Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

This will have this and that as things calm down from the last chapters. Also, a small language warning, but nothing bad

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Whitebeard felt glad when he saw Ace keeping his good mood when he got on the boat, just getting off the island where Vincent was. He could see all his commanders, Shanks's crew, and Aoba were glad Ace looked fine. Ace looked a bit… over-happy too, acting like a child. Well, more so than usual when he had fun or was happy. So did Aoba. And, as if Benn sensed the question, he said they acted like this because of Vincent- that was the reason he acted so calm and relaxed. It apparently made the vampires act calm and happy around him, having something to do with the fact Vincent was a Lord. The captain would try and ask more about Vincent later, when Ace hopefully was more comfortable speaking about it.

When they got to the boat, everyone was happy to see Ace fine, which seemed to make Ace happy too. He knew many were still a bit wary because Ace was a vampire, but it was getting better as they saw Ace wasn't dangerous, not like the rumors said. He had heard those himself, vampires being told to be predatory beasts who killed everyone they saw. He guessed they existed- or had existed- but Ace wasn't that kind.

He did tell the commanders Ace was fine, but that Vincent had said something was off and to keep an eye out and mention anything that was out of the ordinary. Marco gave him a look that said he would be sure to keep an eye on Ace too, and he would be able to sense more because of his phoenix. He hoped it wasn't anything bad, just something small that was left from the dread doctors. He didn't know what it could be, and really didn't like the fact Ace had been let go, not escaped. He hoped things would be fine somehow.

The red-haired pirates stayed with them for a few hours, before they left, the two vampires looking a bit sad to be parted were good friends, maybe more so than he believed. The two worked well together, and he hoped they could meet again, maybe have the vampire over for a bit. It made Ace really happy to have the other over, and they might need each other after what Ace had been through, not that he remembers it, but still. Aoba couldn't stay right now, but they hoped nothing would happen to Ace, that things would be fine.

Things were calm for a while after that, them trying to stay away from others to have things calm for everyone after what had happened.

But, after 4 days, when they were stocking up on small things at a small island, someone suddenly walked on the ship.

The man had slicked back silver hair and pale skin, and he looked really bored. He wore a black coat with red clouds that was red on the inside and had a high collar- half of it was open, showing he had no shirt under- grey and white pants, and sandals. The man had a necklace with a triangle, a bandana with some markings around his neck, and a scythe looking weapon with 3 blades on his back.

As he was on his way to ask who and what he wanted, the man spoke before he could, speaking loud. "Okay, idiots. I do not want to be here, but I need to apparently, so try not to make this way more hideous it needs to be." Whitebeard did not like this man at all, and was about to tell him to leave, not wanting him here, especially if he didn't want to be here himself. Why was he here even? But, before he could, another voice spoke. "Hidan?" The captain turned to see Ace, having his head tilted, looking at the man. Did Ace know this man? The man- Hidan- gave an annoyed look. "Look, it's the moron. What the fuck are you even doing? Angering idiotic fucking dread doctors."

Whitebeard was just about to tell the man to leave, when Ace gave a small laugh and smile. "Well, I at least don't anger priests." He saw Hidan's eye twitch at that. "Fucker." Ace gave a laugh, not minding the attitude. "You staying?" Hidan gave a small snort. "For a small bit, apparently. Not that I want to stay here." Ace sent a look at him. "Can Hidan stay for a day or two?" The captain thought it over. Ace seemed to want the man to stay, him even seeing Marco sending a look at him, making him not too sure. "He can stay, if he doesn't act out of his way." He would be sure to keep an eye on this man. Ace gave a happy laugh, walking over to Hidan. "Come come! I'll show you around!" HIdan rolled his eyes and said something, too low for him to hear. He had a feeling he wouldn't like this man, but he would make do right now, unless Hidan acted way too unfavorable.

As the two was gone, Marco walked closer to him. "Ace wants something, yoi." The captain frowned. "What?" Marco gave shook his head a bit. "Ace, the vampire, it wants something from Hidan."

Whitebeard frowned. Ace did? "How do you know?" Marco gave a sigh. "I feel it, yoi. And with the way Ace looks at him." The captain gave a nod. "We'll keep an eye on them. This might not be anything new." Marco nodded, agreeing. They should keep an eye on Ace, especially if it was something bad, something connected to what had happened with the dread doctors.

The two came back to the deck a bit later, Hidan looking bored and Ace a bit happy, when he looked closer, he saw Ace looking expectant for some reason. He was sure Marco, or the phoenix, could feel that. He didn't know what to think of it. When they came back out, he decided to ask who Hidan was, on how Ace knew him. Ace blinked at it, before smiling. "I've known him for years. You know the package of food I get each month? It's from him." Ace pointed at Hidan, who just snorted. "You just get the damn leftovers. Not the actually good stuff I need at times." Ace shrugged. "I like it." Hidan just shook his head. "Asshole. Now, I'm going to go take a shower." Then the man left, Ace just giving a laugh.

The man was special, acting uncaring and bored, acting like he was above everyone. He hoped the man wouldn't stay here for long. It did seem to help Ace, and he wasn't too bad, at least not yet.

When they headed to dinner a bit later, Hidan was still not out on deck, seeming to stay inside, but the captain got a few words from others that he wasn't kind to them, not even trying to it seemed like. He should at least try to act nice, but the man didn't. But, if he stayed away, hopefully in Ace's room most of the time, it would be fine.

He didn't see Hidan after that, and didn't really see Ace either, not until it was dinner, Ace arriving a bit late. When Ace sat down, Thatch got the food he had made for Ace, the chef trying his best to make the best food to Ace with blood, even though he was still uncomfortable with it, but it was getting better.

But, instead of looking really glad, as he usually did when he got that kind of food, he didn't react.

The captain saw Ace look down at his food, looking at it with a blank look. Ace usually looked glad to get food, especially the ones made with blood, which he knew this was. Maybe something was wrong with it? As he was on his way to ask if everything was right, Ace suddenly stood up and headed out through the door, which has him blink. Ace needed to eat. As he was in his way to speak, seeing the others also wondering why Ace suddenly stood up to head out, Ace suddenly yelled.

"HIDAN! I'M HUNGRY!"

The captain blinked. What? Before he could react, he heard a faint yell from Hidan. He didn't hear what it was, but was sure it was a swear. It had Ace smile and give a small laugh, before he half-ran out of the galley.

At first, he was worried and confused, not sure why Ace had done that. He never had before, not even when Aoba was here. The others had the same look as him. After a few seconds, he remembered Ace had told- half-told more like- that the feeding package he got was from Hidan. He knew Ace liked that more. The man probably brought some and that was more alluring than this food, which he got.

He told this to the others, who agreed on it. It made sense. The two did seem to have a weird tone together. And, like Marco had said, Ace did look at Hidan a special way. Maybe that was since Ace could smell the other had brought something for Ace to eat.

The man was kind of special, but they could make do for now. He wasn't too bad, but he wouldn't have been allowed in the boat if he didn't know anyone, and Ace seemed to like him. It was normal chatter after that. The captain left the galley after a few more minutes, a few of the commanders joining him, also having gotten to the galley early.

It was a calm day, which was good.

-x-

Marco felt his spine shiver, not sure why.

He felt something was wrong, something was really wrong, and it had him look to his right, sure that whatever it was was that way. "Son?" Marco looked to Pops, the man looking at him in worry. "Is something wrong?" He shook his head a bit. "I don't know, yoi. Something feels… off." Marco didn't like it. He gave a frown as the feeling stayed, not going away. He felt that it was Ace, or the vampire, but it felt different. He had never felt this before; he wanted to hide, and he didn't know why.

Maybe something was happening with him now because of something with the dread doctors? That thought had him start to walk towards Ace's room, needing to check if something was wrong or not. Pops seemed to realise this and let him go. Marco would tell him what it was, and it was most likely nothing as he was just worried for nothing. Ace was probably just asleep and had a nightmare or something, and his vampire reacted, at least he hoped that was it. He could maybe faintly remember feeling something slightly familiar to this when Ace fed off animals, but this… this was much worse. He shook his head a bit. It was probably nothing, maybe a nightmare from Ace, trying not to think about the fact it was in the middle of the day. When he got to Ace's room, he knocked once, waiting a few seconds before he knocked again. As he still got nothing, feeling the feeling he felt growing stronger, he moved to open the door slowly to check on Ace.

But, when he saw the inside of the room, his entire body froze as he took the scene in.

Hidan was sitting on a chair with his head leaned back. On top of him was Ace, him sitting on his lap, Ace's mouth over Hidan's and body moving in a weird manner. Maybe this was how Ace reacted when he was being intimate with someone. Ace did look at Hidan in a special way, him feeling Ace- the vampire- wanted something from Hidan, and maybe this was it. It was a terrifying feeling, but he didn't think it would make him feel fear. As he was about to stutter out an apology, not expecting this, Ace's head snapped to look at him.

All air left his lungs, complete fear filling him.

Ace had blood dripping down his face and from his fangs, eyes blood red and a sneer on his face. He saw Hidan's body moving as the man was choking, him seeing blood starting to drip out of Hidan's mouth, Marco now seeing a piece of flesh on the ground, it looking like a tongue.

Ace had bitten Hidan's tongue off, spit it out, and was drinking the blood that came from the wound. That was why this felt so different, that was why he felt so much fear.

Ace was feeding off of a living human and didn't want to share with anyone.

A loud sneer was given to him, Ace's face looking the most predatory he had ever seen, which had him take a stuttering step back, letting go of the door. As he let go of the door, it starting to close automatically, and he saw Hidan move a shaking hand to Ace's head. Marco was sure it was to stop the other, when Ace moved back to Hidan, teeth biting down into his neck, continuing to feed and body moving, Hidan grasping some of Ace's hair. Then, the door closed.

Marco couldn't move, feeling his heart pounding in his chest, mind standing still. Ace was killing Hidan, feeding off of him. "Marco?" He could barely hear the mumble from Izou, sounding far away, even though he could see the other male a few feet from him.

Marco have never been this afraid before.

"Get Pops." He barely managed to get out with a breath, unable to move or take his eyes off the door. "What?" He heard Izou ask. Marco took a deep breath, eyes closing, trying to concentrate, to get the words out, apparently not managing to earlier. "Get. Pops." Marco could at least hear his own words this time. He saw Izou nodding, looking worried, before moving away. "Stay with him." He heard the other male say before he left, obviously telling someone close to keep an eye on him. It was not him who needed to be kept an eye on, but Ace. Lord, what if they were too late? Ace had fed for at least a couple minutes based on the feeling. Marco knew he couldn't do anything; he was frozen in fear. He didn't want to send any of the others, not wanting them to be injured. He could only think of Pops- he might be able to speak reason to Ace. He now realised what Ace had said before wasn't something he just said for fun, but he actually meant to eat from Hidan. They should have realised. Ace had never done that before.

Marco tried to get his mind to calm and his heart to stop racing, feeling the intense fear from the room in front of him slowly ebbing away, no idea if that was a good sign or not. After what felt like a minute, but Marco didn't really know, he felt something nudge him, looking over to see Pops there, looking worried. Marco shook his head a bit, sure the man had tried to get his attention. "Ace is feeding off Hidan, yoi." He saw the frown Pops had deepened. "What?" Marco moved a hand to his face, feeling better, feeling the fear still slowly ebbing away, it barely there now. "Ace is feeding off Hidan. I can't… I can't move yet." He was frozen in place, scared of the vampire, not wanting to admit it. But, it was getting better. Ace had never had this much predatory feeling around him. He did when he lost control, but this felt different.

Pops looked more worried at that, making a motion and sending the ones out that weren't a commander away before going over to Ace's door, carefully opening it, Marco seeing and feeling Pops getting ready in case.

When the door opened, he saw the inside of the room again, expecting to see Hidan dead on the ground, or Ace somehow still feeding. But, when he saw the inside, he saw Hidan sitting in his chair still, still breathing somehow, two clear holes in his neck, and Ace beside him on a chair, looking happy. "Ace, son?" Tried Pops carefully.

Ace moved his head to look at Pops, eyes back to normal, before giving a groan, hand going to his face. "Fuck." Hidan gave a loud laugh. "Says you! Birdy boy peeped inside. Looked like you tried to kill him for being here." Ace gave a groan again. "I forgot he could feel! And, you know I don't like sharing." A sarcastic laugh came from Hidan. "Understatement, asshole." Ace gave a snort. "Fuck off, bastard." Hidan stood up, giving a bow. "Gladly, your majesty. You're at least good to go for a while now. So no fill for a few months." Ace gave a loud groan at that. "Bastard!" Hidan then just gave a snort as he walked past them, hand massaging his neck where he saw many small scars from puncture marks. What?

When the man was gone, Pops looked at Ace again, who was massaging his face too. Marco managed to take a few steps closer, seeing Ace was okay now and the same with Hidan. "Son, what was that? Marco said you fed on him." It didn't look like Hidan had been fed off of. He was fine. Ace gave a small hum, before he seemed to actually comprehend the question. "I feed off him. He's my preference." Wait, hadn't Ace and Aoba mentioned something about preference before? "What does that mean, yoi?" Did it mean they craved specific blood more?

Ace gave a small hum. "It means we like it better, makes us last longer without warm blood or human blood. Makes us feel better. I think Vincent sent him." Ace sounded happy, which was most likely because he got his prefered blood. Thatch, who had appeared, gave a small snort. "What's your preference? Being an asshole?" Hidan wasn't the nicest, but Marco had a feeling it was more than that. Ace gave a small chuckle. "I wish. It's the blood. Some crave males, females, devil fruit users, fishmen, witches, other beings, and so on." That made more sense. But, what was Hidan? He didn't have a devil fruit, he had seen him in water. "Aaaannnddd what is Hidan?" Asked Thatch.

"Immortal."

Marco had to blink, seeing everyone doing the same. "Immortal, yoi?" That had to be wrong. He wasn't even a devil fruit user. He couldn't be immortal. Ace just nodded. Thatch gave a snort. "Funny, kiddo. But, really, what is he?" Ace gave a chuckle, and instead of answering right away, Ace moved his hand in a quick motion, throwing his dagger at them, it barely missing him as it zooming past him.

"Fuckers! Where is my neckl-" He hear Hidan start, before the dagger lodged into his neck, going straight through, blood oozing out.

Marco was about to jump into action to save the other male. They might not like him, but he didn't deserve to die. As he was expecting Hidan to fall down, he just gave a bored look, moving his body to a calm stance with a hand on his hip, the other taking the dagger out of his neck, showing it had gone straight through, before the wound healed. "Really?" Started Hidan. "Why?" Ace gave a chuckle. "As I said. Immortal." Hidan just rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. As long as you're not an ass like Kaku and frikking decapitate me every other hour." Marco had no idea how to react. Hidan was immortal? "How?" He needed to ask. Hidan gave a snort.

"Crazy religious people couple thousands of years ago. Tried to sacrifice me to gain immortality. They read wrong, I became immortal, they died. Fun story."

The man then rolled his eyes at them, before walking into the room, grabbing his necklace from the desk in Ace's room, sending a look at Ace. "No fucking food for two or so months from me." Ace gave a small whine at it, and when Hidan moved out of the room, Ace followed, laughing suddenly. Ace seemed to like Hidan, and it might be because of the fact the man fit Ace's preference. He would remember that and ask Ace about it later. What that actually meant, and why it had him react so badly. He never had before.

After that, the day went calmly, a few wondering what had happened earlier, what had him suddenly freeze. Marco had just said it was nothing to worry about, which they accepted. The feeling that Ace had before was gone, him getting what he wanted, and Marco would remember the feeling, that it wasn't anything bad. He guessed Ace was protective over Hidan since the man was his preference.

Hidan did stay for another hour before he left, leaving with a roll of his eyes and acting like he didn't care about anything or anyone. But, if he was immortal and had been alive for a while, at least two thousands years if it was true, he could imagine the man was just bored. It sounded horrible to not be able to die.

And, that's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed

I know nothing much happened, but things are just calming down and things will happen soon. I also thought this was a good time to introduce the man Ace got his food packages from and fed off of. He is Hidan from the anime Naruto. I think he is kinda cool, and he will appear now and then

If you have the time, I greatly appreciate feedback

If you want to, come follow me on Twitter, where pictures and such will be posted, as well as updates and if I'm late. My twitter is "at" Azuruko You can leave comments, requests, ideas, or just say hi (Link at my page)

Or, you can join my Discord server, Azuruko's fiction, for the same reasons as my twitter. Instant invite: discord . gg / 6hzMhbR (Link at my page)