resumed | PC: ACE 💀

No, because that's for not telling us, not for doing it and being stuck in a bad situation. Those are two different things. [ are they. ]

[ of course they are. ace can't help it, he laughs a little. it's probably not appropriate for the moment, but he does ]

Yeah. I guess that's true.

[ he sort of grips his hand a little when ace laughs. ]

The point is...you didn't mess up. You would've messed up if you'd done to Sigrun what someone did to Reigen. If you'd been cruel in her death. But that's not you.

[ there's a twitch to ace's face, because he doesn't know that that's true, but he's not going to argue it. ]

... No, I guess not. [ the reminder of reigen's death is... yeah. ] Ah, I'm not going to keep making you reassure me for something like this.

[ realizing he is being unfair to nico with that!!! ]

[ no be unfair to him, he doesn't care. also he knows ace has killed people, probably brutally, because he's a pirate but he is only talking here thank you very much!! ]

You're really not making me do anything I don't want to do, Ace. Do I look like the kind of person to say things I don't mean?

[ me thinking of how in ace's intro he just sets fire to like, 10 ships in the middle of the ocean and leaves them all to die ]

That's not what I meant, Nico. I'm done wallowing. I don't want it to be the last thing I do.

[ .........again ]

[ me as him. but he rolls his eyes to that. ]

Okay, okay. No more wallowing. [ a pause. ] ...what do you want to do then? [ "while we can" goes unsaid. ]

[ there are so many things he wants to say, but he doesn't know if he can bring himself to say them. so... ]

I don't know. [ he admits, simply, but: ] I've always enjoyed talking with you no matter what it was, though.

[ also fair. he doesn't mind the simplicity (the honesty), but he does laugh a little uncertainly. ]

Not that I always understood why, but it doesn't hurt that you've been one of the easiest people to talk to. Like...here and in general. [ he knows exactly why that is but he refuses to think too hard about it. ]

I've heard from reliable sources that were only mostly drunk that I can be a pretty easy guy to get along with. Might be it.

[ it's a joke. inappropriate for the time. also, pirates are so drunk. less of a joke, though: ]

Does there need to be a reason?

Only mostly? Oh, that's fine then. [ haha. ] Now you've got a lot of sober sources, too. Funny how that works.

[ he can roll with it, at least. but then ace asks that question and he shrugs. they are still holding hands and he's really out here like "idk i'm still learning how to talk to people." ]

Normally I would say yes because that's how it's always been, but it's been a work in progress to try and accept that maybe it's easier to talk to people than I think it is, sometimes.

That's not as believable. Drunk people are really honest.

[ stop being an asshole, ace. you are dying. he tilts his head a little at nico ]

... I gotta admit, I've never thought that deeply about it myself. There's some people that are easy to talk to, and some that aren't. That's all there is to it for me.

[ he seems to think about something before he just. looks a little sheepish and avoids eye contact for a second. ]

I'm going to take your word for it even if I think your word might be wrong in some instances. [ it's a joke but also gods. anyway he...thinks about this. ]

...I kind of wish a lot more of the world saw it the way you do. Maybe then things would be easier for people.

It's probably wrong in a lot of instances.

[ har har. more jokes. he looks over at nico and sort of smiles ]

Maybe. Or maybe it'd be a mess. I think you've gotten pretty good at getting along with others here, though.

[ he doesn't argue, but he does give him a Look. and then it fades as he grows more thoughtful. ]

...I'm trying harder than usual, I think, to make it easier on him. [ he does not always think he's good with people. he's kind of bad with them, actually, even if he has a lot of good qualities for being good with others. ] It helps that a lot of the people here are more understanding of things.

A lot of people here have been through similar stuff. Maybe that's why we got dragged here. [ he shrugs a little ] I would've liked you even if you weren't trying harder than usual.

[ nico keeps saying ace is easy to get along with, which is fair enough, but there's a difference between that and how they bonded, he thinks. (hopes?) ]

I'd wondered that, but that's a pretty terrible realization to think people are here because our lives have been suffering. [ blankly. but he hears that and he looks away again. ]

I don't know if I'm supposed to say "thanks" or "stop." [ lol. ]

... Pretty bad if you put it like that.

[ hm. for the other part he shrugs again ]

It's just a fact. [ but he looks a little pleased like he thinks it's funny when nico is embarrassed. because it is ]

You're the one who suggested it! [ gods. also shut up!!! ] Fact or not, you're...[ he makes a grumbling noise instead, holding sabogotchi a little closer. ]

...I didn't have friends until really recently. You know this about me. It's still weird to think about how it can actually be easier than I thought now.

[ and it's also hard to think about how he can have these friends and lose them just as easily all over again.]

... For about seven years, the closest thing I had to a friend was Luffy. [ ace says it lightly, glancing at the sabogotchi himself ] I had no real idea or plan on how I was going to get a crew, but I ended up with a lot of people willing to throw their lot in with me somehow. Sometimes you just gotta try and find the right people for your brand of crazy.

[ that last part is partially a joke. he doesn't know how to talk around the fact that getting friends means you can lose them too when he is the friend nico is losing right now. ]

[ it's a fact that they're both painfully aware of and a fact neither of them can bring themselves to talk about because they're people who have experienced a kind of loss you can't always recover from. not really. so he chooses to focus on the other things, still holding sabogotchi so ace can see him. ]

Yeah, well...Jason wanted me to try, and Will had been arguing with me to stay and I did. Between the two of them I think my entire life changed last summer. For the better, obviously, but sometimes...you know how it is. You find something good, and you kind of can't believe it's something just for you or that...[ "or that you deserve it." ]

Sometimes it's easier to believe it than other times.

... Yeah. Sometimes you just... keep waiting for someone to pull the rug out from under you.

[ it was sort of that, for him, with the whitebeards, but he doesn't think he needs to specify, right now. ]

But what I'm getting is you should listen to Will more often. [ and this time it's definitely teasing ]

[ that does get him to laugh a little. ]

Don't let him hear you say that. He'd agree. [ like. yes? ] ...but he's made things easier to believe, so maybe you're onto something. Less like everything's going to fall apart right away all the time.

... Yeah, well... He's right about that, you know.

[ it probably feels like an insane thing to say, when they're talking with ace behind bars. ]

[ he doesn't verbally reply, but he grips ace's hand a little tighter anyway as if to say "well, not really, but i get why you're saying this." ]

Yeah. I mean I think I agree with what you said earlier. You guys have been the best part of being stuck here. Even when things started getting bad, it...helped. Knowing there were other people to count on.

[ which is just another reason this sucks, but you know. ]

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