi didn't wake up screaming to that, so she was knocked out cold. Ace said nothing, but he did smirk at her. He had every right to pull a prank on her while she was vulnerable, but he instead looked over at the gifts and rummaged through them until he spotted the one from her. Should've known she knew how to wrap presents beautifully. On the gift was a note, though, so he proceeded to read it. His smirk went to a frown immediately at the first line.
To my nosy captain who I know went straight for this gift first,
Yes, I'm talking about you. Yeah, I knew you were gonna find it. Don't act surprised, grump. There's a little noisemaker on this exact gift that'll alert me if you open this before it's time. See what happens if I so much as hear a shred of paper! G'head! Now, turn this card over for the actual note.
~ Nesi Llandala
"You..." Ace started, lifting the gift to throw it at his sleeping floor scrubber and her pink worm. Right as he was in the motion of cranking his arm back, he spotted a wire attached to an elaborate system where the dreaded alarms were just above his and Nesi's heads. His face turned blue before he lowered the box quietly. She was not kidding. Turning the card over as instructed despite not wanting to whatsoever, he read the rest of the note.
Yeah, you better put it down, ya grumpy ass bag.
Nah, I'm kidding.
I know we're not exactly the closest of friends, but I had fun planning this party for you. I haven't really done parties since my folks died. I go to 'em, but that's about all I do. Just show face. Don't worry about what it took to do this. I wanted to. I missed doing this kind of stuff. I might be too tired to dance or brawl, but it's not my time to celebrate. It's yours. Yes, we bicker all the time about nothing, but that won't stop me from caring about you, cap. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher or a better group of people to have adventures with. Sure, I study most nights, but I listen and I watch you. You love us just as much as we love you. Enjoy your birthday to the fullest. We might not be the family you left behind to become a pirate, but we are the family here to watch over you as you grow and become the man we can see you being. You're a brute, you eat sloppily, you drool, you stink, you can be a real pig, and you're anal about your bath time... but you're also well-mannered, strong, pure at heart, and you worry when someone's not on the ship. Oh, I guess I can't call this just some ship, can I? Let me rephrase: you worry when someone's not home. Despite the fact that you've thrown me out to fend for myself countless times, you don't leave far enough to where I can't catch up to you. You know about how far I can swim out or how long it'll take before I can catch up to you, and... you stay in place until I make it back. As gross as you make my chores out of spite, you always seem to find the time to talk to me when they're done.
While I detest it wholeheartedly, keep making my chores gross. Friends are honest with each other about stuff, so keep being honest with me. Tell me you don't like when I butt in, make my life harder, talk to me when you've cooled off. That's how our friendship works. I'll keep telling you you're crazy because I don't want to see you hurt, give you my reports to prove myself to you, and keep training to show that you're a better mentor than you're willing to believe. So, my beloved friend and grumpy captain, enjoy your birthday. You are as precious to me as my captain as I am as your floor scrubber. At least... I hope our friendship is worth something. This gift was expensive! I will keep the gift for my damn self if you don't!
~ From the friends who see the greatness in you and the floor scrubber who's waiting on a promotion,
Happy birthday, captain
(P.S. There's a blue button on the gift to the right. It'll unhook the wire to disarm the trap. If you even bothered to read this sappy crap, you can unhook it now. I'm so tired!)
Ace's eyes just about watered up at the note. Looking at Nesi, he finally took note of the pajamas she was wearing. Fluffy pants with Care Bears on them and a fuzzy sweater with a sleeping Care Bear on the stomach part. That wasn't fair at all... She can't just say a bunch of sweet stuff and not get hugged! She shouldn't have done all of this in the first place! The ale was fine! Banshee snuck into the cabin quietly, smirking as she took the cake and waited for Triska to roll the cart close enough so they could sneak off without a lot of noise. The mermaid auntie was waiting for Ace to follow them, but the captain didn't move for a while. He went to take a step, but he stopped and found the button on his gift. It had a coat of arms on it that looked like it was supposed to represent Ace in some way. He kind of wanted to keep it, even if it was actually meant to represent Nesi's family. He wasn't sure what Nesi's family crest looked like. He just knew that she had one because of her mother's status as a marine. Pressing the button to release the wire, Ace remained in place until his other crewmates left.
He took a big gulp of air, reeled back to let his chest expand, and shouted, "FLOOR SCRUBBER! WAKE THAT ASS UP!"
"EEEKKK!" Nesi yelped, flopping onto the floor. Baragon freaked out and ran into the wall before shaking his head and looking up at Ace. Nesi lifted up before drawling cutely, "Is the fair over yet, mummy?"
"The hell are you talking about?" Ace replied, alerting Nesi's attention.
She gasped before shouting in a panic, "Crap! The cake!"
"It's out on the deck. You gettin' a slice or not?" Ace informed, throwing a thumb over his shoulder.
"Oh, my slice is in the kitchen," Nesi answered, yawning. She sunk into a comfy position on the floor then whimpered, "Can't I just have twenty more minutes? *yawn* I'm almost ready to eat."
"I can't function like this! C'mon!" Ace complained, snatching Nesi off the floor and pushing her out of the cabin.
She clung to the door's sides like a spider, however, and resisted while saying, "Wait! I'm not even dressed right! I can't go out there in night clothes!"
Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it
Come on, ride the train, hey, ride it
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can
Way deep down south, where we play this game
It's them Quad City DJs and you, we call it the train
Without another word, Nesi let go of the door and busted a move... or two... out on the deck dressed in her finest Care Bear pajamas. Ace just chuckled before following her and joining in. Much to his happiness...
