fierybluebird | [Audio/Action]

AAAAACCCEEEE!!!!!

[Hark! It's the roar of an angry phoenix in pirate form.]

MY SHAMPOO?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Oh god it's even in my feathers! MY FEATHERS ACE!!! AHHH WHY'D YOU HAVE TO PICK RED?! Even raven black would have been better! I look like I hero-worship Shanks now! I swear when I find you Ace!

[For anyone getting a good look in the journal, Marco's hair has been badly dyed red, oh yeah and he looks every bit as ticked off as he sounds. Later on however, he'll be sporting a fedora to cover up that Akagami-wannabe look, and looking for hair dye remover. Or bleach. Or as a last resort, black hair dye. Anything's better than red with him. He will also be putting up posters: "Ever want to be a pirate? Join the Whitebeards! Limited time offer" though more on that later. And even more than that, a certain usually very blue bird will have a slightly red and purple tinge to his feathers for a little while. So not pleased. Still, he'll be around to help out any New Feathers or someone needing directions to town. And if anything, he arguably looks more like a traditional phoenix. Not that he wants that.]

[Later on that night when he stops trying to beat Ace to a pulp there will be a second very short post.]

Does anyone have hair dye remover, bleach, or something in black? I couldn't find any in the shop. Thanks, eh.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ace... you threw yourself overboard. Remember?

[Deadpan. But seriously. They kept fishing him out when he fell overboard from trying to kill Pops. Why bother sending him there themselves?]

I mean before all that! Geez, I know I was an idiot, okay? You and Thatch were nosy jerks, too, though.

[Grins in amusement.]

I've got a confession to make.

We thought of you as a little brother long before you ever took the mark on.

Besides, you know you loved us for it.

[... oh. Okay, he'll just. Bury his face in his knees.] Sh-shut up.

[Gotta hide the blush.]

[Cutie. Marco just hides a smirk and ruffles Ace's head.]

What can I say? We knew Pops well enough to understand his thinking. And you for that matter.

[He keeps his head down, but mumbles.] How could you tell when I was always nothing but a stubborn idiot?

Because we all are a bit. Or a lot. We knew because we're even more stubborn than you.

And because you looked after your crew. People after Pops' head don't do that. It was like us.

Pops has always been good at seeing people's hearts, you know? He did it with your little brother Luffy too.

[He pushes some of his hair back, smiling a bit.] Guess I was pretty easy to see through.

Aye, but we like you that way.

... so it's easier to see when you need to help me?

Sometimes. Sometimes you've got us fooled, but it doesn't last forever.

[And sometimes, just because they know it's needed, doesn't mean they know how to help.]

... I'll make you a deal. I'll stop trying to fool you entirely, but you can't be mad at me for hiding it from you.

You're asking me to be a lot more observant than--

[Pinches the bridge between his eyebrows. It wasn't just that Marco didn't notice. Sometimes he noticed and still didn't say anything. It was hard to push those buttons delicately enough, to handle the explosion and still be able to help with it. To call Ace on bullshit meant letting Ace do the same with him. But he was nakama, Marco trusted Ace with such a thing and yet...]

It's not just noticing. If you aren't ready to bring it up, I can't always tell if you're ready for me to bring it up either. Or if bringing up then will help or make it worse.

I'm selfish Ace. I want to say you can have all the secrets you need, but I want you to be able to trust me too.

I guess I want to play all angles and see which will make you happiest.

Edited 2012-07-21 07:38 (UTC)

I'm ready to tell you anything at a moment's notice. Deep down, I want to talk to you about so much, but... I don't know, something stops me. Some little distraction always comes up, like "now might not be a good time" or "it can always wait". I just don't know why.

[He leans against Marco's back.] There are... a few things I want to keep to myself. But you have to know, I trust you so much. More than almost anyone.

[Reaches a hand over a shoulder to ruffles Ace's hair.] I know kid.

I'll try to bug you a little more, so long as you remember, I want to hear it all even more than you want to tell it. Even if we have forever, the sooner we get things fixed the more time you can spend happy. So the only time you should wait is if you're already happy. But then the minute you aren't, come to me. Sound good?

[He smiles up after Marco after listening, giving him a nod.]

Sounds really good to me. [He turns around to give him a hug.] You've... really helped me out of a lot of painful things, Marco. It means the world to me, you don't even know how grateful I am. That's one of the things I've wanted to tell you.