PC: ACE 💀

[resumed]

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[selfimmolation]

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.

[resumed]

[ 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.

[selfimmolation]

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.

[resumed]

[ 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.

[selfimmolation]

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?) ]

[resumed]

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. ]

[selfimmolation]

... 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 ]

[resumed]

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.]

[selfimmolation]

... 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. ]

[resumed]

[ 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.

[selfimmolation]

... 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 ]

[resumed]

[ 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.

[selfimmolation]

... 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. ]

[resumed]

[ 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. ]

[selfimmolation]

... You've still got each other. All of you.

[ there are other people you can count on. he gets that it's unfair to say, after both he and reigen will-- but they might be losing people but they're not going to be alone. ]

[resumed]

[ ...yeah. ]

We're not leaving you behind. So don't even think about that.

[selfimmolation]

[ ah. ]

... Yeah, I know you'll try if there's a chance. [ but it'd be impossible to march to his death if he's keeping his hopes up, so. ]

[resumed]

[ ...yeah. that's fair. ]

I'm gonna fight the moon. As soon as I get close enough, it's over for it.

[selfimmolation]

Yeah? [ he sounds so amused, but also like he completely believes nico there ] Kick its ass double for me.

[resumed]

Definitely. [ he is so confident about this? ] I still have my sword and I've been training. I'm not going to let it get away.

[selfimmolation]

I never doubted that for a second.

[resumed]

[ yeah!! fight the moon!!

but he goes quiet after a second of that bravado. ]

...any other requests I should take into consideration?

[selfimmolation]

...

[ it's ace's turn to kind of squeeze nico's hand ]

If I tell you to take care of yourself, are you gonna listen?

[resumed]

[ he allows this, if only because he doesn't know how to answer that question honestly. ]

...I have other people I have to look after. You know that as well as I do. [ will. nimona. the rest of the jailbreakers. they're his responsibility just as much as anyone else's. ]

[selfimmolation]

That's what I figured you'd say. [ he doesn't think he's actually allowed to make it a request, all things considered, because it's his fault in the first place nico's finding himself with that much trouble. ] ... I was okay dying the first time because I knew Luffy's crew would take care of him.

[ he maybe shouldn't admit that but. yknow. whatever. ]