A quick thing because i've been so busy i don't have time to write anymore, but i still want to write something. Hopefully my work load'll lessen in a few days...

Well, hope you'll enjoy!

The fight ended in seconds.

The captain of the opposing pirate crew had been a pompous douchebag way over his head, whose bounty had apparently gone up a couple thousands of bellis due to some recent pillaging in the nearest island. They were known for attacking other pirates crews on sight, and it would seem that on their way to the next destination, they had come across Moby Dick, recognized the jolly rogers on the top of the crow's nest, and decided to attack. Won't be the first one stupid enough to do it. Ace himself could testify to that.

Right now, the captain was nothing more than a charred remain plastered near the ship's half sunken helm. Most of the crew, who weren't as foolish as their leader, had fled even before the captain had dealt his first attack, floating on top of the ruins of what used to be their ship. From on board of Striker, Ace watched them leave, his right arm still flaming from the remnants of Fire Fist.

The 18 years old puffed up his cheeks, contemplating whether he should go after them or not. It doesn't seem like they'll be coming back, so that'll just be a waste of effort, but they did attacked Pops' ship. Surely a thorough retaliation is necessary.

Before he could come up with a decision, a strong breeze hit him from the back and Striker suddenly swayed heavily to the side, nearly making him lose his balance. Ace shifted his gaze, finding the source of this disturbance easily enough.

On top of the mast attached to the back of his boat, a particularly large avian engulfed in blue flame perched itself, ringed tails cascading down and nearly reaching the surface of the water around them. Beady eyes stared intently at the now fleeing crew, some of them shouting in panic and screaming for others to quickly row their makeshift boat away, before turning its gaze to the burnt body on top of the now slowly sinking ship.

Ace tilted his hat to the side with one hand, placing one hand in the other and puffed up his chest in confidence, "I told you i could take care of it myself,"

"I didn't say you couldn't, yoi," by now, the bird has shifted his shape, his torso gaining the form of an adult man whose same bored eyes were still fixed on to the wreckage the younger had caused, "I just said don't be reckless. Which you are,"

"No, i'm not,"

"Yes you are," the man repeated with emphasis, "He got a hit in on you,"

Ace tilted his head to the side, trying to recollect anything from the - incredibly - short fight. His eyes lit up when he remembered the moment the older man was probably referring to, "Oh, that weird beam he sent out from his hand? Pfft, barely does anything," The captain had been all bravado the moment Ace approached on board of Striker, ignoring his crew's pleas to get out of the way and boasted something about a new power he had gained in the last island. He'd admit, it tingled, and Ace had been briefly worried there for a second, but it was literally seconds later that the captain received a face full of hot flame. As far as he's concerned, it's a job well done, "You worry too much, Marco,"

It's been months since he joined the Whitebeard Pirates, after the numerous attempts he made to defeat the Yonko. Long gone were the days when he was the newbie, the little brat everyone picked on - though only in good nature - and the times where he still felt the need to prove himself in front of his new nakama. Nowadays, he's Commander Ace from the second division, the youngest amongst all 16 others. He had the approval of the crew, as well as the world's as one of Whitebeard's finest.

But none of that ever seems to matter to Marco.

Marco, with all of his scoldings and rebukes, a 'be careful' at every turn and a 'watch yourself' at every step, and if Ace is lucky, maybe with a 'good job' prefacing another 'you're not thinking' and every variation in between. Thatch once joked that it comes with the territory of his zoan fruit, him being a mother hen. Everyone else had laughed along, and Ace would've joined in too if he hadn't noticed that aside from him, no one else seems to have the same luck of having their own personal babysitter.

The exasperated look Marco sent him was all too familiar to Ace by now, "That's a Devil Fruit power, Ace. It could be something dangerous," then he turned once again to the wreckage - which, at this point had sunken down to the sea, captain's corpse and all - sighing, "And now we had no way to know what it could be,"

"Well, i highly doubt it's anything bad, i mean, i don't feel anything," he said, looking down to his half naked torso and back up. Marco gave him an unimpressed look, but once again, none of this was new. Sometimes, Ace couldn't help but to wonder what the older's deal was. He knows he's fine, why can't he just take his word for it? He expressed this displeasure by crossing his arms and stared defiantly at Marco.

In the end, the older relented, looking away to the group of run away pirates. By now, they're nothing but a speck in the distance, "Just head back to Moby, yoi. Don't even think about chasing after them,"

And then there's that, the odd way that Marco can just tell what he was thinking. Ace pouted, trying to deny that that was exactly what he was planning, "But i was about to,"

Huh?

Ace stopped, frowning. What just happened? He swore he was trying to say something else just now.

Still perched above Striker's mast, the blonde commander sighed, "I know, yoi, that's why i'm stopping you. The area they're heading to is full of sea kings around this time of the year," he flapped his wings, jolting the boat slightly as he gave himself a small boost to fly away. He hovered above Striker, torso once again transforming into the form of his Phoenix, "Go back to Moby, Ace, and talk to the nurses to get yourself checked out. Who knows what that Devil Fruit might've caused,"

Despite his confusion, Marco's words still registered in his mind, "I don't need a check up, i'm fine!"

"Ace, you got hit by a Devil Fruit power. Yes or no?"

It may be a little childish of him, but being babied like this is irritating. The younger crossed his arms petulantly, already catching another exasperated look forming in Marco's face, No, he wanted to say, in a petulant streak he knew should be beneath him.

But there was a brief tingle on his tongue, a fleeting sensation that he bore no mind to until he heard that what came out of his mouth was a, "Yes,"

The freckled youth widened his eyes.

Still hovering above of Striker, Marco quirked his brow, "Huh. Thought you were going to be difficult there for a second,"

He denied it again, "I was,"

By now, Ace knew something was wrong. He placed both hands over his mouth, letting his teeth bit into his tongue so hard it ached. What's happening? He didn't mean to say that, he hadn't meant to say any of that.

The boat rocked again, a lot more gentle this time as a figure appeared before Ace's eyes. Marco, now in full human form stood right on top of Striker's little jutting deck, eyebrows furrowed in concern, "Is something wrong, Ace?" he asked calmly, taking a careful step on the narrow path.

It was like his mouth moved on its own, because before Ace could even process what's happening, his teeth stopping biting on to his tongue and he spoke behind his palm, voice muffled.

"What was that?"

Ace squeezed his eyes as he spoke again, mouth still covered behind his hands. He's not doing this on his own volition. His mouth moved on its own, forming words that were not even his. In front of him, he could feel rather than see Marco moving in even closer, and instinctively took a step back. He tripped on the back of Striker's engine after one more step, sending him tumbling down and nearly falling on his ass if it wasn't for the hand grabbing his wrist to keep him steady.

"Ace!" Marco called again, face much closer than before and brows furrowed in both concern and that familiar worried lines. Ace's breath briefly caught on his throat, when the older spoke again, "What's wrong?"

"I can't lie,"

The hand on his wrist was steady, though he could see Marco's expression faltering slightly in confusion, "I'm sorry?"

Ace spoke again, the tingling sensation back in his tongue as his mouth moved before he could even register them doing so. It was odd to think that the truth dawned on him only as he heard his own voice, but it was like he was compelled to say these words, even though he himself didn't know the full extent of his condition, "I can't lie," he said— no, his mouth said for him, without even him meaning to say it. Ace bit his lower lips, raising his other hand to cover his mouth once again, but this time loose enough to make his next words coherent, "It's that Devil Fruit's doing,"

Somewhere in the distance, there's a collective piercing shriek, followed by the rumbling of a hungry sea king finding its prey.

"Truth-Truth Fruit," the freckled youth repeated once again, peeking at the cover of the book in Marco's hand from behind his bangs. It depicted illustrations of various Devil Fruits, along with an elegantly scripted title that ended on the dog ear on the corner, a mark of a well read book. Just like every other book in Marco's quarter, he noted, glancing to the bookcase on the side of the older man's work desk.

From his desk, Marco hummed, turning another page, "The description of the attack and methods seems to fit with what happened earlier with that pirate captain, so i guess it's save to assume that yes, this is what you've been hit with," the blonde frowned, his expression turning grave, "A paramecia type that allows you to make your target do nothing but tell the truth. That's a terrifying thought,"

Ace paused his casual browsing of Marco's book collection, scoffing, "What's so terrifying about it? It's just going to make you be honest or something, right?"

Marco gave him a baleful look over the book, his eyes half hidden behind the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Thatch and Haruta sometimes made fun of him whenever the blonde made a mistake in appearing before the crowd in Moby Dick with them on, telling him how it made him look older and how much it showed his age. Ace always thought he looked particularly dashing and refined in them.

Now where did that thought came from?

"You were lucky that the guy earlier doesn't seem to be aware of the kind of power he was holding. The fact that it could stop you from lying is already a daunting thought. Imagine if an enemy captured you and wished to find information about your crew or captain, you won't be able to do anything to stop them from finding out," With a thud, the book was closed and deposited to the top of the desk, next to the pile of - what Ace was sure would be - sorted documents and paperworks.

Marco took off his glasses, placing them back into a wooden safe box. Ace stifled his disappointment, easily achieved as he continued, "It can even be used as a way of extortion, having you reveal a deep secret that can be used as a leverage. Even in battle, it could have some useful advantages. You could have your enemy telling you their every plan and steps, since they won't be able to lie to you,"

"Okay, geez, it's dangerous, whatever," The dark haired youth rolled his eyes, leaning back against the headboard of Marco's bed, "But he never managed to do any of that, i took care of him before he could,"

"He still got you in the end, that's the point, Ace," the blonde told him sternly, arms crossed, "Experienced users has been reported to be able to force their target spill their every thoughts, even the ones they themselves weren't privy to. Right now, you're affected by this fruit's effect, and there's no telling when it will wear out,"

On the bed, Ace jutted his lower lips in displeasure, "I still think it's not a big deal," he groused, swinging his legs over the bed to stand up, "I mean, basically i'll just be forced to say the truth every time, right? Well, it's not like i lie on a daily basis,"

After a few moment, there's a sigh from the other end of the room. Marco was pinching on the bridge of his nose, the look of pure exasperation on his face. Ace took mild offense to that. He'd seen that expression countless time before on Gramps, whenever he, Luffy and Sabo would proclaim that they wanted to be pirates. He'd seen it in Dadan and Makino's face whenever they got into trouble. It's the face an adult would give to a child who didn't know any better, and the implication of Marco giving him that look every single time was upsetting.

He's an adult who knows what he's doing. He's one of Whitebeard's top men for fuck's sake, he knows what he's doing and he didn't need to be coddled like this. That Marco kept on doing this was actually pretty insulting.

Suddenly, Marco lifted his head, his hooded eyes opening larger as he blinked owlishly. Then he sighed again, "I'm not trying to coddle you. I know you're an adult, Ace, I'm just," he paused, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose once again. His lips were pursed thinly, opening slightly as if he was struggling to find the correct word.

But Ace didn't pay any attention to that, instead, he frowned. Had he said that out loud?

"Kind of,"

Oh, and again.

Ace raised one hand up cover his mouth, a sudden unease creeping in his spine. He thought that as long as he didn't have to answer to something or speak, it wouldn't happen. Evidently, sometimes his honest thoughts can voice itself out as well unconsciously.

Okay, maybe this is a little bit creepy.

He didn't know whether he said that out loud again or not, but from his desk, Marco sighed, this time a lot heavier and weary, "It shouldn't stick around for long, especially since the user is gone now. Some effects disappeared immediately, but i've seen some that could linger, though no longer than one or two days,"

Ace nodded, dropping his hand, "Good," he murmured, "Whatever. I'm just gonna go. I was in the middle of sorting out schedule with my division when that asswipe attacked us," which wasn't technically a lie, but he was also rather uncomfortable with the tension that seems to built up for the last couple of second. And he didn't want to stick around in case he accidentally said something he didn't meant to say out loud to Marco again.

During that last train of thought, the raven haired male placed a finger in front of his lips. They didn't move on their own, which means that last thought was safe with him. Good, maybe he can control this after all.

"Right," Marco muttered after a long bout of silence, nodding dejectedly. He looked a little hurt, for some reason, not that Ace knew why. If anyone should be hurt, its him.

Again, he didn't voice it out, but at this point, Ace was wary. He didn't like being overtly careful like this, especially not around his own nakama, "Yeah. I'm just gonna go now," he said as he made his way to the door.

He was stopped by Marco's voice calling out his name, "Yeah?"

When he turned back, there's hesitation in Marco's eyes, a level of unsureness he'd never would've associate with the usually calm and collected man. His voice even reflected that, stammering in the beginning of his words, "I didn't mean to make you feel like i'm… insulting you. I know i'm a little overbearing, but it's," he bit his lower lips, "I… to tell you the truth, i—" he stopped again, shaking his head. Whatever he was about to say seems to cause him some level of pain of sorts, and as someone who will be blurting out every first thought he had for some indefinite time, Ace rather envy him.

In the end, when the older simply sighed and sat back down, "It doesn't matter," he said dejectedly, showing that despite his words it indeed mattered, "I'll see you soon, Ace,"

"Okay," Curious as he was with what Marco had to say, it seems like the man didn't want to talk anymore, and Ace really wanted to leave before he could say anything else he didn't mean to say, at least, not out loud. He opened the door, gave the room one last glance before leaving.

As he closed the door, Ace could hear a brief thud of something hard hitting wood - like a head thumping down on a desk - and a quiet murmur of, "Maybe i should've been the one hit with that fruit,"

I'll update sometime soon, and post this new chaptered fic i had planned as well! I think...

I'm so goddamn tired...

Well, thanks for reading!