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marco-newgate · 7 months ago

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Marco X CisFem Reader

Marco: I fucked up!

Thatch: I'm trying to sleep man

Marco: I kissed F/N before I left for work

Thatch: Thats a hilarious string of autocorrects

Marco: She did my tie and we were talking and I just kissed her on the cheek

Thatch: on the cheek?!

Thatch: I could be sleeping right now and you're talking about pecks on the cheek?!

Marco: cmon man. You know there are reasons I never do that stuff with her

Thatch: yeah 10 years ago.

Thatch: she's an adult now

Marco: but she just got out of a relationship

Thatch:yeah... you never had good timing

Thatch: now leave me alone

___________

It really wasn't a big deal. Luffy, Thatch and Ace kissed your forehead and cheek all the time. Sabo even had a few special occasions like your birthday or the time you got caught under the mistletoe a few years ago. But never Marco. He'd ruffle your hair to make you mad or slap your back and of course if the time called for it, a good old innocent side hug. He hugged his brothers often and well, you'd seen him kiss more girls than you'd care to remember.

Now that you think about it why did you seem to be the one being singled out here? This was getting depressing.

Your thoughts shifted to his warm and surprisingly soft lips. How he gently swayed with you while you cried into his shirt two months ago.

Ugh. What is this?

It was just too comfortable, completely natural and required zero effort. Like everything you ever did with Marco. Though Ace was your best friend and by far the closest brother to you he was incredibly hard headed; as was Luffy. You'd swear they were related by blood. Sabo always did his own thing and was far too clean and polite to have been raised in this house. Thatch was the group mom despite his mischievous streak. He was always stopping you from making a mess and making sure you learned your lesson.

Familiar feelings bubbled through your chest.

It was nothing. It was nothing. It was nothing.

"I know that face." Ace smirked pushing the bottoms of his feet flush with yours as you laid on opposite ends on the sofa.

"You don't." You replied flatly.

"Mhm ~" He hummed, "You're thinking ab-"

"Ace," You interrupted raising your right leg, "If you ever want to have kids you won't finish that sentence."

"OK geez." The raven whined protectively cupping his groin.

"F/N!" Thatch shouted from the kitchen, "Set the table. Dinner is almost ready."

You pushed yourself off the couch and slinked into the kitchen. Marco was pulling plates down from the cabinet so you counted out and gathered utensils.

Family dinner was something pops made sure happened as often as possible. There were usually at least two or three of you missing during dinner on week nights which is why no matter what everyone came together on Sunday evenings, no devices allowed, for dinner. Tonight, Sabo and Luffy would be out and Thatch had to leave as soon as he was done eating for his shift at the bar.

There was a bit of awkward tension as you and the blond walked into the dining room to set the table.

"Uh about this morning yoi."

You didn't lift your eyes from the napkin you were folding.

Be cool. No biggie.

"No worries. It was like a knee jerk thing, right?" Your face was on fire.

Don't look up.

"Well - uh."

"It's just a peck on the cheek, everyone does it." You shrugged forcing your shaky hands to keep folding, "You just aren't as affectionate as the others so it caught me off guard."

You saw his shoulders drop a little in your peripheral.

"Ah yeah," He let out an airy chuckle, "I just didn't want you to be weirded out."

See me, no big deal.

"Of course not." You forced a smile.

Why did it feel so disappointing?

He made a speedy exit while you sighed and finished setting the table.

This was reminiscent of high school and that wasn't good. All of the teasing and weird feelings really strained your relationship with the pineapple. Things were finally sort of normal.

You passed through the kitchen door hushing the whispering brothers immediately.

Suspicious.

"What's going to the table Thatchy?"

"Marco will take it. Can you go get pops from the garage? Please?" The brunette smiled over his shoulder at you.

"Aye-aye." You sauntered out to the garage to fetch the old man.

"Nami called you while you were outside." Ace chirped following you into the dining room where Marco and Thatch already sat on either side of pops' seat.

"Did you answer it?" That was a stupid question, of course he had.

"Yup!" He grinned, "She wants to set you up on a date."

"I'll tell her no later." You sighed slouching down next to Thatch.

"Oh - I already told her you'd do it." He said gaining the attention of everyone at the table.

"W-hy would you do that?" You gaped.

"What? It's been long enough."

"Two months." You strained.

"Exactly." He nodded.

"You can't just decide things for her yoi." Marco swatted the raven.

"I'll just call her after dinner." You huffed.

"Well, maybe you should go." Pops suggested shifting the shocked glares from Ace to himself.

"I thought you loved me pops." You whined.

"Of course, I do!" The old man boomed, "A little date won't kill ya. You might even feel better after."

"It's not like you have to marry the guy." Thatch added.

"Would you like to add to the betrayal?" You crossed your arms and glared at Marco.

He sipped his beer and very calmly shook his head.

"We just want you to be happy lass." Pops added.

"I'm ... " You paused thinking about the last 12 hours, "Ugh. Fine I'll do it. But I'm gonna be an awful date."

_________

You sat nervously twisting a lock of your hair at the five-star hotel's bar/restaurant. It was an enormous opulent room with huge chandeliers dangling from the vaulted ceiling. You'd made sure to dress accordingly and had no problem getting your hair and makeup exactly how you liked. But you still felt out of place. This place was expensive – too expensive for a blind date. It was the kind of restaurant that you go to for your ten-year anniversary.

"Can I get you a cocktail miss?" The young bartender asked wiping the marble counter in front of you.

You weren't a cocktail girl... but you didn't see a beer tap or any bottles for that matter.

"Can I just get a white Russian?" You slid your credit card across the counter to open a tab.

"I've got this." A smooth baritone voice drifted over your shoulder as a tattooed hand slid your card back, "A white Russian? Would you like to go bowling after this?"

You chuckled at his reference, eyes trailing up his tailored sleeve to his ridiculously attractive relaxed face. What the hell was Nami thinking? Thick black hair shadowed his sharp dark features that were only enhanced by his seemingly glowing amber eyes.

"Trafalgar Law." He stated evenly responding to your no doubt bewildered expression.

I AM gonna be a awful date.

#second chances #one piece #whitebeard pirates #x reader #marco x reader #marco the phoenix #lyndsyh24 #whitebeard one piece

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quinloki · 11 months ago

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nah please feel free to answer pubically if you want I'm mostly embarassed bc WHY AM I THINKING THESE THOUGHTS AT WORK also I'm trying to get over my weird adversion to being percieved

(they just like super automated my job in a way that it requires zero brain power and my mind has been wandering very badly soooooo)

okay but like…. lil saucy…

my brain didn't go into super detail and I'm also terrible at translating my thoughts to text BUT

Marco does some kind of favor for Sabo prolly not anything deep just something work related or something and so Sabo wants to get him a little present as thanks but it's sabo and that little present is reader all tied up in marco's bed wrapped in a bow like a present prolly blindfolded or at least gagged so they don't make toooo much noise for anyone else to come investigate (maybe with a toy idk my brain is blue-screening the more I think of this)

and he texts marco like I left a present in your bed as thanks dear brother and marco is like uh and finds it and calls sabo up and is like wow how thoughtful don't you wanna come watch me unwrap it

and ahhh my brain is bluescreening again but I wanted to share

I think I've calmed down a little, this is the first time in awhile that brainrot has hit me this bad I won't lie xD thank you for feeding it and letting me ramble at you <3333

Oh, oh man, look I have someone for you to follow on Twitter if you have it, and if you don't, you still need to see This Set Up.

Familiar is also a Wonderful Comic just all on it's own. Right up there with Sunstone for a solid look at healthy bdsm relationships.

But! Back to the uh, task at hand - I love the idea of this, and especially as a variant (or homage) to the aforementioned set up. I love the idea that this is a point in the relationship where they're all together and still in a house just TEEMING with other people.

Sabo's got the reader all secured and just whispers in her ear that the quieter she can stay, the less likely someone like Ace or Thatch is to accidentally walk in on her. Right before he turns one - or all - of the toys on.

The restraint on his part too, watching her squirm and whimper and leaving her untouched for Marco. Once he gets the text from Marco though, it's a new land speed record as he covers whatever distance is between him and them at that point. Taking two seconds to compose himself before he walks into the room.

There's a little sign on the bedroom door, something about entering without permission on pain of death, and Sabo's not going to tell you that the sign's there. Only reminding you that the door's unlocked and the house is occupied (it is dead-ass empty), as he and Marco have you nearly screaming with pleasure.

You're so exhausted and spent by the end of it that even the next day they're trading off bringing you meals, and catering to your every whim. You try to feign irritation at it, quietly delighting about being pampered, but if they didn't know from the beginning, you're all aware of how you really feel by the end of it.

You're not little bird or dove or anything that day, they spend the day calling you things like princess, lady, queen, etc. XD (Ace is like "did you save them from accidental tax fraud or something?")

#quin answers #kazieai #Outnumbered #revolutionary sabo #marco the phoenix #x reader #reader insert

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apphiarothowrites · 1 year ago

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Marco handled Ace the same way he handled every other child taken in by Pops, at first.

Though "child" was relative. Ace was 17 when he stumbled in Pops' community involvement and outreach program. He had been trying to find the community art class and instead interrupted a round circle group led by Pops discussing recent city law changes that throttled the budget for said art class and after school programs for kids like Ace's younger brother. Ace had made quite a bit of noise, which annoyed a few people, and picked a fight with Pops five minutes later when the old man had pointed out the threat to the art class and called out Ace's disaffection was directionless.

Ace showed up for every discussion after that, and brought his brother Sabo with him. Sabo was far more interested than Ace was and Pops connected him to an old colleague-who turned out to be their little "brother"'s actual father. That was a wild day, which ended with Ace sitting next to Marco outside, watching Luffy goof around with his friends, musing about the future he wanted his brother to have.

Marco could relate to that. Their talk went so long that Luffy had to be the one to remind Ace that food is a thing for humans well after the sun went down. He invited Ace to stop by the house sometime to talk again and sent his contact info along with it.

It wasn't until the walk home with Pops that he realized he hadn't planned to invite Ace home. He cycled through his logs for the day, the actions he took and the reasoning attached to each. Cause and effect for nearly all of them-even the simple "person-things" reasons such as "loyalty" and "family" which explained why he stood up for Pops in discussions or calmed his siblings who were angry at Ace's outburst.

The invitation to Ace and sending his contact info had nothing attached to it. It was just there. A spontaneous and completely brand-new action with no reason or logic which spawned it.

If he were decades younger than he currently was, he'd be alarmed. But experience taught him well. When he first began to exhibit person-hood and individuality (when he first "began to develop his ghost" as Whitey would call it), such things became common and every day occurrences. Concern for the well being of his family, even the concept of "family" and things that could be "his", started the exact same way-spontaneous and completely new with no spawn point to track it back to.

As it stood, he wasn't even that surprised. He'd never get the hang of "intuition" and "gut-feelings", but he supposed this was something he should have seen coming. Pops attracted strays like stink did flies and Ace was about as feral as they come.

He was only proven right in the following months as Ace bonded with everyone. He fit seamlessly into the family and everyone adored him and his brothers. They respected his privacy, let him talk when he wanted, and didn't push. When the day came that he wanted to be called "son" and "brother" they had a party. When the day came, two years after he stumbled into that group discussion, that Ace revealed he was actually the illegitimate son of a well known-and publicly executed-political radical nobody batted an eye about it. Marco just filed it away under special encryption and locked it up tight in a partitioned area of his memory where he kept other private and vital, and incredibly sentimental, memories and files.

Then, upon closer look at said partitioned memory, he realized something that did surprise him. He'd allocated a lot of space for information about Ace. Nearly two thirds of the partitioned data, in fact, was about or related to Ace in some way. The filing tags had no real insight as to why and the reason fields for most of them were blank.

They were just there, filed and neatly organized as anything else, for no reason whatsoever. That's when he went to Whitey.

Bokura wa Minna Ikiteiru

(do robots dream of electric sheep?)

Marco is a one-of-a-kind custom medical android. Built by Whitey Bay-a world renowned body prosthetics designer and "dumb" AI programmer-as a caretaker for her father, modeled after a grab-bag of physical traits that various surveys over the years found to be "soothing" and "relaxing" characteristics.

His personality was hand-crafted, lovingly, by not only Whitey but by her siblings and her father to be relaxed but driven, laid-back but focused, a paradox of supportive and dismissive yet grounding and assertive. She knew, in the days of finishing touches leading up to the last and only boot sequence that would matter, she was playing with fire. She'd seen the results of similar experiments and the laws passing around the world about rights for non-human intelligence and sentience. She had been reading, during long code-checking and rendering, journals posted on darknet sites from her colleagues around the world about ghost studies. She'd seen blackened reports about Japan's problem with military intelligence AI in machines, had watched live footage of an AI satellite dropping out of orbit to perfectly intercept a nuclear missile. She knew, she believed she knew, exactly what she was doing.

Then the day came, 43 years ago, that she pressed "begin sequence" on the final boot. Lights flashed, code flew across the screen, and fifteen minutes later Marco opened his eyes for the first time. He was, as expected, a bit stiff and formal at the beginning. But, years and decades went by, her siblings all treated him just the same as they treated each other. Pops claimed him as a son within five minutes of meeting him.

She suspected something was happening within the first year. Marco's non-verbal behavioral procedures changed-relaxed posture, shrugging shoulders, blinking became a more organic reaction than something to be reminded of. He began to sigh-fake heaving chest and all-and shake his head for no reason at all when Pops resisted treatment. He'd bite his lip, check his nails, mimic things she knew herself and her siblings did as idiosyncratic ticks. Then it settled down, like he'd chosen something for himself, and suddenly Marco was Marco-he laughed at jokes and told a few of his own (fumbling at first, not understanding the layers of potential humor that could be wrapped into a single sentence punchline), he hugged when people were upset or sought out contact when there was nothing obvious on the surface to bother him. She knew, by the end of the second year, he had developed a ghost all on his own.

She kept records throughout it all. A time came when she had an opportunity to write about Marco, her personal experience in ghosts created from machines. He was public, after all, one of the first to apply for and be granted non-human personhood by their country (an act he did completely on his own, without telling anyone but Pops, and surprised everyone on his own "birthday" by slapping the paperwork on the table and declaring he "wins" the award for 'best present given to oneself' competition that her siblings like to joke about). She could have done it-could have told the world about her incredible brother.

She chose not to.

Her brother was a private guy. He didn't want that much attention on him. He would grin and bear it for her, she knew, but she also knew that he wouldn't be happy either. He loved their family, he loved her and their Pops, and he loved to be a support to everyone around him. But he was never comfortable being at the center of everyone's focus, even for good reasons. She filed the records away, put them in a safe in a bank, and left them to Marco in her standing will for him to do with as he wanted someday.

Life went on, everyone got older. Marco changed his body-asked Whitey for help on the first few shells, minor little changes from eyes he could alter the color at will to a different shape of the mouth. Then, the most recent and final shell he designed by himself 20 years ago, came to be. Hair cropped just so, eyes blazing blue just like hers, a grin just as wide as Pops', a symbol inked into the fake skin of the chest to represent their family.

Marco celebrated birthdays, milestones, and parties. He mourned despite the inability to cry, he laughed, he got angry. He learned to be human alongside the teens and young adults of her siblings and her father and he devoured knowledge like every other college-age student she'd ever met. He was as human as she was, in her mind.

Then came Ace.

Then came the realization that for as much of a person as he was, Marco had no idea what to do with even the idea of romance.

#AR writes #we are all alive

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library-of-ohara · 3 years ago

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Pokemon AU Part 1 Ace

Part one of the Pokemon AU for anon!

Request filled by @cyborg-franky and art by @donivanessdoodles

AN: I tried to smush in OP lore for some characters and mix it in a workable way for Pokemon but I'm not 100% in the know so I did my best.

Meeting The Team

Ace set out on his journey before any of his brothers, he always told them his first pokemon was going to be scary and powerful, he wanted to make Sabo and Luffy so jealous. His first pokemon was actually a Rattata.

He’d been taking a break on his journey, grabbed lunch out of his bag and saw the pokemon approach him with a wary look. He threw some food towards him, the little guy got closer. So close Ace was able to pet him.

The rattata seemed to enjoy his attention, showing signs of affection. Ace grinned, he always had a soft spot for the little purple pokemon that would run around the town at night and steal food, just like him with his dine and dashes.

He got out a pokeball and gently tapped the pokemon on the side with it, capturing him easily. It seemed like he just wanted to be with Ace. Rattata never spends much time in his ball, likes to sit on his shoulder or scamper around his feet as he walks.

Ace picked Charmander as his starter simply because he could relate to Charizard, like him it was so much more than people thought. Yes, the pokemon was powerful, unstoppable when trained by the right person.

Yet, the small helpless flame that flickered on the tail was what kept it alive, it wouldn’t take a lot to snuff it out, how strong, feral, powerful but also fragile the creature was. It was something he could relate to and had a soft spot for the starter straight away.

He lowkey hates how cliché his choice was but loves him, nonetheless.

Salazzle was an accident. He was travelling through the desert on an errand. The lizard stalked him for a few miles before deciding to get in his way, sizing him up and Ace was sure the pokemon was going to attack him.

He simply blasted the Salazzle with his Charmander and captured it, mostly out of spite and Ace’s stubborn nature. Salazzle has since grown very affectionate towards Ace, she is often hostile to Marco when he gets too close to him.

Also, very jealous of Ace’s rattata for getting the lion’s share of Ace’s love.

Darumaka was also a pokemon Ace found while travelling through the desert. He’d set up camp for the night, his rattata was playing with his Charmander around the fire when the pokemon decided to tuck in his limbs and roll down the slope.

Charmander and rattata were having a good time playing with the ‘ball’ while Ace cooked food for everyone over the open fire. Ace had no idea where his team had found the ‘ball’ until he realised it was a Darumaka. He didn’t see the harm in its presence since everyone was enjoying playing with him

It wasn’t till the red creature who was so full of energy just stopped and fell asleep suddenly. Ace laughed at the sudden falling asleep and simply said out loud “Me too, me too.” he liked the pokemon so much he caught him while he slept.

Lapras he came in contact with when he’d left the desert, he found the very injured Lapras who looked like they had taken damage from a battle. It seemed like someone had deemed the pokemon too weak, she was on the smaller side for a Lapras. He had his suspicions after beating the pokemon the person who caught her decided she wasn’t good enough for their purpose and left her here injured. He caught her just to take her to the nearest poke centre.

When the nurse was done, she handed the pokeball back saying that even if she was a rescue Ace should take her with him, give her a better chance at being happy, that Ace seemed like a kind soul who would help her.

So now he uses Lapras to travel, she’s small but fast and he crosses distance in no time at all.

Marowak was something that took Ace off guard. Ace and Marco went on a vacation together for their first anniversary as a couple and had been checking out caves and they came across a very angry Marowak in a form they’d never seen before.

Marco explained Cubones and Marowak’s reminded him of Ace, after knowing what Ace had been through, how he also had to evolve past anger and sadness to become the person he is today, it resonated with him.

Ace couldn’t help feeling a connection, that and the blue fire was captivating. It took Marowak a lot to warm up to Ace but now they have mutual respect for one another and an understanding.

------------------

Ace’s story

It didn’t take long before Ace decided he was ready to fight the Elite Four which is where he met Marco and Whitebeard. Whitebeard being one of the four, Ace was desperate to prove himself despite the friendly advice from Whitebeard.

That’s when Ace got his ass kicked. He was embarrassed and felt bad, but Marco told him he was still learning and growing, not to be so hard on himself. That’s when Ace wanted to join the Whitebeards under Pop’s and learn to be better, finding a found family and then finding love with Marco.

Ace likes to travel and explore; he wants to work up to being a gym leader in one of Whitebeard’s territories.

TAG LIST: @fire-fist-ann @rivvd-art @santoru @mimi-ya @simp4ace @aifozu @useless-potatho

@iloveportgasdace @smoleeveewrites @strawhat-bast

@gonuclear @undercoverweeeb @slut4animedilfs @acesmarigold

@sanjithesimp @aces-sweetheart @sugxrslushy @kaizokuwritings

@iloveportgasdace @bepoprotectionsquad @ace-no-isha

@thatsprettycoolbro

#one piece pokemon au #one piece pokemon #sfw #cyborg-franky #portgas d ace #portgas d. ace #fire fist ace #franky writes #authorsofohara

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yukipri · 4 years ago

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On the Baratie, Part 5 Epilogue - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Here’s the final part of the Baratie series!

Includes my personal headcanons for Thatch’s backstory in this AU (and possibly canon, as I doubt we’ll learn much more about him sigh).

WARNINGS (actual warnings this time):

＊Trigger warnings for non-graphic violence, gore, unwilling self-harm, mention of thoughts of suicide, and body horror. Canon-typical dark backstory.

Slight ship warnings for: minor Sanji x Luffy, Thatch x Luffy, hint of bg Sabo x Luffy, but not ship-focused.

Continues off of past parts!

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 1

👒🐟On the Baratie, Prologue

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 2

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 3

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 4

They've been traveling together for a while now. With more additions to the crew, Sanji's no longer the newest member. They leave East Blue, crossing over to the Grand Line. Their voyage continues onward.

Fitting into his role as the second cook of the ASL Pirates was easier than Sanji could have ever hoped, and he knows it's largely due to Thatch. Thatch, who, for all his incredible skill and titles and history, turns out to be...a remarkably normal person. It takes less than an hour for Sanji's awe over Thatch being his childhood idol to turn into pure indignation when the other cook professes his love for Luffy, and now their daily proposals to Luffy with food are just part of routine on the Merry.

(Sanji still knows his cooking is amateur in comparison to Thatch's, but none of their crew seems to realize, and Luffy eats all their food with equal gusto. Even Thatch himself only ever compliments Sanji, often with ridiculous faux outrage that Sanji's cooking looks better, which is absolutely false, Sanji would know. But even so, the man sounds so genuinely offended that Sanji can't help but appreciate the lengths the older man will go to in order to keep Sanji from feeling inferior.)

It's during a rare moment of calm, when the skies are clear and Deuce and Nami seem relaxed about their progress, when Sanji decides there's never going to be a better time to ask. He finishes washing the last of the pastry plates from the desserts the crew had just finished devouring (his hands momentarily pause on a plate that Ace had to pull out of Luffy's throat when she swallowed it whole along with the pastry, and Sanji allows himself a moment of imagining that the plate with her slobber is somewhat like an indirect kiss...), before he exits the kitchen to go to his locker.

From the locker, buried beneath gravure magazines of buxom ladies whose beauty will never compare to Luffy's, he pulls out a magazine far more valuable to him, the only one of its kind that he'd brought with him from the Baratie.

Back up on the main deck, Sanji finds Thatch sitting by the mast while watching Luffy and Usopp play with some new contraption the latter made. He looks up when he senses Sanji's approach, grimacing when the movement makes the wind blow his now loose hair into his mouth.

"I need a hair tie if Marco's not going to send me my damn hair wax," Thatch complains, even as he pats the ground next to him for Sanji to sit.

"You could always ask our lovely navigator," Sanji grunts as he drops down, careful not to fold the magazine, which Thatch has yet to notice.

"Ah, beautiful Miss Nami might have one, but her hair's pretty short...honestly more likely Deuce'll have one." Thatch sulks, because he'd really rather get a hair tie from a pretty lady, but as it is, Thatch probably has the longest hair on the crew at the moment, followed by their first mate. "If only our ladies had longer hair...ah, my darling Seastar with long hair..."

Sanji lets himself get drawn into imagining their most dazzling Lady Captain leaning against the rail of the Merry, sunlight sparkling off the waves in the background paling in comparison to her radiance. Her face is shadowed by her trademark straw hat, before she raises her head, causing long, silky strands to ripple around her like dark angel wings, glittering threads of black diamond dancing across her cheeks before she tucks them behind her ear with a small smile--

Both cooks sigh dreamily in perfect unison.

"Hey Luffy, they're thinking somethin' pervy about you again!" Usopp shouts in the background.

Both cooks ignore him, likewise in perfect synch.

Thatch regretfully pulls out of his Luffy Vision first. "So, you got something to talk to me about?" He knows it can't be about dinner, because they'd already started prepping for that.

Sanji blinks, and oh, there's Luffy, with her short hair, still just as lovely, probably doing something incredibly stupid and dangerous, but that's okay because Sabo's stepping in, and the Revolutionary may be batshit crazy but he won't let Luffy hurt herself--and right, he wanted to talk to Thatch.

He carefully brings the magazine out in front of him, and Thatch leans over curiously. The pages easily fall open to the column, remembering the page Sanji poured over countless times. Sanji hears Thatch's breath hitch.

"This you?" Sanji asks, looking at the faded photo of the smiling boy, before his eyes flick to Thatch.

The older man's eyes are wide, glued to the page. Sanji wordlessly offers him the magazine, and Thatch slowly takes it, his hands handling the paper carefully as though worried it'll crack.

"Yeah, that's me alright," Thatch murmurs, eyes scanning the column before his lips twist into a wry smile. "How the hell did you get your hands on this fossil?"

"Found it while we were looking for stuff for the Baratie's collection, some old second hand shop," Sanji says, and it's not a lie, but it's not like he can admit he was obsessed with them and actually hunted for them after obtaining the first ones.

Thatch makes a low sound of understanding, before he starts flipping through the rest of the magazine, pages that Sanji honestly doesn't even remember. "I wonder if this magazine's still even going..."

"It is," Sanji informs him. "It's changed a lot, but we still get it delivered."

Thatch laughs then, shaking his head as he closes the magazine and hands it back to Sanji with the same care. "I'm sure it has changed, after what happened, oh man..."

Sanji frowns. So something did happen.

"So how did the kid in this end up a Whitebeard pirate?" he asks, but he means, How did the boy's adventure end?

"Mm, you sure you wanna know? It's not a particularly nice story, though I suppose it has a happy end." Thatch leans back heavily against the mast, his hand subconsciously reaching up to brush hair away from his face, lingering on the deep, if old scar around his left eye. Sanji wonders if it's related.

"If it's something you don't mind sharing. I'm sure I can handle it."

They're interrupted by a crash, and look up to see Sabo heaving Luffy up back over the rail by the end of her tail. She'd clearly almost fallen overboard, again, but is laughing as carefree as ever, even as Usopp wrings his hands apologetically behind them. Sabo doesn't look mad though, and is stroking Luffy's hair now that she's safely back on deck and in his arms, his face disgustingly besotted.

Deuce and Nami come out of the cabin at the noise, and Ace and Zoro startle awake from their respective naps as well. Deuce takes one look at what's going on, and launches into a full blown scolding session for all three of the members involved, clearly dissatisfied with the way Sabo handled it. It had only taken the first mate a few days in his company before Deuce had determined that no matter how sensible Sabo may seem at times, he's still Another Stupid Brother, and therefore gets the same treatment.

The rest of the crew listening in winces when Deuce hurls a, "Luffy being stupid is one thing, but you're WAY too lenient with her, you foolish Revolutionary!" Nami and Koala cheer him on in the background.

("Told you," Ace mouths, before hastily looking away when Deuce's gaze snaps to him.)

Usopp looks thoroughly chastised and sincerely sorry, Sabo looks weirdly pleased as though being told he's lenient is a compliment, and Luffy looks bored and is searching for an escape when her gaze lands on the two cooks.

"Thatch! Story time?!" is all the warning they get, before Luffy's arms grab onto the mast behind them and the mermaid torpedoes head-first into Thatch's chest. It's a testament to the Whitebeard Commander's sturdiness that all he does is grunt at the considerable impact, even as Sanji winces in sympathy. That'll definitely bruise.

"Alright, yeah story time, if anyone wants to hear my boring old past," Thatch agrees, and Luffy cheers, turning herself sideways and flopping down on Thatch's crossed legs to look up at him with eyes sparkling with expectation. Sanji isn't even jealous, because in her new position, Luffy's thrown her tail across Sanji's lap, and he begins reverently rubbing circles into her soft scales, heat creeping up his cheeks when her flukes flick with pleasure.

Deuce sighs, giving up on his scolding as everyone gathers around the cooks. But he doesn't seem too disappointed, and pulls out his notebook as he joins them, as though he intends on recording whatever Thatch's going to say. Ace plops himself down on Thatch's other side, ruffling Luffy's hair distractedly and hiding his curiosity poorly. Sanji gets the feeling that despite knowing him for much longer, Ace hasn't heard much about Thatch's past either.

"Well, so..."

Thatch was born to a middle class family in a relatively active port town on the Grand Line. His parents ran a modest diner, certainly nothing high class, but popular enough among the locals to almost always have full seats.

Thatch was what they called a "child prodigy." He'd started helping in the kitchen simply because he wanted to do the same things as his parents, but by the time he was seven, he'd already surpassed both of them in skill. His parents decided to leave the kitchen to him, while they focussed on management.

With Thatch behind the menu, the restaurant's popularity grew, drawing more traffic. Among their visitors were occasional food critics, who spread their business's reputation and made it something of a cult tourist spot.

When Thatch was nine, his father came up with the idea that it might be good publicity, for people to know that a literal child was behind their now famous restaurant's food. And in the name of said publicity, he also decided to have the restaurant officially under Thatch's name, although is parents still managed it.

"Child prodigy chef owns his own restaurant," was definitely a headline that journalists latched onto. The berries were rolling in.

Thatch himself, he didn't really care about that. He rarely ever left the kitchen now, constantly cooking, constantly coming up with new menu items, constantly training new chefs as their once small family diner expanded into a chain. He didn't really mind it, he loved cooking after all, but he often wished he still had time to talk to patrons, or explore town. While there weren't any child labor laws in their country, he couldn't go to school or make friends or do anything a normal child might otherwise enjoy.

So when the largest, most prominent cooking magazine sent a representative to talk about a potential column centered around him, Thatch was hopeful. He'd always dreamed of leaving the island, and it'd never seemed like an achievable dream. He wanted to exposure to new things to expand his cooking repertoire, and he wanted to be able to challenge himself as a cook--but more than anything, he also just wanted go and see what might be out there, outside of his diner's kitchen.

His parents reluctantly agreed. At this point, Thatch had trained enough experienced cooks, and their reputation was established enough that Thatch's temporary absence wouldn't damage them. And Thatch knew his parents were drawn by the potential for greater publicity from the column, and Thatch (and their restaurant) possibly becoming a household name not just on the Grand Line, but across the world.

(Thatch never thought his parents were bad people, or even bad parents. He hadn't wanted for anything, and they let him pursue and nurture his passion. That they were business-minded, and had also come to see Thatch as an asset and publicity tool was something he understood. They still loved him, in their own way.)

His parents' only condition was that Thatch return in a few years, before he was fifteen. A "child prodigy" becomes less interesting with age, and eventually becomes "a normal adult." They wanted Thatch back before that, to reestablish his connection to their diner, before he inevitably faded out of public interest, or had to re-establish his identity as an adult cook.

And so at eleven years old, what seemed like the entire town saw off Thatch, who set sail on a small ship manned by experienced sailors, and chaperoned by the journalist who would be documenting his voyage.

For the first two years, the journey was everything Thatch had ever wanted. They would go to new islands, information provided to him by the journalist, and then he would be given free reign to do whatever he wanted, so long as it included food and cooking, which is what Thatch would have been drawn to do anyway. That there were always a handful of adults a few paces behind him, documenting everything he did and forcing him to voice his thoughts out loud, all eventually faded into the background. Thatch got used to voicing his inner thoughts for their benefit. It was hardly a chore, and Thatch was having the time of his life.

But all things eventually change. Due to the success of the column, Thatch's journalist was given a promotion, and the last stretch of his journey before Thatch was to return to his home island was assigned to a new journalist. Thatch had always known that their relationship was strictly professional, and was used to changing traveling companions at this point. It felt a bit lonely that the first journalist, the only person who had remained a constant, was leaving...but he understood.

It's just business, after all.

The new journalist replaced the old one, and their journey continued--or at least, it was supposed to.

Child!Thatch, adult Thatch would later think, was remarkably naive and sheltered for all that he was a veteran cook. He was used to having things being laid out in front of him on a neat platter, for the adults in his life to control all aspects of his life, conveniently convincing himself that it's what he wanted anyway. He was used to the adults taking care of all the details, because all Thatch had to do to make everyone happy was cook. He not once doubted those responsible for his life, and blindly trusted that they would keep everything smooth and safe for him.

Because when one day, thirteen-year old Thatch woke up to see red staining the walls of the cabin, and then looked around to find the corpses of everyone else on the ship strewn around him, it took a remarkably long time for him to process that this definitely wasn't what was supposed to happen.

He was disoriented, too numb to even feel panic or put up a fight when the new journalist came in and tied him up to pass him to the pirates who had decimated the crew.

Pirates. It wasn't the Golden Age of Piracy yet, and although the Roger Pirates and other famous names were often whispered about, most sailors didn't expect to personally run into pirates. Thatch had been warned of their existence, but hadn't really thought much on them, as they had seemed irrelevant to his own peaceful civilian adventures.

The pirates and the journalist had a deal, he gathered. The pirates had wanted to get their hands on the famous child prodigy cook, and were willing to pay good money. The journalist had agreed, and had summoned the pirates to their location. Everyone but Thatch and the journalist had been killed to erase witnesses.

Before handing Thatch off to them, the journalist demanded payment first. Thatch remembers wondering why the journalist hadn't demanded anything before agreeing to the deal--it seemed a bad business tactic.

Thatch was standing right next to the journalist when the pirate captain drew his sword. Thatch wasn't scared, because he knew he wouldn't be hurt. He was an asset. And he probably knew what would happen before the journalist did.

He still remembers feeling the whoosh of air as the sword came, the sound of it hitting flesh, the dull thunk, the loosening of the arms gripping the rope that held Thatch bound.

Thatch thought ah, so human heads can be severed just as easily as fish heads.

Thatch didn't put up a fuss, going with the pirates. It was clear he couldn't have stayed on the ransacked ship, because even if he did, he had no way of manning the ship alone, even if he even knew how. And so he wordlessly followed, and continued to do what he'd done his whole life: obey adults.

And at first it wasn't bad. A kitchen was a kitchen, no matter how dirty, and Thatch knew how to please people with food. The pirates seemed overjoyed with Thatch's skill.

But some part of Thatch really wondered if that's all they wanted from him, and that bad feeling manifested itself as reality soon.

Hey brat, the captain said one day, and dumped a sack of ingredients Thatch had never used before into the kitchen. Turn this into something good. We need to get rid of an entire rival crew, and they're gluttons.

Thatch may never have used them before, but he recognized the things in the bag. They were all things he knew to avoid.

The pirate captain was asking him to make poison.

Thatch was a cook. No matter the reasons why people wanted him to cook, no matter who benefited and what money was passed around, and no matter how terrible the conditions--Thatch was alright so long as he could cook. Thatch cooked so that he could make delicious things that would in the end, contribute to nourishing people. He polished his skills to make that experience better, to make his patrons happier, to make himself feel more accomplished as a result.

Poison...that wasn't something that a cook could make.

Thatch, for the first time, spoke back to an adult. He felt that numb feeling again, over any fear.

I'm a cook, I can't make anything that can harm people. Please let me start preparing dinner. Thatch stated it as fact, and to him, it was.

The pirate struck Thatch. It was the first time he'd ever been hit, because as a child prodigy, as an asset, he'd always been too valuable to damage. But now...

You'll make it, or we have no need for you.

Bars were added to the kitchen, making it Thatch's cell. All edible ingredients were confiscated. And every day, the pirates came in with more ingredients, more demands.

Make an aphrodisiac. Make a date rape drug. Make something that'll make someone lose feeling in their limbs. Make something that'll cause loss of senses. Make something that'll cause crazy hallucinations. Make something deadly, but undetectable in water. Make something that can dissolve guts from the inside out. Make something that won't kill, but cause excruciating pain. Make something that WILL kill, but only after several days.

The pirates didn't want a cook. They wanted a master poisons brewer. Which, Thatch was not.

Every time Thatch refused, they beat him. They threatened to cut off his legs, because why would he need them, when all he needed were his hands? They threatened to carve out his eyes, and the captain stabbed a knife close to his left eye to show how serious he was. They left Thatch with running water, but didn't give him anything to eat, other than the deadly, horrible ingredients they'd left inside the kitchen for him to turn into even worse poisons.

Thatch sorted the ingredients by those least harmful, and kept himself alive by reluctantly eating those first, but knew that the longer this continued, the more permanent and fatal the damage those ingredients would cause.

(He tried to come up with ways to use what he had to nullify effects, but he was just a kid, and it was his first time trying to make actual medicine. His experiments were risky, and often failed.)

Thatch didn't know how long he was in there, his sense of time and self muddled as he survived off of numbing agents and aphrodisiacs and hallucinogens. They barely kept him alive, and made him feel horrible. He tried to remember why it was so important he kept eating them, and rationing them like they were valuable.

In the corner of the kitchen was an ever growing pile of bright, beautiful fruits that he knew would cause immediate agonizing death...but they looked so lusciously juicy and ripe, and it was getting harder to remember why he couldn't eat them.

Perhaps it was the hallucinogens, perhaps it was everything wrong with his body that Thatch had unwillingly caused himself by eating, but one day, Thatch realized he was going through the movements of peeling those fruits, chopping them, squeezing the juices and watching with fascination as they sizzled into the bubbling pot he was brewing. He was too entranced by the concoction to even notice that his hands were burning and blistering, or perhaps they were just too numb.

He added spices, adjusted heat, and hummed. It had been too long, since he had cooked.

Except he wasn't cooking, because this wasn't food.

It smelled quite delicious, Thatch thought, mildly impressed with himself. Something tropical and fruity, mellowed by mushrooms and a great many other herbs. And it looked aesthetically pleasing, with its dancing, hypnotic colors. If he hadn't known what had gone into it, he'd consider it presentable to critics as his next seasonal special.

But now that it was done, and ready to be served, Thatch had no clue what to do with it.

He hadn't thought that far (he wasn't thinking at all), and didn't know how to think about the thing he made, when it wasn't edible.

He supposed he could possibly see if it could melt through the bars of his cell, though he wasn't sure where he'd even go if he could escape. The cell didn't have any windows, and Thatch wasn't even sure they were at an island, they could still be on open water. Thatch might be able to throw it on a pirate, as a weapon. But there were dozens of pirates on board, and not nearly enough for all of them.

He could drink it himself. It would be an escape of sorts, he supposed.

It never crossed Thatch's mind to offer the concoction to the pirates, as a creation to be used.

He stood in the kitchen for hours, aimlessly stirring the pot, watching the brew get darker and darker, its magical colors turning into murky brown. Eventually, it became a thick, black tar-like substance that reflected no light, that looked like a void as Thatch stared into it.

A thin gray haze gradually began filling the room, and Thatch was well aware of it. He was already starting to feel noticeably worse than before. He supposed that was one way of giving himself a time limit: he'd either decide what to do with the brew, or succumb to the fumes first.

He distantly heard muted sounds overhead, and he realized the pirates may be fighting someone. It happened once in a while. But it was usually with other pirates, and he doubted it was the marines, and no civilian vessel would dare get close to such an obvious pirate ship. And well, if it was pirates...that's just more of the same, wasn't it?

Thatch eventually heard footsteps approaching the room, and someone coughing as they inhaled the fumes, now dense enough to be a dark smog that made it hard to see his own hands (or maybe that was the effect of the poison in him).

A creak--the cell doors were opening.

Thatch could barely think anymore, but made a split second decision. He didn't know what the consequences would be, but had a hunch he wouldn't survive long enough to find out anyway, so what did it matter.

He picked up the pot, and hurled all of its contents at the approaching figure.

There was a FUCK! and then--

Thatch won't ever forget what happened when that brew hit a human body.

But as he fell, the last of his strength gone, wondering if he should feel horrible or proud that he killed someone on his way out, Thatch saw the room light up, the black haze vanishing into searing, brilliant turquoise flames.

"And so that's how I met Marco!" Thatch says, voice surprisingly chipper, even though Sanji feels like retching.

"You melted him," Ace says flatly, voice a mix of horror and awe.

"Sure did, if he had been anyone else they probably woulda been a puddle of human goo, and even he got halfway there," Thatch agrees, his hands stroking Luffy's hair harder, as they'd been doing all throughout his story telling. "Though lucky me, to have thrown poison at possibly one of the only people in the world with instant self-regeneration and possibly immortality."

"Was he mad? Pineapple bird-man. Melting doesn't sound very fun," Luffy frowns. She'd admittedly fallen asleep for most of the story, but woke up again when Thatch's hands in her hair got more tense, more urgent. She contentedly nuzzles into his thigh, more interested in making sure that Thatch's alright than in his answer, and she purrs when he crooks his fingers to scritch her reassuringly.

"Oh sure, he was mad for a little bit, but he's a nice guy and was a worry-wort even back then, so he brought me to Pops. And well, it took a while, but we're best buddies now and have been for years! Fancy that."

Deuce was shaking his head. "I still can't believe that stupid crew wanted to take down Pops with poison of all things, and were stupid enough to enter his territory without it even being ready."

"Well, it's not like they could have won in direct combat, and to be fair, back then the Four Emperors weren't that established, and territories in the New World were a lot looser than they are now." Thatch shrugged. "If nothing else, it was a creative angle, if a poorly thought out one, unlike some people's way of challenging Pops." Ace fidgets uncomfortably here, and Deuce snorts.

"You..." Sanji's finally recovering from his queasiness, because fuck Thatch's tale really wasn't pretty, especially from a cook's perspective. "You don't mind fighting, and killing people now?" He glances at the swords strapped to Thatch's belt, and thinks about his own insistence to never use his hands in combat.

"Well, I'd prefer not to do it, same as anyone else. But I don't mind fighting in general, and once Pops adopted me, I wanted to be able to defend myself." Thatch laughs here, and it sounds bitter, making Luffy look up. "Haruta actually suggested I use poison, if I knew how to make one that could almost take down the Phoenix, and, well...that's a no. May have thrown him overboard for that, but he deserved it. I told them I was good with knives, and Vista helped me develop my own style."

The conversation moves on then, the other crew members chipping in with questions, but Sanji sort of tunes it all out. He thought he was over his queasiness, but it's back again. Being forced to brew poison, and being offered nothing but harmful things to eat...fuck. Even Judge hadn't done that...

He feels something wrap around him then, and Sanji looks down, and realizes that Luffy's looped her tail so that her flukes curl behind his back, securely holding him, even as she continues to nuzzle Thatch's leg for attention.

How weak he must be, Sanji thinks, to need his captain's comfort now. But it helps, and he gradually relaxes.

Eventually the others realize that the story's over, and disperse back to their usual tasks, leaving Thatch and Sanji and a snoozing Luffy curled around both of their laps.

"Well, I guess that explains how the boy prodigy's journey ended," Sanji says, reaching over to Thatch's side to run his hand through Luffy's hair, smiling when she hums happily.

Thatch makes a soft sound, that sounds like possibly disagreement. "Well, sure, I ended up joining the Whitebeard pirates, and never ended up going back to my hometown. Everyone thought I was dead anyway, and being on the Moby was better than any restaurant for me, because I got to feed my brothers and travel, at least wherever the Moby goes, and that's still a fine adventure in its own way. But I guess you're right in that with a territory and a literal army backing me up...it's not quite the same kind of adventure, without the trill of the unknown."

Thatch looks up then, and when his eyes sweep across their little ship, and the small crew strewn about it, he looks fond. "But I guess in a way, that's what I'm doing now, isn't it? I may no longer be a 'boy prodigy,' but me traveling with you guys, going back up the Grand Line...it's sorta like that journey again."

Sanji blinks.

"The end of that journey...maybe you're on it with me, right now." Thatch winks.

Sanji snorts. "That's so cheesy," he says, but he doesn't meant it, not really, because he can't deny the giddiness that begins welling up in him at the thought.

Because what adult doesn't still have a child inside them, buried underneath layers of years, still craving those wishful dreams from long ago?

There's a moment of silence, before both cooks break out into laughter, carefree and boyish.

And so their journey continues onward.

Aaand that's a wrap! For this lil story series within this ever growing AU at least!

It may be a cheesy ending, but it still feels like an ending of sorts? which, is something I usually never actually manage to write to, everything I write is usually either short or abandoned....so I Feel Accomplished ^ ^;;

If you managed to get through it all, thanks so much for reading and sticking with this!!!! ;A; I’m definitely extremely curious to know if you have any thoughts regarding my take on Thatch's past, or anything else, because as always any comments are HUGELY appreciated!

Thanks again!

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

#OnePieceMermaidAU #One Piece Mermaid AU #Thatch #One Piece #Vinsmoke Sanji #text headcanons #longpost #long post #ThatchLu #SanLu #genderbend

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misc-headcanons · 5 years ago

Note

i don't know if this is stupid or not, but could i ask of you something where the tiny ASL brothers are kind of adopted by a nice reader who wants to care for the poor boys?

(Aaaaa I love this so much!!! These got kind of long; I got a bit carried away with this idea, lol)

You had first encountered the three boys when they were playing on the beach while you were out gathering fish to eat. Luffy was the first one to approach you to say hi (and to ask to eat some of your fish). You laughed and offered to cook some for him if he wanted, and Ace and Sabo heard your offer of free food as well. They all followed you back to your house hidden in the middle of the woods, and the boys were amazed they’d never seen your house while they were exploring the island.

They all scarfed down the lunch you’d made for them, and soon they’d pop in every few days to have lunch and to play in your yard. Sabo liked that you had a collection of books he could read, and you let him borrow a few to bring back to Dadan’s house. Ace appreciated how kind you were and how eager you were to listen to what he had to say, and Luffy thought you made the best food in the world.

Dadan and Garp were suspicious when the boys talked about their new adult friend, but once they met you (after inviting you for a drink at Dadan’s cabin) their suspicions melted away when they saw how genuinely kind/loving you were towards the three kids.

You became friends with Garp and Dadan quickly, and one day Dadan approached you to ask if you wanted to watch over the boys while she went with her group of bandits to “procure” some supplies. You eagerly accepted, and soon whenever Dadan had to leave she would trust you to take care of Ace, Sabo, and Luffy.

The three boys would frequently ask Dadan if they could go live with you, saying that they would still visit Dadan if she started to miss them too much. Dadan laughed and said there was no way she’d miss those three brats, but she said that it’d be nice to have someone else on the island to take care of you. She went to you later and asked if you would want to adopt the boys, and explained that she worried sometimes about the boys being in danger because of the work her bandit group did. She said that if any problems came up and someone dangerous ever came looking for them, she’d have her men ready at a moment’s notice.

You eagerly accepted, and soon the three boys had moved their belongings (what little they had) into your cottage. The three of them shared a room, but they were happy that they had more space than they did at Dadan’s. You also got furniture for each of them to store their own stuff, so that they had a sense of privacy (something they never got at Dadan’s).

Ace initially resisted whenever you were affectionate with him, and when you made him a cake for his first birthday at your house he ran off before you, Luffy, and Sabo could even sing to him. You found him crying at the edge of the woods, and he said that he didn’t deserve to be treated so kindly because he was the son of the Devil. You comforted him and tried your best from that day on to show him he was worth loving, and he was glad he had at least one adult who loved him.

Whenever Luffy felt left out (Sabo and Ace were closer in age, so sometimes he felt like he was a baby tagging along whenever they were hanging out together), you’d reassure him that they still cared about him and that they weren’t trying to baby him.

“Luffy, I think if you were just a baby to them, they wouldn’t have invited you to fight that giant tiger in the woods with them. Just because you’re a few years younger, that doesn’t mean you’re any weaker–and don’t let them forget it!”

“…Yeahhhh, you’re right. I may be younger, but I’m still gonna become King of the Pirates one day! Thanks, Mama/Papa ____!”

Sabo was especially attached to you, and he confessed why he’d run away from his biological family when he was younger. He worried that you’d hate him because of his former status, but you simply ruffled his hair and explained that who he was didn’t matter; even if it wasn’t a blood-relation, the four of you were family.

You taught Luffy to write and read, and while his penmanship never improved he always practiced writing by sending letters to you while he had his adventures across the seas. You were the first person to discover that Sabo was alive after he sent you a letter in a code based off an old book of spy methods/communication on your bookshelf that he loved reading as a child. Ace also frequently wrote to you, and you met up with him the most as the boys got older. You even met Whitebeard and his crew; Whitebeard immediately treated you as family, and he often said that he thought that the both of you were Ace’s parents. Never in a flirtatious way or anything, just an acknowledgment of how you two took him in and loved him when nobody else would.

After the events of Marineford, Marco wrote you a letter and (at Ace’s request in a letter he’d left for his crewmates to find after he’d passed) sent you what belongings he had left in his cabin on Whitebeard’s ship. Whenever they can, the remaining members of Whitebeard’s crew journeys to your home to check on you.

#one piece #one piece headcanon #one piece headcanons #ASL boys #Ace #portgas d. ace #sabo #luffy #monkey d. luffy #Anonymous #mine

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wordsdrippinginink · 5 years ago

Note

Hello, this is my first time doing a prompt and it feels like ordering at a drive-thru. Could you please write something with Marco trying to court Ace like a bird? I really like your work and enjoy anything you write. I hope you have a good day.

Ace tips his head to the side, studying the array of stones left at the door to his room, each one carefully polished and set to compliment both it and the ones next to it. Each one is sparkling and attention catching, some of them nothing more than Fool’s Gold and others sparkling Rubies with veins of something else creeping over the surface.

“Those look like a lot of money this time,” Deuce states, arching a brow at the stones and stepping over them into Ace’s room without a thought. “You got an admirer here?”

“Are stones something that you give to someone to tell them that you like them?” Ace asks curiously, picking up the stones carefully, tracing a thumb over the sharp edge of the ruby before setting it aside for the soft blue stone with golden webbing.

“Normally only when you want to marry them.”

Ace frowns, setting his new stones carefully onto his desk besides the others, “You give stones to someone to get married?”

“Sometimes I forget you grew up as a feral forest child and then you say something like that and it comes rushing back to me,” Deuce states shaking his head. “You make a ring and have a stone, something fancy or expensive, and use it to ask someone to marry you.”

“Why?”

“If I knew why people did things, I would be a historian instead of a pirate and a doctor.”

“They’re nice,” Ace says softly, running his thumb over the blue stone again. “Do you know what this one is?”

“Turquoise. My,” Deuce pauses, looking uncomfortable for a moment. “Ma used to have some, she liked the color. The shiny shit is gold. But I think you know that. Since you’re a pirate.”

“It’s pretty,” Ace says frowning at his friend as he trades it for the blue stone in his pocket. “This one?”

“Aquamarine, give me a challenge here, Ace.”

“Why am I getting them?”

Deuce barks out a laugh, collapsing onto Ace’s bed and pushing his mask up off his face to press the heels of his palms against his eyes, “If I knew that, I would be teasing you more. You’re the weirdo getting stones.”

“They’re nice,” Ace says defensively. “I, they’re a gift.”

He knows that Deuce has caught the inflection on the word when he sighs and rolls onto his side, silent for a long minute. The silence is loud enough that Ace’s ears are starting to ringing.

“You like gifts, don’t you?”

“I haven’t gotten many.”

Deuce sighs, forcing himself upright, “Alright, I’ll ask around. See if I can find out anything about stones and shit for you. Since I can be subtle, unlike you.”

“I’m subtle!”

“No you aren’t,” Deuce says grinning, even when Ace launches three of his Hotarubi across the space between them. “Ace, you know that it could mean anything.”

Ace nods and his chest aches, the Blues are vast and the customs even more so. The stones could be a gift or a curse or a warning. They might mean nothing or mean someone knows who his father is and plan to kill him, even if it sounds crazy. Ace doesn’t know what to think, but he hopes they’re gifts.

“You’re,” Deuce pauses, watching Ace for a moment, something unreadable in his expression. “We would still do anything for you, if you need us. Even if it means turning our backs on the Whitebeard Pirates. You still have us, no matter what.”

Ace watches the door close behind him and lets his shoulders fall, the lump in his throat heavy and painful as he tries to breathe through it.

---

“Here,” Deuce states three days later, looking more uncomfortable than the time he had been propositioned by a marine on Waters Seven. “It took a lot of work to find this out for you, so you best read this whole fucking thing.”

“This is a book on flightless sea birds,” Ace says slowly, recognizing the species on the cover. Gramps had said that they didn’t have enough meat on them to be satisfying and were too fast to be worth it. “Why do you even have this?”

“Because it will answer your stone questions,” Deuce says forcefully, refusing to meet Ace’s eye. “You have no idea what I did to get your answers and I feel like I’ve sold my soul, so you are going to read that cover to cover, with special focus on the stone thing.”

Ace frowns after him, even when the door to his room slams closed, before shrugging it off and opening it. It’s only the work of a few minutes to skim the book for what he wants, leaving him frowning at the mention of courtship and gifts, because he doesn’t know what that means. Courtship sounds like something nobles do or the romance novels that Makino didn’t keep in her house. But there’s no definition for it.

“You know,” Ace tells Kotatsu, frowning as he reads over the information again. “I think I’m more confused than I was before Deuce got me information.”

Kotatsu murrs, stretching over the bed to try and claim the whole thing for himself. Ace reaches over to scratch under his chin, trying to remember if there was a dictionary in the library that Thatch had shown him after he had joined the crew. He can’t remember and he’s not sure the definition won’t include words that he doesn’t know too. Just like the time that he had finally looked up some of the words that Sabo had used.

Ace takes a quick breath, clearing his mind before he can remember more, picking up the book and leaving his door open enough to let Kotatsu come and go as he pleased. Marco’s door is open, thankfully, so Ace doesn’t bother stopping to knock.

“Is something wrong,” Marco asks, looking at Ace over the tops of his glasses. There’s something in his eyes that makes Ace’s stomach feel too warm and cold in equal measures. “You look upset.”

“I found a word that I don’t know. Several words,” Ace admits, because Marco doesn’t treat Ace differently when he doesn’t know things. “Could you help me understand them?”

“I might need context for them.”

Ace nods, holding up his book, “They said that the birds used stones for courtship and mating. What does that mean?”

“For birds it means trying to attract a mate, to get another of their species interested in them.”

“Mating?”

“Sex or having children. Mate is similar to husband or wife.”

Ace frowns thoughtfully, “So they use stones to make other birds be attracted to them.”

“Birds all have rituals to convince, usually, females of their species to mate with them. Some dance or have bright colors, others give gifts.”

“Like stones.”

“This doesn’t really explain anything,” Ace mutters to himself. “Why would birds giving stones to other birds relate to someone giving them to me?”

Marco’s cheeks look red, like he’s gonna blush, “Perhaps they’re using the same method.”

“Oh,” Ace wrinkles his nose. “How do I respond? The penguins build nests with them, but I don’t think I can do that. And if I don’t know who to talk to about it, doesn’t that mean that I can’t answer?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. I have a meeting with Pops, so I have to go, but if you need more help in a little while, I could come around?”

“No thanks. Thank you for the answers, Marco!”

---

“Marco is a bird sometimes,” Ace says two days later, watching Deuce to see what his reaction will be. He decides he’s right when Deuce spills the bottle of ink he was using. “So the stones are from him.”

“How are you this smart yet so stupid at the same time,” Deuce hisses over his ruined report. “This was about Pops’ health, couldn’t you have waited ten minutes?”

“No,” Ace answers, because he couldn’t have. The question has been there for days now, waiting for him to connect something and now he has his answer. “Marco is courting me. Like a penguin.”

Deuce sighs, leaving the report to ruin on his desk to face Ace, “Phoenix is weird. All zoan has habits and carry over from their animistic side but there’s never been much stated about the Phoenix Zoan, it’s mythical,” he pauses, looking for his words. “Izou mentioned it to me when I started probing for you. He had a funny story about Marco tripping over his own feet while dancing.”

“Marco likes me.”

“You like him.”

Ace doesn’t deny it, it wouldn’t work even if he tried. He does like Marco. Marco is nice and makes sure that Ace is comfortable with what happens around him. He isn’t opposed to the courtship, he thinks at least not when it’s Marco. He wouldn’t consider it if Deuce was giving him stones.

“What are you planning on doing?” Deuce asks when Ace says nothing.

“Penguins build nests with their stones,” Ace answers, standing up and rolling his shoulders as he stretches. “I’m not a penguin, but I think I can build something with them.”

“I don’t think you have to respond like a penguin would.”

“Marco started this.”

Ace doesn’t say that it feels wrong to respond to Marco’s attempts with just words, not when there’s a procedure to the courtship that Marco’s started. But he thinks that Deuce understands him anyway, if the look he’s given means anything.

“Should I wish you luck?”

“No, I don’t think I need it.”

Deuce laughs, loud enough to follow Ace out of the room that they had claimed for their work. It echoes in his ears as he opens the door to his room and carefully pulls out his stones, setting them onto the ground. Hopefully this wouldn’t fall apart on him.

---

Marco stares at the circle of stones, only three stacks high and just barely big enough for Ace to lay it, his knees pulled up to his chest as he sleeps. His mouth feels dry and the weight of the newest set of stones in his pocket weigh like lead in his pockets, but the sight of what can only loosely be called a nest makes his heart feel like it will beat out of his chest.

It feels like hours before he moves into Ace’s room, pushing the door to, like it had been before he had knocked, kneeling down and setting the newest stones in a little line before the wall.

“Not gonna add ‘em?” Ace mutters sleepily, smiling when Marco looks up at him.

“That would be presumptuous of me.”

Ace snorts, yawning as he pushes himself upright, “Thought making them into a nest was an answer.”

“For a bird.”

“You started this like a bird,” he pauses, humming softly at something that Marco can’t see. “I like you.”

Marco swallows, “I like you too.”

“You could have just asked, ya know. Would have been easier.”

“I know.”

Ace nods, like he knows what Marco isn’t saying, “People don’t do courtship, what are we doing?”

“Dating, getting to know each other to know to see if we like each other enough to fall in love.”

“Dating,” Ace pulls a face, like the word is strange to him and perhaps it is. “Does this mean I can kiss you? I’ve been thinking about it, I would like to kiss you.”

“If you like.”

He doesn’t expect the way that Ace moves forward, kissing him. It’s too sudden and Marco’s lip is pushed into his teeth hard enough to cut through the skin, but he still laughs when Ace pulls back.

“Thank you for the stones, I really do like them.”

Marco laughs, leaning in for a second kiss carefully, “I’m glad.”

#marcoace #marco the phoenix #portgas d ace #masked deuce #canon au #marco uses bird courting #in this case penguin courting #because i like it #op fanfic #animal traits #friendship #kotatsu #i love the stone thing #i saw it in a movie and i have never forgotten it #wordword #i hope you enjoy!#thank you for the prompt!!!#horrible first time kiss #Anonymous

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touchmycoat · 5 years ago

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corpse bride!AU??

i was like “wow i need a writing warm-up” and here’s this mess that i’m tentatively describing as “frozen meets chinese ghosty shit”

Rated T for vaguely violent allusions, i don’t know what ships endgame i just wrote it

Sabo was sure the older man wanted to kill him.

“Maybe he’s secretly in love with you,” Koala mused, scraping at the floating tea leaves with the lid of her cup. “Maybe he’s seen you walking past his window at the same time every morning, and has just become so smitten with you he wants to propose.”

“That’s absurd,” Sabo dismissed. “I would never keep to a schedule long enough to be tracked, you know that.”

They both knew that, and lived by the same set of rules. Today’s rendezvous, for instance, had been so well-masked that probably even Iva-san didn’t know when and where they were meeting.

Which, of course, just made it all the more worrisome that that man had found them.

“Does he think he’s being subtle?” Sabo said incredulously, stirring his soy latte with an errant chopstick he’s licked clean. The man—mid-thirties, less than 5cm taller than Sabo but a weight class up, blond, strange buzzcut, rich fabrics in outdated styles, matching belt and watch and shoes of fine imported leather, but functional soles with good all-surface grip, well-trained hands—hovered behind one of the brick walls that bordered the kissaten, obviously spying.

Koala, unbothered, started skinning the lemon slice perched on the edge of her ice tea with the tip of her steak knife.

“Maybe he’s a Marine—”

“Right. Wants to kill me.”

“—who’s secretly in love with you.”

Sabo squinted at her until she looked up and saw the soy mustache he’s purposely left on his upper lip. Her upper lip curled in mild disgust, but she persisted.

“Maybe he’s from a rival agency.”

“And secretly in love with me?”

“And wants to kill you.”

Sabo threw his hands up in exasperation. “Can’t you pick one?”

“Neither precludes the other,” was Koala’s wise determination, “when it comes to you.”

“You either,” Sabo growled, flipping out his own penknife in a mock-threatening gesture. Koala though, like a dick, swiped her steak knife sideways and smacked it into Sabo’s knife with a stage-whispered wa-POW!

And unlike Sabo, she hadn’t licked her used utensils clean before deploying to other use. It was Sabo’s turn to curl his lip in disgust, as meat grease transferred onto his personal blade with a smug grin from Koala.

“So what’s the plan?” She set down her knife, finally ready to get down to business. “Love him or kill him?”

“Kill him, obviously,” Sabo replied. He thought he saw the man’s fingers drum along the wall—in response? But how could he possibly have heard from this distance? Sabo kept his voice at the same volume and his body language casual. “You’re packing, right? We’ll shoot him dead right now.”

Koala obligingly got up, staring straight ahead at Sabo. The man behind the wall became a shadow, and then the shadow became just bright afternoon light; he’d gone.

Sabo immediately started surveying the patio around them.

“He was listening in?” Koala quickly picked up, glancing around as well. They were the only two people seated outside, and there weren’t any tin cans or amplifying containers lying around anywhere. “Maybe he just has really, really good ears?”

Beyond them, foghorns blared from the port, necessary even in the deep afternoon because there was rarely a moment when this seaside autonomous region wasn’t wrapped in thick condensation. A horse-drawn carriage rattled by, and for a moment, Sabo steeled himself to take cover, should a pistol be drawn up between the dark velvet curtains over the windows.

The carriage passed without incident, and both Sabo and Koala slowly relaxed back into their seats.

“Wow,” Sabo finally said, giving his drink a swirl. It had left his scope of vision for several minutes, and though the risk was relatively low, given the strange man’s unexplained ability to listen in on their conversation, Sabo still pushed the rest aside to be safe. “Supernatural hearing and secretly in love with me? Wherever did I find such a dreamboat?”

“In the big mansion up Moby Road,” Koala answered. Sabo stared. “Oh come on, you really didn’t recognize Edward Newgate’s son? Their ears look exactly the same.”

“They’re not genetically related,” Sabo said slowly, to which Koala only shrugged.

“Yeah but their ears look exactly the same. Plus that carriage—the woodwork is all Tom-san, and you know where the last of Tom-san’s masterpieces are in this region.”

Giving himself a long moment to make his peace with the fact that Koala had put together all the pieces he didn’t even know were there, and in just less than a whole minute, Sabo closed his eyes and nodded.

“So, all we have to figure out is why Marco Newgate, two months after his very-famous father’s death, suddenly wants to kill me.”

“I’m in love with him.”

Thatch threw his tea towel at Marco’s face at high velocity.

“Stop lying,” he hissed in the face of Marco’s flat insistence. “Who the hell even is he, huh? What does he do? Where did you meet?”

“Sabo, twenty-four, on here on a visa from mainland but I’m still looking into the paper trail before that,” Marco replied automatically. It was fine to let Thatch know this. “For all intents and purposes, he’s a clerk at the Four Winds Trading Co. We haven’t exactly met.”

“Yet you’re in love with him.” Thatch rolled his eyes, which meant Marco rolled his eyes back, which meant Thatch threw a teaspoon this time.

“Don’t believe in love and first sight, Thatch?” Shanks laughed from the couch. In a gentlemanly fashion, Marco kindly refrained from picking up the teaspoon and hurling it at Shanks like a dart. He’s only been here for half an hour, and the bastard has cheerfully emptied half of Marco’s decanter of fine whiskey already. “I mean, it’s not like we didn’t know Marco’s type was lively young men with attitude problems.”

Marco picked up the teaspoon and hurled it at Shanks like a dart. Shanks, tumbler in hand, of course couldn’t catch it, and suffered the splashing of whiskey onto his pants with a displeased whine when he had to dodge.

“Precisely,” Marco said through gritted teeth. “I just fall so easily for young men with attitude problems. We’re hosting that party, and we’re gonna invite him.”

“Marco.” That was Thatch’s gentle voice, and that was Thatch’s I-know-you’re-hurt-about-Ace-and-Pops-we-all-are-so-let-me-help-you-process-your-grief-healthily face. The tea towel was shredded something fierce in Marco’s vicious grip. “Look, no one’s expecting you to go through with the engagement stuff, it’s only been two months for god’s sake—”

“This isn’t,” Marco lied, “about Ace.”

Neither men in the room believed him. That was fine; Marco didn’t need them to. All he needed was that invitation sent out, and the man named Sabo in Pop’s mansion, at his party.

“Thatch, I love him,” Marco pleaded, finding no need to specify the pronoun, and knowing Thatch was weak when it came to direct requests from him. “Please invite him.”

“I—” When distressed, Thatch had a habit of hovering around his tea trolley. Despite being the main chef of the house, he still insisted on personally making the rounds of tea for his siblings. Marco’s caught him doing random tests for poison more than once. He drummed his fingers against the push handle now, and groaned. “Fine, fine. I’ll do it. Oh man, I can’t believe you’re making me drag some poor sucker into this mess and won’t even tell me why.”

“It’ll be fine,” Marco replied softly. “Really. I swear.”

“Sure.” Thatch sounded neither believing nor sarcastic, and with one last sigh, he headed for the door with his trolley. “I’ll let you two get on with business then.”

After Marco’s made sure the door was shut and locked behind Thatch, he turned around to Shanks, whiskey finished, standing way too close.

“Buy my silence,” Shanks said, smile big and toothy when Marco took an involuntary step back. “For a thousand belli a month.”

“That’s different from your usual rate,” Marco made himself reply. The way his voice went strained though, still gave away far too much. But at least this time he didn’t flinch when Shanks approached further, that sharp gaze and scarred eye on Marco’s neck. “And your usual choice of currency.”

“Just for my silence,” Shanks pointed out. “And call it a friends and family discount. I have a feeling you’re about to ask for something you’ll already be hard-pressed to pay for, with our current agreement.”

“Then you can set new prices.” Shanks’ eyebrows lifted in surprise, but Marco didn’t avert his gaze. “I mean it. I’ll give you anything you want to get this done.”

They both knew how fallacious a way to do business this was, but Marco didn’t care. It’s not like he’d be worried about paying up on his debts after this; he and Shanks hashed that out ages ago. So Marco kept staring him down, until Shanks finally assented with a nod.

“This is about Ace,” Shanks had to say. Uselessly.

“And Sabo,” Marco admitted. One hand behind his back, Marco made sure the door was absolutely locked once again. As per a past deal, Shanks would make sure the door was completely soundproof too, upon locking. “So I’m not in love with him.”

“Yeah.” A smirk and a slow blink that substituted an eye roll. “I figured.”

Marco took a deep breath.

“I want to kill him.”

#my fic #i couldn't think and started to write and then #this is intriguing isn't it #i've seen maybe 15 min of the pilot ep and here i am pretending like it's a whole au #well we'll see what happens

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cyborg-franky · 2 years ago

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Hi Franky! How are you? How is your day going? I am sending many chill and comforting vibes your way. So umm I wanted to ask if you are comfortable writing for a muslim reader? To clarify a muslim is someone who practices Islam? And a muslim reader who wears a hijab (headscarf)? Also rant incoming sorry. Because there are no, if any at all, fics or content for muslim specific readers and yes I know it’s very specific and I can get as to why nobody writes for that category but it’s one of those things where when I do find content like that I’m like “OH MY GOD CONTENT RELATED TO ME SPECIFICALLY ARE YOU SERIOUS YESSSSSS” like anyone else would react with chubby reader or short ready or adhd reader etc you know? It’s just something special to me whenever I find fics that I specifically myself can relate to you know? I mean this isn’t uncommon but like idk it’s different because it’s so underrepresented. Anyways, sorry for that ramble you can ignore this if you want. I hope you have a good day!! *sends many virtual hugs*

So, I've asked many people for help on this, some wonderful people reached out on both anon and DMs and I have ran this piece by them for the check and it passed. HUGE thank you to the following amazing and helpful people who checked for me, imparted information about the culture and basically held my hand through this.

@hi-mimosa @jin-supremacy01 and @mikuisasmash

Disclaimer: I am a white little dude, but I tried my best for this piece, I did some reading, talked to people above and I mean full respect and hope you can enjoy this piece. I also have been told this doesn't fit strict rules of dating.

I picked three characters but I would be willing to do more in the future.

Someone even sent me tag suggestions and I hope they are all good. I hope I didn't offend anyone and anon I hope this was the sort of thing you wanted and were hoping for.

Ace

It might take him a minute to understand certain traditions and rules but he listens and asks questions.

He knows to keep things simple, not to go too fast, offers you his hand, and doesn’t make a move until you take it.

He bought you a bright orange hijab, it matched his hat and he was very excited to give it to you.

His smile is bright as you look the hijab over and feel warmth, he wanted to match and that was so sweet to you.

He gets up, letting you have privacy to change, he leans down and kisses your forehead.

You look at yourself in the mirror as you gently collect up all your hair, putting it away in the gifted hijab, and smile wide when you admire it in the reflection.

The fabric is soft and feels nice on your skin, it also smells like him, like cinnamon and firewood.

Something to always remind you of him when he’s away.

He comes back, a knock on the door which you tell him he can open.

“Wow, it looks really nice on you, it compliments your eyes.” Ace says with a hum and sits down next to you.

He offers you his upturned palm and you place your hand in his.

“Thank you, Ace.”

Marco and Sabo undercut!

Marco

He’s watching you sit there reading, a look of concentration on your face as you look over words, absorbing the story.

You huff when a strand of hair slips out from your hijab.

It was always the same rebellious lock that always insisted on peeking out.

You heard Marco chuckle and glanced up, seeing him open his drawer, grab something and walk over.

“I almost forgot I got this on my list trip for you.” He said with a hum and knelt down, he unwrapped a beautiful blue and gold pin.

You took a breath as he carefully tucked your hair back, using the ornate pin to slide your hijab into place.

He sat back on his haunches and admired how you looked.

Marco places a finger under your chin, carefully, admiring your eyes and how your lips curled into a smile.

Touched by such a gentle gesture you mumbled a shy thank you as he moved away, a hand resting on your shoulder, a firm squeeze of affection.

Sabo

He knows there are a lot of rules you have to follow and he never makes it hard for you, he does his best to understand and be a good partner.

And you love him for it.

He always offers you his arm, and you are often happy to take it. You rather hold hands when it’s just you and him.

You walk along with him, across the shore and the wind picks up, there's a nasty gust that pulls at your hijab and he quickly blocks the wind as best as he can.

Despite how panicked the situation is, how the rush of wind takes you both by surprise.

He’s so gentle with how he grasps the fabric, helping you keep it secured.

Sabo makes sure your modesty isn't compromised as you adjust and let out a sigh.

“Thank you,” you say with a sigh and he smiles at you.

“Anytime,”

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goodwordguru · 5 years ago

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One Piece MasterList [2016-2019]

Soul Jars [09-15-2016] With trembling hands, he unscrewed the top and lifted the glass until the soul was within its waxy confines. The jar was almost too small to contain it, but it did, and Marco closed it before clutching it to his chest.

Those Damn Brats! [10-18-2016]

Eye Contact [10-20-2016] Ace must've made some kind of noise because the boy looked up. They both froze as their eyes met and the world exploded in color.

Filling The Void [10-28-2016] Sometime after the events of Dressrosa, after parting with his precious little brother, Sabo has a dream where he's faced with Ace – not the Ace who he'd known as a child, but the Ace who had died without knowing that he still had two brothers.

Closed Doors [10-31-2016] Closed Doors: What's behind the door? Why is it closed?

Harrowing Inferno [11-28-2016] He turned, apprehension and excitement boiling together in his mind and bringing a large grin to his face. "Ace!"

Freedom [12-14-2016] (MarcoAce Week 2016)

Hobbies [12-15-2016] "Your wings are your arms, right? Do they still feel like arms, or do they register as wings in your brain when you're like this?” Cue exasperated eye closing and sigh. (MarcoAce Week 2016)

Laugh [12-16-2016] Marco laughed then; it was soft, unlike the delighted laugh he'd shared with the others, but it held an affection for Ace that he hadn't received since he left Luffy. (MarcoAce Week 2016)

Heroic/Cowardly [12-17-2016] After breakfast and chores were done and over with, Usopp gathered the crew to tell a tale of the brave Captain Usopp's grand dream. (Usopp Week 2016)

First Impressions/Beginnings [03-21-2017] Ace was all alone out there on Mount Corvo, and seemed to have been alone for a long time, and Sabo was all alone, despite being surrounded by people back in Grey Terminal. Ace had to be feeling just as lonely as him, even if he refused to show it. So he wouldn't give up. He would be the best soulmate ever! Ace would never have to feel alone again. "Hey! Ace!" he shouted, charging up the mountain in the direction the brunet had gone. "Wait up!" (SaboAce Week 2017)

Idiot/Genius [03-22-2017] “Are you a complete idiot?” (SaboAce Week 2017)

Sailing/Adventure [03-23-2017] Sabo was recovered by the Revolutionaries, like in canon, but he was not permitted to join the Revolutionaries because Dragon did not want to drag a child into such a war against the world/World Government (Koala hasn't joined at this point; she joined after Sabo did in canon). However, Dragon agreed to drop Sabo off at Loguetown so he was as far from Dawn Island as possible without going into the Grandline. At the age of 18, Sabo decided to set sail for the Grandline to have an adventure. (SaboAce Week 2017)

Scars/Tattoos [03-23-2017] Life was going pretty good, considering the hassle it took for Ace to pass High School in the final stretch. But in Ace's experience, when things began going too well, something bad was bound to happen. (SaboAce Week 2017)

Blush/Innocent [03-25-2017] “Hey, Ace? Where do babies come from?” (SaboAce Week 2017)

Regret/Hallucination [03-26-2017] "Happy birthday, Sabo. I hope you're freer in the stars than you were down on earth." (SaboAce Week 2017)

Only Sparks Remain [03-27-2017] “But I still can't believe that crybaby became so strong... Can you, Ace?” (SaboAce Week 2017)

Say Cheese [05-10-2017] Art was Usopp's passion.

Burning Memories [05-17-2017] "Sabo-kun? Are you alright?" "Huh? Oh, yeah. Just a weird dream..."

Silence [05-29-2017] Peace, Law discovered, was not easy to come upon while on-board the Thousand Sunny. (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Terminal [05-29-2017] He felt like maybe he would be alright with being in a relationship with Luffy as opposed to just a friendship. (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Recherché [05-30-2019] “I love you, Torao,” he mumbled into Law's dark hair. “Mm... I love you, too, Luffy-ya.” (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Achromatic [05-31-2017] He didn't know what he was looking for, though, until he saw him. (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Wish [06-01-2017] Whether it was fighting against a Yonko or dealing with the demons of Law's past that tried to drag him down, down, down, Luffy was there with a smile to make everything better, make everything okay. So why wasn't everything okay right now? (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

The Dreamer [07-14-2017] A lucid dream is a dream during which the dreamer is aware of dreaming. During lucid dreaming, the dreamer may be able to exert some degree of control over the dream characters, narrative, and environment. (ZoLu Week 2017)

Sunshine [07-15-2017] The world was infested by cruel and corrupt souls. As far as Zoro knew, it had always been that way. (ZoLu Week 2017)

Eternity [08-12-2017] I’m sorry, Torao... (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Family & Relation(ships) [01-11-2018] Family, friends, nakama and more, a lot of people love Usopp and he loves them, too. (Usopp Week 2016)

Dreams / Ambitions [01-11-2018] "You are going to bounce back from any fight we get into, whether we win or we lose, and I'm not going to doubt myself, right?" (SanLu Week 2016)

Die Traumdeutung [02-06-2018] He found that staying up for most of the night usually left him falling asleep in time to witness more pleasant dreams. His favorite, which showed up the rarest out of all the dreams, was when he found himself submerged in the ocean, surrounded by fish he used to catch in his own village and fish he was skeptical about the existence of but couldn't deny looked amazing (and appetizing).

Dragonheart [02-14-2018] Dark blue scales, tinted maroon from his blood, had pushed their way out of his skin like thorns from a rose stem. Taking a bath in the middle of the night to rid himself of the blood and throwing away the ruined shirt, Sabo spent the rest of the night pursuing answers on his laptop, finding that the appearance of scales was just stage one of a fledgling dragon's shift to adulthood. Sabo felt ill to his stomach.

Rekindled [02-14-2018] WIP He had died saving Luffy, and now he was alive.

5 Times Trafalgar Law Found Himself Involved In Sentimental Situations (And 1 Time When Words Weren't Involved) [03-04-2018] Law wasn't a sentimental person. In fact, he was best known for his cold and almost sadistically cruel personality. While most information about the North Blue captain were just rumors, he never did anything to prove the public wrong. Not where they could see, anyway.

Hugs/Cuddles [03-21-2018] “Okay, I think I'm finished,” the blond finally said. “You think?” Ace repeated, looking vaguely unimpressed as he took a long drag of his cigarette. Sabo ignored him as he dropped the empty spray-paint can into his bag, where seven more equally empty cans rested. The graffiti took him about an hour to create, and it was a pain to hold an illusion over the alley the whole time, but now that he was done, he could trigger the spell and they could finally sleep. (SaboAce Week 2018)

Then/Now [03-22-2018] Sabo never lost his memories and he didn't go with the Revolutionaries. Instead, he returned to his brothers. (SaboAce Week 2018)

Love At First Sight [03-28-2018] “I see you made it,” he said with a small laugh. He extended a hand and Ace shook it, made speechless by how soft it was. (Kidd was smirking at him out of the corner of his eye.) “I'm Outlook Sabo.” “Portgas D. Ace.” (SaboAce Week 2018)

Laughter [05-29-2018] He could hear Luffy snoring behind him, the lanky man's arm and leg thrown lazily over Law's waist. The doctor basked in the warmth of the quasi-embrace before tossing away the stray limbs and sitting up. (10 Days of LawLu 2k18)

Back to Back + Healing/Injured [05-31-2018] “Ow. Ow! Oooooow!” Law really wanted to punch Luffy, but unfortunately, he was wrist-deep in the other's chest cavity. (10 Days of LawLu 2k18)

Love [02-17-2019] “Bonney, it is ass crack o'clock,” Ace all but growled when he answered his phone at five-something in the morning. “What-” “Who even says that?” Bonney interrupted with an ugly snort, sounding much too awake. That didn't bode well for Ace.

Looking For Yourself [06-06-2019] Trafalgar D. Water Law disliked kids, whether they were his age – twelve – or not. He'd just lost his taste for being around anyone after his little sister and parents died and he was placed into the foster system. So when, to his irritation, a little brat who couldn't have been older than six climbed up next to him on a park bench he'd been reading on, he was less than thrilled. Additionally, the pest wouldn't stop running his mouth once he began to speak.

Plans Made (and Ruined?) [06-06-2019] “That's why I'm here,” he said. “What?” Luffy gave him a look as if he was missing something that should've been obvious. “I don't want you to be alone.” “I love being alone,” Law deadpanned, “so you can go now.” Luffy grinned broadly. “Nah. Because then you'd be lonely, and you hate that.” (10 Days of LawLu 2k19)

Clockwork [11-29-2019] Sanji rose with the sun like clockwork.

#one piece #fanfiction #one piece fanfiction #one piece masterlist #fanfiction masterlist #I only really listed the fanfics I actually liked

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vizkopa · 5 years ago

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Three Ways to Study Anatomy (Ace x Reader x Sabo) College!AU PART 1.4

Part 1: The Usual Way Chapter Four: An Unconventional First Day ~

You were panicking. Day one of college and you were already threatening to break down into tears. Sabo had been kind enough to show you to your first class that morning (Intro to Physiology with Dr Kureha) but your next class was across campus, and despite the maps dotted around the grounds, you could not for the life of you find building 403. Finally, you gave in and ducked into the nearest building in search of someone who could help. Peering into every open doorway along the vacant corridors, you grew increasingly frantic as each one turned up empty. Just your luck that the one building you happen to enter was deserted. Finally, you rounded a corner and heard the distinctive sound of welding from a room at the end. You peeked inside. A man in a white vest top and welding gloves was hard at work on some sort of metal monstrosity. His face was hidden behind the welding mask, but you could see the sweat dripping down his freckled neck, making track marks in the layer of metal dust that had settled on his skin. You’d recognise those freckles anywhere. “Ace!”

He looked up at the sound of his voice. The welding torch shut off. “Oh, Country Girl!” he said, nudging the helmet up off his face. “I didn’t know you had classes this side of campus.” “Uh, I don’t, really…” you laughed nervously. “I’m kinda… lost…” Ace set the welding torch aside and held out his hand. “Let’s see your schedule.” Your eyes were inevitably drawn to his face as he looked over the paper. He looked good like this, you decided. His cheeks were slightly flushed from the heat of the torch, and he had a smudge of dust on his chin from where he had brushed it with one filthy glove. His sweat-damp hair was pushed back from his forehead and you could imagine him running his fingers through it in to keep it out of his eyes. You blushed when you realised you were ogling and quickly looked away. “Anatomy 101, huh? It just so happens I know the lecturer. I’ll take you there myself.” Your face flooded with relief. “Really? Thank you!” Ace set his gloves and mask aside, wiping the sweat and dirt from his face with a clean rag (he missed a spot on his nose, but you were too shy to mention it) and gestured to the door. “After you,” he said. He locked the door behind him. The two of you fell into a silence as you made your way through the campus together. He threw his arms behind his head and whistled jauntily. A few students who were studying on the grass nearby glared at him as you passed but if he paid any mind, he didn’t show it. “What were you making in there?” you blurted out, the silence growing too heavy to bear. He cast you a sidelong glance and smirked. “It’s a secret.” “Oh.” You looked down at the path, a light blush rising in your cheeks. Ace laughed. “I’m just kidding.” He threw an arm casually around your shoulders, and you had to lower your head even more to hide the intensifying blush on your face. “It’s my third year project. We’re supposed create something inspired by our own artistic journey or some shit. To be honest, I’m kinda stumped.” “Is that why it looks like a giant pineapple?” Ace’s arm fell from your shoulders and he gaped at you in horror. “It does not.” You laughed. “It really does.” He looked at you in dismay but you could see the laughter in his eyes. “It’s supposed to be a raging wildfire representing the all-consuming force of my artistic genius!” You stifled a giggle. “I mean, I guess if you squint at it a bit?” He groaned exasperatedly. “Now everyone’s gonna think Marco is my muse or something.” “Marco?” Ace didn’t have time to answer the question as he stopped dead in front of the door to a lecture hall and announced: “Oh, we’re here.” You were just debating if you should just walk in and pretend like you had just stepped out for a moment, or if you should be polite and knock when Ace made the decision for you. He pressed his face up to the window and blew a loud raspberry on the glass. “Oh my god, what are you doing?” you cried in horror. He cackled with laughter, almost doubled over clutching his stomach as the door opened and a man with a tired expression and a crop of spiky blonde hair poked his head into the hallway. The man sighed. “Ace, what in God’s name are you doing interrupting my lecture, yoi?” Oh. This must be Marco. Suddenly you understood the pineapple comparison. Ace was still trying to suppress his laughter as he replied. “Just helping out a freshie get to her class. Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see my dear big bro.” Wait, big bro? Marco seemed to finally notice you were there. “Oh, you must be [Name]. You can call me Marco or Dr Phoenix, whichever you prefer. You haven’t missed much, come on in.” You smiled and nodded gratefully. “In fact,” Marco grinned deviously. “You’re just in time for a special presentation. Ace, why don’t you join us if you have nowhere else to be?” Ace tried to refuse but Marco already had a vice grip on his shoulders and was pulling him into the classroom to stand at the front. You sat down in a free seat in the second row. A few other students offered you a cursory glance, but most were preoccupied by the two brother’s bickering at the front of the room. Marco raised his voice and addressed the class. “Let’s start today with learning some of the basic muscle groups, as exemplified by our wonderful specimen here.” “Don’t make me do this, bro,” Ace pleaded. But Marco’s grip on Ace’s shoulders was unrelenting. He patted his shoulder reassuringly and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like: “not like you haven’t done this before.” It was about to be a very interesting anatomy lesson… * * * * * “I can’t believe he made me do that,” Ace grumbled as he pulled his shirt back on after the lecture. “Well, you were the one making rude faces at him through the window,” you said, still fighting to calm the heat in your cheeks. “I suppose it wasn’t all bad.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out of handful of paper scraps. “I got plenty of numbers.” You rolled your eyes. “I think I got almost everyone in the class,” he said, counting the scraps under his breath. “Except you.” “You’re not getting my number.” “You gave Sabo your number.” You blushed. “Th-that’s different…” “Uh-huh,” Ace grinned, a glint in his eye. “Just in case you got lost on campus, right? He’s a crafty one, that Sabo.” You opened your mouth to protest but, thankfully, Ace changed the subject. “You heading back to the dorm?” he asked, shoving the numbers back into his pocket. You closed your mouth and nodded. Anatomy had been your last class of the day and, unconventional as it was, you felt a slight swell of pride in your chest at completing your very first day of college. Ace fell into step beside you and you both made your way home. “I don’t see the resemblance,” you said after several minutes of silence. “Huh?” “You and Marco. I don’t see the family resemblance.” “Oh. Yeah, we’re adopted.” “Sorry, I didn’t realise.” Ace shrugged. “No need to apologise. Related or not, I still got the looks in the family.” You laughed. You were beginning to realise how easy it was with him. “Thank you, by the way,” you said. “For what?” “For helping me find my lecture.” Ace waved his hand. “Hey, no worries. I remember what it’s like to be a freshman. You’re grateful for any help you can get.” He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. “If you want to repay me though, you could give me your number.” You rolled your eyes. “In case I get lost again, right?” He winked. “Exactly!”

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