Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!
This is a calm chapter and mostly a interlude sort of, but also set up for later
I hope you will enjoy this
Read and relax
Thatch hummed to himself as he headed to a cafe to grab some coffees for some people who wanted them in the office. It was just 4 coffees, as they had come in late because of something personal, and Thatch honestly didn't mind. He would try to be fast, but knew there wasn't much of a rush as it had been a calm day so far. But as he was about to walk into the cafe, Thatch blinked as he saw a beautiful woman that seemed upset. She had on an amazing black dress, had light blond hair and the perfect amount of makeup that suited her. Thatch moved over to her. "Hey, you okay?" The woman looked at him, seeming shocked he had talked to her. "I'm okay…" Well, that was a lie. She was obviously very upset about something. "I know I am a stranger, but is there anything I can do for you? You seem so upset." The woman blinked, before a tear fell down her cheek, and she quickly dried it away as she shook her head a bit. "It's nothing, just family drama." Thatch motioned the spot beside her. "May I sit?" The woman nodded. "Sure…" And Thatch sat down. "Wanna talk about it?"
The woman blinked at him. "You… you want to listen?" Thatch nodded and gave a small smile. "If it can make you feel better, then yes. What's your name?" The woman sniffled a bit, obviously upset. "I am Ava. And my parents are just… a lot at times." Thatch nodded. "What are they doing that makes them a lot now?" Ava sighed. "They… they are very religious, like seriously religious, Christians, and they try to force stuff on me. I mean, I am as well, but they are… very religious." Thatch hummed. "That sounds hard. I can't say I am very religious. Wanna speak more about it over a cup of coffee?" Ava smiled at him. "I would love that. What's your name?" Thatch smiled. "Thatch is the name." Ava nodded. "Nice name." Thatch hummed. "Same to you. Come, coffee, or whatever you want, is on me." Ava smiled, and they went into the cafe they were by, and sat down and Thatch ordered a coffee, and Ava ordered a tea, and then they started to speak.
Thatch found out Ava's parents wanted Ava to be more like them, more religious, pray every night, join church more, help around the church, and how they feel she just doesn't do enough and they just had a screaming match, the reason she was upset. She was 25, but still lived at home as her parents refused to have her move out and made it hard for her to get a job. They had gotten her fired from 4 jobs already. When she was done, she looked to be in a bit of a better mood, and Thatch nodded. "That sounds hard. Parents can be hard to be around, especially if you have different views." Ava blinked. "Yes, it is very hard. You seem to… know what I speak off." Thatch hummed. "I ran away from my original family, and I later got adopted by an amazing man. Me and my original family… not a good mix. We had… very different views." Ava blinked, before she smiled. "You seem… nice." Thatch smiled. "So do you, Ava. I would love to get to know you more, if you'd like." Ava smiled. "I would love to."
-x-
Whitebeard looked over some files, editing some parts and looking for mistakes before he sent it. He did look at the clock and saw it was almost noon, and Thatch should have been back half an hour ago, but it wasn't really a rush, but he did wonder where Thatch was. After some minutes, there was a knock at his door and Thatch stood there. "I'm back now. What do you need?" Whitebeard hummed. "I sent some files over, could you check it looks okay? And did something happen? Since it took so long." Thatch walked into the room fully and closed the door. "Yeah, sorry. But I saw this woman who looked very upset and we had a chat, to cheer her up. I hope it didn't cause issues."
Whitebeard blinked, before he smiled. "You are such a kind soul, and it is no issue. Did she cheer up?" Thatch nodded. "She did, and we are meeting again this weekend." Whitebeard smiled. "That sounds nice. You are so kind to others, son. And I am very proud to be your father." Thatch smiled. "And I am very glad to be your son. I will look over the files now, Pops." Whitebeard nodded and Thatch left, and Whitebeard hummed. Thatch was so kind, and who knew what this would bring.
The rest of the week went fine, and on Saturday, Thatch went out to meet Ava again, and on Sunday, Ace and his brothers would come for dinner. Thatch and Sabo would have a cooking lesson as well, so it was perfect. When Saturday was nearing its end, Thatch came home and looked really happy, and when Whitebeard asked how it had gone, Thatch started to speak on how they had had an amazing date, they had eaten good food, speaking about everything, and it had just been perfect. When he asked if it was official between them, Thatch hummed. "Not too official just yet, she is a bit religious, so I want to take it slow. But we both agreed it was a date. So it is a start. We're meeting again on Monday after work." Whitebeard nodded. "That sounds like a plan. What can you tell about her?" Thatch smiled, before he started to tell about her and she sounded really sweet.
-x-
Marco sat on the couch, watching a show before the three brothers would come, which was soon. When the doorbell rang a bit later, Marco went and answered it, smiling at the three that were there, but blinked when he saw Ace had a black eye, a really bad black eye. "What happened, yoi?" Ace hummed. "Let us go with drunktard, I can explain later." Marco nodded, that sounded like a plan. They then came inside and everyone reacted to the black eye, but Ace said it was fine, someone had looked at it and nothing was broken, he didn't have a concussion, and it just looked bad. Everyone did look worried, but accepted it.
Then Sabo went to the kitchen with Thatch, and they started on the food. They would have salmon with a special sauce and rice, which would be amazing. They then just sat and chatted with the Tv on in the background, and when dinner was done, they all got to the dinner table and started to eat, enjoying the food and company. It was nice. The food was also very good, and Thatch said Sabo made most of it, he just helped along, and Sabo seemed proud of himself, and he got that. Thatch was a good teacher. They then enjoyed the evening, before Ace and his brothers left, Ace saying they could meet again on Tuesday after work, which sounded nice.
-x-
On Monday, after work, Thatch met up with Ava and they were walking around at the mall, looking at things and just enjoying each other's company. As they were thinking about heading to a cafe to get some light food and drinks, a voice spoke behind him. "Thatch!" He turned and saw Luffy and Ace, Luffy having spoken, and Thatch blinked, before he smiled. "Hey." Luffy ran up and waved at him. "Hey! Why are you out?" Thatch hummed and motioned to Ava. "I am out with Ava, we're just grabbing some food. You?" Luffy seemed excited. "We are as well! Maybe we can grab something together?!" Thatch blinked, not sure what to say as he didn't want to be rude, when Ace spoke. "Lu, no. We need to bring something back and I am sure Thatch and Ava want to have a calm meal alone." Thatch gave a thankful look to Ace, who smiled back. Luffy blinked. "Oh, okay. That's fine."
Luffy then looked at Ava. "You're pretty." Ava smiled. "Thank you. You seem nice." Luffy beamed. "I try to be." Ace hummed. "Why don't we head and grab something from the shop Sabo likes?" Luffy nodded. "Yes! I want a baguette!" Ace chuckled. "You can get one." And Ace looked at them. "Hope you have a good day onwards, and I will see you on Saturday, Thatch. If you're home." Thatch nodded. "I am, see you then." Ace nodded and then left, heading to a cafe close by.
As they were gone, Ava looked at him. "Who was that?" Thatch hummed. "We are business partners, friends, and Ace is dating my brother. That's why they are coming by on Saturday. They are very nice, and have another brother called Sabo." Ava nodded. "Oh, how nice. You're having a dinner party?" Thatch hummed. "Most likely yes, we try to eat together on the weekend and Ace is joining often, same with his brothers as it is getting serious between him and my brother." Thatch smiled at Ava. "If you want to, and also feel free to say no, you can join the dinner if you'd like? If it isn't too intimidating." Ava blinked, seeing caught off guard. "I- I need to think about it." Thatch nodded. "That's fine, and feel free to decline. I know it can be intimidating. And I don't want you to be uncomfortable. Also, none of us are really religious, just so I have said it." Ava nodded. "It is okay, I might join. And for me, people believe what they do, or don't believe. My parents aren't like that. We argue a lot, I feel. I have friends who aren't religious."
Thatch nodded. "That's good. You are very open about it and you are awesome. But I would love to introduce you to my family." Ava nodded a bit. "I would maybe like it, you are so kind. I don't want to introduce you to mine, as they can be… a lot." Thatch smiled. "No rush, okay?" Ava smiled. "Yeah."
-x-
Marco went to meet Ace on Tuesday, and they went to a restaurant to eat dinner, and had a good time. As they were eating, a man came up to them. "Ace?" Ace looked at the man, before he smiled "Hi, Chip. How are you?" Chip nodded. "I am good. I just, I might need a new place to tattoo, after the whole Cillian incident, people have been wary. I don't mean to come off as rude-" Ace shook shi head. "No, no issue. You helped me. I might have a place in mind, why don't I send you the address and we can set time for a look around?" Chip nodded. "That would be great, you have been such a huge help." Ace smiled. "You as well." Chip nodded, before he left. And Marco looked at Ace. "That was the guy who sent Cillian to the bathroom, right, yoi?" Ace nodded. "Yes, it was. And I get people might be wary of his place now."
Marco nodded. "I might have an idea. I don't know how busy he is, but Vista has been looking for someone to work with maybe, yoi. To expand." Ace hummed. "Let me ask Chip about it, and see. He has probably gotten less work lately, so this is maybe what he needs. Mention it to Vista and see what he thinks of it." Marco nodded and he would.
Marco hummed. "Also, want to explain the black eye?" Ace still had a black eye, but it was a bit better. Ace hummed. "So, I had this meeting, about if I should take the case or not, as I had this weird feeling. They wanted me to follow this man they would work with, and when I asked more, it didn't take long before one of them said 'We need to know if he is a faggot or not', in a very angry voice as I wasn't just saying yes. So I said no, and was about to leave when they jumped me. I got a good few punches in and won, but one guy managed to get me pretty good too." Marco blinked. "Did you get any other injuries?" Ace hummed. "Bruised a rib most likely. But it is fine. It happens."
Marco blinked. "It… happens?" Ace nodded. "Yeah. I work with a lot of people, and some aren't the nicest. You do remember I showed up at your door stabbed? This was just a bruise." That was true, but still. "Are you safe, yoi?" Ace hummed. "I am safe enough. They didn't have anything on their files, so I went with a more relaxed posture than I should have yes, but it went fine. All of them are in the hospital, or at least where. They're probably out now, didn't mess them up that bad." Marco hummed. "They deserve it." Ace nodded. "They sure did." They then started to speak about other things, just having a good time, before they ended the evening around 8pm, Ace calling a cab home, and Marco had Izou pick him up.
When he got home, he spoke with Vista about Chip, and Vista seemed to like the idea and said he would love to meet Chip. And if it worked out, they could both get a place together, Vista also wanted to get a larger shop. So he sent this in a message to Ace, and Ace responded quickly he would say this to Chip, and they could maybe meet in the weekend, if that fit, and it did for Vista. Then the week went on, and when Saturday came, Chip and Vista had a meeting early on, and it seemed like a good match, and Chip had been eyeing a large place not far from where Vista had his shop now, and they would look at it, but it was a bit expensive, maybe too expensive. They might not be able to afford it, even after selling the shops they had now. But they would look at it. This one was in the middle of town, a large office and the local was large and perfectly sized, and newly renovated.
When dinner was about to be, Ace came as he was invited, but Luffy and Sabo didn't as they had something to do. He was also shocked to see Thatch had invited a woman. He didn't know he was dating anyone, but he was, and she seemed very nice. They then ate, before they went to the living room to speak and relax, also to get to know Ava better, and she seemed very nice. There was a moment where they were showing Ava around and they were in the garden, when Ava moved a bit away and Ace after and seemed to say something to her which had her seem more hesitant, but he didn't get why. What did Ace say? Did he know something they didn't? He would try and ask Ace about it.
After a small bit, Ava left, as she needed to get home, and Thatch offered to drive her home, to which she declined, and Thatch tried to push a bit on it, but she said no, she would take the bus, which Thatch said was okay, and they would meet again on Tuesday after work. After that, it wasn't long before Ace also left, and when they said goodbye outside, being alone, Marco did ask what he said to Ava, to which Ace hummed and said. "Nothing bad, just something. Don't think about it." Ace smiled at him. "She likes him, and it seems like he liked her as well." Marco nodded. "Yeah, Thatch seems very smitten, yoi. He acts so nice to her, not as he has with others." Ace blinked. "Like how?" Marco hummed. "He can be very pushy, and be very touchy and loud. But with Ava, he isn't. He must be so smitten with her, yoi." Ace smiled. "That's good. She seems very nice." Marco nodded. "Yeah, she does." Then they kissed and Ace left for home, and they would meet up later, they would chat about it.
-x-
When the next weekend came, Ace and his brothers were there, as Thatch and Sabo had a lesson again today, and today they made homemade pasta with chicken, and a sauce. And it was very good. As they were chatting, Vista started to speak about trying to get the office they were looking at, but they didn't have a lot of money for a bid round, as there had been a couple others interested. After this conversation was done, Ace excused himself and said he needed to take a phone call, which was fine, Ace had a lot of things he needed to do, and meetings. But as he was gone, Sabo looked at Vista. "Why, just why would you bring the office up now? Do you know what will happen now?" Vista blinked. "What? What will happen? Will we lose it? How?" Sabo sighed, and before he could speak, Luffy did. "Ace will buy it for you!" Sabo nodded. "Yep, he sure will. You will get the call in about 10 minutes I think." Vista blinked, looking shocked. "But the office cost like 900 000!" Sabo nodded. "I don't think you get how bad Ace is with things like this."
Ace then came back with a smile, and Sabo looked at him. "Can you stop?" Ace blinked as he sat down. "What are you talking about?" Sabo sighed. "You bought the office, didn't you?" Ace hummed. "Maybe." Ace then looked at Vista. "They will call you in a few minutes." Sabo facepalmed. "Ace!" Ace looked at Sabo. "What! It is a nice gesture!" Sabo looked at Ace. "Holding the door open for someone is a nice gesture! There is no word for this!" Ace gave a look and was on his way to speak, when Sabo did. "And if you say you like to spoil, I will punch you!" Ace shrugged. "I don't see the issue." Sabo moved a hand to his face. "What did you do when Mika tried to buy you a new jacket?" Ace gave a look. "That was different." Sabo shook his head. "No! It wasn't! Since she bought you a jacket for like 50 bucks, you buy her a new car! Like what!" Ace shrugged. "I like to-" And Sabo and Ace said the word "Spoil." Before Sabo sighed. "We know, but this is insane."
Ace shrugged. "It is not." And then Ace looked at Vista. "He will call soon, if he doesn't, I will call him. You can move in wherever." Vista blinked. "But it wasn't available before 2 months had passed?" Ace hummed. "I changed it, I got it from next week, it will be in your and Chip's name, with me slightly there, but mostly off the books. It is yours." Vista seemed speechless, and Sabo seemed semi upset. This was a lot. Just as Vista was about to speak, his phone rang, and Ace hummed. "Answer it." Vista nodded and stood up to take it, and when he was gone, Marco looked at Ace. "Ace, please stop." Then he laughed. "I don't know why I am laughing, yoi. But I agree with Sabo, this is insane." Some of the others nodded as well, and Ace blinked. "I don't get what is wrong with this!" Sabo looked at his brother. "You don't need to buy their love or approval! They like you! You're kind! You're amazing! Accept it! Without buying their love!"
Ace hummed. "And I am not buying their love or approval, I like to spoil and I know he wants this place." Sabo moved his head to the table with a small bang. "It is like talking to a wall!" Ace hummed. "I am not that bad." Sabo and Marco spoke in unison. "You are." Vista then came back. "How much did you pay for this?" Ace hummed. "Not telling. Not that much, just a bit." Vista blinked. "This is… way too much." Sabo spoke as he sat up and moved a hand out towards Vista. "Thank you! This is way too much. You're almost as bad as you are with us!" Ace hummed. "Not that bad." Sabo sighed. "Luffy once mentioned he saw some cool skis. What do you do? You buy the skis, then you buy an all inclusive vacation in Switzerland, with all free passes for the hills, and you even bought out an entire hill so we could ski alone so he could test the skis." Ace looked at Sabo. "We had fun, did we not?" Sabo massaged his face. "Not about that. You are just known to go overboard." Ace hummed. "No clue what you are talking about." He said as he took a sip of his drink.
Sabo sighed. "We will get nowhere, so let's just change the topic." Ace hummed. "Good choice." And they talked about other stuff and had a nice meal and evening, before Ace and his brothers left. When they were gone and he was in the living room, Vista came over to him. "Hey, Marco, is Ace okay?" Marco sighed. "He is, he just has been with some bad people, gold diggers and such, and I think it is stuck with him, yoi." Vista nodded. "I got a dog, a blood sugar dog, which is amazing. But now he bought me the dream place I wanted? For God knows how much?" Marco looked at Vista. "Vista, you don't even know the half of it. Ace is just insane at times, yoi." Izou hummed as he was sitting on the couch with a snack. "Marco has gotten a sugar daddy~" Said Izou in a singsong voice. Vista hummed. "I have to agree with that. Marco, this is insane." Marco sighed. "I know, but I don't know how to make him stop, yoi. Not even Sabo seems to know. I am doing my best to have him calm down, yoi." Vista nodded. "Yeah, do that." Marco just nodded as he massaged his face. Ace was insane.
-x-
When Tuesday came, he spent it with Ace after work, and he was going to start late the next day so he could spend the night at Ace's house, as Luffy and Sabo were also away on a business meeting. They were enjoying dinner at a restaurant, and they were just chatting. As they were, Ace hummed. "Why don't we make a code word?" Marco blinked. "Code word, yoi?" Ace nodded. "Yeah. Like if we meet someone you don't want to talk to, or you feel uncomfortable, you say the word Pie, and if you are in trouble and can't speak freely, you will say Gipsy? And I will do the same? You know, never know who we will run into." Marco hummed. "Why not, sounds a bit odd, but why not, yoi. Have you ever used it?" He probably had the same with his brothers.
Ace hummed. "I have the same with my Luffy and Sabo, and Sabo once said suddenly 'I want a pie.' And I got an excuse and left, and I found out it was a school bully for him. So yeah, it can be helpful." Marco nodded. "Sure, yoi. We can do this." Ace smiled "Perfect. Hopefully we will never use it." Marco nodded. "But how do I know it is the word and not just you saying it, yoi?" Ace hummed. "If it fits the context, it is just the word, if not, it is the code word." Marco nodded. "Made sense, yoi. I will remember this." Ace smiled. "Perfect. Hopefully we will never need to use it though."
Marco hoped the same, and he hoped Ace wouldn't use the words, especially Gipsy, but only time would tell. Marco hummed. "What should we do if one of us says Gipsy, yoi? I get pie, just divert, but what with Gipsy?" Ace hummed. "Well, if you say it, I will do my magic and find you and make sure you're good. If I say it, you call Sabo and/or Trevor. Deal?" Marco nodded. "Sounds good, and hopefully we won't use it." Ace nodded. "Yes, but one never knows." They then enjoyed the day out, having fun with each other and talking, before they went to Ace's home to relax for the night.
And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed!
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