[Marco gives him a wry grin in return and impetuously pulls the other man into a quick one-armed hug. He can't help being over affectionate, he's been that way ever since Thatch and his other brothers in the Whitebeard pirates had started to show him that it was an okay way to be. A better way even, sometimes.]

Don't worry about it. The only reason I know this stuff now is that I had younger brothers to help me figure it all out. Hell, the first time I got kissed I nearly killed the person because I thought it was an attack. Thatch dragged me out dozens of times to pick up chicks and I still feel like I need him around to ask his advice on everything with Robin. [He'd even written Thatch letters and burned them. It helped, in its own way. But more with accepting Thatch's death than in getting advice. At least he still had Ace around to pester as needed.]

Feeling a little better about things? [Marco peers at him. He can't tell. It's obvious that everything Marco said got absorbed at least, and for that, he's grateful. He's had practice in helping explain such things to his little brothers before, but everyone's different and most of his brothers had a knack for ignoring him when he started talking sense. Still, it was a lot to really process, and whether Ikki was on a road to acceptance or healing, or something else entirely, that mattered.]