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Ace has secrets. Many secrets he keeps close to his chest and he never tells anyone but one person.
Luffy.
He's the only one who was able to fully break down his walls long ago, and knows any of his secrets. And although he may be a big blabber mouth, he is able to keep quiet about his most hated and embarrassing one's. That's one of the reasons he loved his brother so much, he never cared about any of his differences. Wen he found out about his father he only thought it was cool and after that never brought it up and moved on. He would often do that with most of his secret, have some reaction, then move on.
But there was one that neither could just move on from, his regression. The first time he had regressed had been a few weeks after the Sabo's death. Wen he had regressed he had been unable to communicate to Luffy what was wrong. His tongue had felt like lead, and his worlds slurred as if he was just learning to talk. His body sluggish and his head foggy. from what little he was able to tell Luffy, He had run off to find Makino but she had been out on an errand so it was up to Luffy to help him all alone.
At first Luffy had freaked out in his on Luffy way, making him lay down to take a nap and pilling all their blankets they owned in their little tree house, onto him. Once he was able to push them off he had thrown a small fit, that to this day he deny's, over being forced to take a nap. At some point he and Luffy had been able to safely make their way down to the ground of the forest and he simply sat down picking up a flower of to his left and turned it around, poking, prodding at it with some giggles, a thumb finding its way into his mouth at some point.
It was then Luffy seemed to realize Ace was acting much more childish than he was sick. Deeming Ace not sick and asking Ace if he felt like a baby was the start to the end. It was from then on, once Ace was able to go back to his normal headspace, he had set out to find some books and research to find out what had happened. Once they had figured out what age regression was, Luffy had taken to calling it his Baby brain, they had made a promise to never reveal his coping mechanism to anyone, no matter how much he wanted to, to anyone so as to not have any weakness's anyone could use against him.
Well that was the major issue right now. Ace had been trying for over a month now to take Whitebeard's head, and even after multiple fails he hasn't given up. But the issue stands with him being on an enemy ship, and having not regressed in 2 months. If he still had a captains quarters he might have been able to regress behind closed doors, but here he was out in the open, completely vulnerable if he did. But he knew he wouldn't last forever without regressing, and not wanting to regress during a fight or worse, whatever may be worse, he decided to wander around the ship in the shadows trying to find a room or corner to even half regress in.
He was left with a few places to choose from, a room that seemed to be mostly empty with a few books and what looked like a blue feather he found off to the side, a storage closet that was filled to the brim with blankets and pillows, which was very cramp so that ended up as a no go, and an area in the lower deck, but was still mainly in the open as there was nothing to go behind, which left him with the room.
He often times would chill in that room, as it seemed no one ever was in there, even most nights, unless the door was locked. He makes his way to the bed pushed to the corner and pulled the sheets off to wrap himself in them and sat down at the desk. He knew it always seem stocked full of papers and writing utensils of all kinds, well almost all kinds. He pulled out some paper from a drawer and some pens, colored one, which only consisted of red, yellow, and blue, but he could manage with what he had, and set to work with drawing something to take his mind off of everything.
~*~
Its'd dinner and no one had seen Ace. Now, no one seeing ace wasn't a new thing, but him not showing up to dinner was, supposedly he hadn't even shown up to lunch, which was very odd. Now there wasn't much Marco knew about ace, but what he did know was he liked to eat, always tried to take pops head, and was a devil fruit user. Not much, but enough to go off of for now. He made a plate, mostly consisting of meats, Ace's favorite, and headed out. He had started with looking around the deck, coming up empty, then moving on to the lower decks. The food on the plate had gotten cold by that point, but he knew ace would only care about the fact that it was edible. He spent some time going around and asking a few others hoping they at least got a glimpse of him but absolutely no one knew were he was.
After 30 minutes he was starting to get impatient. he knew the kid could hide well, but this was just getting tedious at this point. The only other places he could think was to start looking in on rooms and closets. And all the closets he knew that could fit an Ace sized person, were empty, leaving him with the Commander's quarter's and men's quarters. He started with the men's quarters but as soon as he saw others in there, he moved on. The commanders quarters also came up empty. The last possible place left his room.
He opens his door as quietly as he can, and just as he had thought, ace was there. He was asleep on some papers, wrapped up in Marco's bed sheets, in what looked like, a very uncomfortable position at his desk. The next thing he noticed was his thumb was half hanging out of his mouth, drooling, it almost reminded him of wen Haruta fell asleep after regressing. Wen he got closer, he could see some drawings on the paper he had made with the few colored pens Marco had at the bottom of a drawer somewhere. He tried to get a few steps closer, but stepped on a creaky plank, which he never noted was there, and Ace shot up, tearing his thumb from his mouth and turned, making eye contact with him. At first the room was still before Ace seemed to pull his mouth back in what was the best attempt at what he could manage as a snarl, being half awake and panicked.
Marco puts up one hand to show he meant no harm, and raised the plate of food. "Food. You didn't eat lunch so I got you some dinner yoi." He states and slowly moves the plate closer to the edge of the desk, before fully setting it down and pulling his hand back. "Oh- okay." Ace quickly grabs the plate after it had ben set down, having calmed down faster than normal, but the fuzzy feeling in his head was partly to blame for that.
Although he may considered Marco an enemy, he still felt the most comfortable to be around, unsure as to if it was because of how nice he was, how he would leave Ace be if asked, or his mother henning. "Those are some nice drawings, yoi." He glances down at his drawings he had made earlier before his narcolepsy had made him fall asleep half way through the 2nd one. "T'ank 'ou" he noticed there was a slur to his words but he was so far in to his headspace, and Marco was giving him such positive attention that it made Ace forget he was supposed to hate him. Big him may not like Marco, but he had given Little ace food, talked to him. and even liked his drawings. Only Luffy ever liked his drawings. He can remember wen he was younger that gramps and Dadan never cared to compliment or keep his drawings ever, and sometimes would even tell him that it wasn't very good. That didn't help with his self-esteem at all.
"Dis i-is, um, dis is me on'a boat" He holds up one of the picture for Marco to hold so he can get a better look at the crudely drawn picture with pens, but no matter how bad the drawing was, Marco had decided he would have to slip it away from Ace in hopes to put it in a drawer to save. "An' dis is me an' buba in da fo'est" he holds up another half finished picture, but with Ace saying what it was about, he could see it to a degree. "Well these are some of the best picture I've ever seen, yoi. Why haven't you told me what an artist you are little one?" He decides by how Ace was acting, he was most likely regressed, as he had the same characteristics of little Haruta and a little kid.
Ace seemed to preen at the nickname, as the only nickname he was ever given wen he was little was 'Little Man'. Luffy wasn't the most creative wen it came to nicknames, or names in general "Can I ask how small the little one is feeling, yoi?" Marco had bent down slightly as to be closer to ace's sitting height. "I'm dis many" he holds up 4 fingers spread throughout his hand, three on one hand and one on the other hand "Four?" quickly he puts down one of the fingers on the hand with three fingers up "Ah- your three then?" He asked to make sure.
He got a nod of confirmation and then a blinding smile that made his heart clench. He wondered if something bad had happened to make Ace start regressing, but that was a question he would keep to himself for now. "Well does the little man have any gear somewhere. I know you have little hidden areas area the ship to hide things." At that he gets a head tilt confusion "You- ...you do know what gear is, right?" Ace just seems even more confused at this. "Nu?" Well that would explain his confusion. "O-okay, well um. Gear- .... gear is things like, toys, or a favorite stuffed animal or blankie, even a simple comfort item. It can also mean pacifiers or sippy cups or bottles." Ace seemed to have more of an understanding now. "So do you have anything, yoi?"
Ace shakes his head with a small pout before bringing some of the meat on the plate Marco had brought for him, to his mouth. "Well does anyone from your crew know about you being small, cause I don't think such a small boy should be by himself." that got another shake of his head, but this one seemingly sadder than the last. "Nu, Big me don' wan' no one else to know. Think bad things are gonna happen. But you is nice, and big me likes you as well, so is ok if you knows."
Marco had decided then and there Ace will never be lonely again.
"Well, if you promise to wait here and eat some more off the plate, ill bring you some presents, yoi" Ace seemed to light up at this information. "Present?" Marco nods and stands up "But first you have to promise to wait here for me to come back okay, yoi?"
"Pinkie promise?" Ace holds out his pinkie patiently waiting and Marco takes it with his pinkie "Pinkie promise."
~*~
Marco really hadn't wanted to leave Ace, his mother bird instincts yelling at him to go back and take care of Ace. But to do that he would need to borrow some of Hauruta's little gear. with that thought he takes off to search for her. It didn't take very long as she was running around with thatch, most likely pranking someone as they always do. "Haruta, I need your help with something." She stopped chattering animatedly to Thatch and turned to Marco "Sure, whatcha need?"
"Do you have some of your Little gear that you wouldn't mind giving up, yoi?" she was surprised at this question but slowly nodded "I mean- yeah, I got some, but why? is there a newly turned little that I can bug!" she went from confused and surprised to excited much faster than expected. "I probably shouldn't be telling everyone this, yoi. But since your letting me have some things ill let you know. One one condition, yoi." She was vibrating from happiness at this point, finally not being the only little on the ship was a very exciting thought. "Yes, yes, Anything!!!! Just tell me already."
"You cant bug him about it, and only wen he's more comfortable about it, then ill let you know wen he is more open to you talking about being little or whatever it is you want to do, yoi." she nodded fast enough to make thatch wince in pain at the idea of him pulling a muscle in his neck. "It's Ace" both Haruta and thatch stood staring at Marco with a look of disbelief "Now can I have some things since he doesn't have any at all."
"Wait, at all, like nothin, nada, zilch, zero, nothing at all?" He was getting fed up with how long this was taking, just wanting to get back to ace before he goes back to a normal headspace. "Yes! now can we get a move on, I don't want to keep him waiting." with that Haruta quickly grabs his arm and drags him off to her room.
"Well if he has nothing, ill give you a bit of everything if its not my favorite things so he has options." as soon as they get to her room, she slams open the door and runs over to a chest in the corner of the room and starts to dig through "Thatch if i give you a cup and bottle can you go fill them up with water or something" Marco looks over his shoulder to see that thatch had followed them. "Yeah sure, hand 'em over!" He sees Haruta hand thatch a sea themed cup, making a mental note to get a better look at it wen thatch got back, and a blue baby bottle. "Okay take all of these first" Haruta sets down a red and orange themed pacifier -very fitting- and few baby toys that made sounds and would twist and bend easily without breaking, remembering that some of them had been given to her by Namur, but she wasn't a fan of them.
"For now this is all I have that I can give to Ace, but ill ask a few other commanders to buy some more things wen they go out for missions saying there for me." he picks them up making note at how one of the toys has a teether on it. "I think I'll steal on of Thatches good blankets while im at it, think of it as making it even with his last prank." he shivered at the thought of the last prank that was pulled on him, it took forever to get all the syrup out of his feathers. Haruta laughs at that and says something about finding and distracting thatch so he could find a good blanket. Marco quickly mentioned for them to bring the drinks to his room before heading off to Thatches quarters.
~*~
He made quick work of sorting through the most comfortable blankets before settling on a soft blue one that was almost the same shade as his feathers. When he finally made it back to his room he was greeted with the site of ace in mostly the same position, and drawing on some more paper, but it seems he found a green pen he didn't even know he had.
"Marco, your back!" Ace chirped out happily. Marco made his way over seeing ace eye the things in his arms. "Was dat?" he sets down the pacifier and toys on the desk, blanket still hanging over his arm. "I get you a few things, like this" he hold up the pacifier "is so you stop biting your nails and sticking your icky fingers in your mouth, yoi." it was then that ace realized he had been chewing on his nails and promptly took them out. "Okay, buh' won it be to small?" he could remember wen Luffy had come home with a pack of pacifiers one day, most likely stolen, and told ace he shouldn't put his fingers in his mouth similar to the way Marco had just done. But the pacifiers were meant for baby's so it wouldn't rest in his mouth comfortably so he resorted to using them to chew on up until he set sail, in which he had left them on dawn.
Marco simply shook his head and gestured for Ace to grab it. "Try it, its bigger than a babies so it should be ok yoi." With that reassurance he takes the pacifier, and hesitantly sticks it in his mouth. He gives it a few test suckles before deeming it to be good. Marco then pushes some of the toys closer to him, prompting him to investigate. he picked up one, twisting and turning it around, shaking, and anything else to see all of what it could do. At some point wen shaking one -it made a rattling sound- someone had knocked on Marcos door startling him. Marco quickly reassure him that it was fine and he would check to see who it was.
He could hear Marco talking with someone for a minute before returning with something else in his hands once more. "I git you something to drink, its fruit juice, yoi" he wasn't a fan of trying to not make a mess with cups wen he was like this, but he wouldn't say no to something given to him from Marco. "But I wasn't sure what cup you would like more so I decided to give you some options with what we had." He sets down two different cups that Ace had never thought he might be able to use. One was a sippy cup that had some cartoonish sea animals on a blue background on it. And what looked to be an attempt at a matching blue baby bottle.
At first he just stared at them in shock, all of this was almost to much for Ace to handle, finally having someone to care for him we he felt small, even if this was a one time thing. Being given toys, cups, and a pacifier. He only realized he started to cry wen Marco started to freak out asking what was wrong and if he didn't like the cups. He could seem to properly explain it other than shaking his head and looking over at Marco with a half smile hidden behind the paci with tears still falling down his cheeks.
But from the look on his face he seemed to get that he wasn't sad or upset. He lets out a startled yelp -he would never admit it was a squeak even wen small- as Marco suddenly pulls him into a tight hug. "Just know I'm always here for you if you need someone to watch over you or even to sit with, yoi." Ace just snuggles into Marcos hold until he lets go saying "You never did decide if you liked these" he gestures to the cups "why don't you try them, yoi." He nearly forgot, picking up the sippy cup and taking out the pacifier and bringing it to his mouth to drink from. It wasn't bad to use, just different. But he supposed it was a good different. He gives Marco a nod before moving on to the bottle. This one was also very different, right now he wasn't sure he was a fan of it, but he wasn't opposed to it.
"Well now that we have that sorted out, why don't we head to the bed. it is getting late after all. And if you'd want, we can have cuddles." he didn't want to go to bed just yet, but he did quite like the idea of cuddles. He hasn't had a proper cuddle since he left Dawn. He begrudgingly makes his way over to the bed, looking back at Marco. "Alright, alright, I'm coming, yoi" He suspects this is going to be the best nights sleep in awhile.