Chapter Text
*CRASH!!!*
Crates and barrels of supplies went splintering, scattering, clinking and clattering along the metal floor in a fiery blaze, scaring the bejeebers out of Coby, who was stationed there to guard the Navy ship's cargo bay. "JEEZ!!!" He'd jumped, shaking. What just happened?! HOW just happened?! WHY?!?!
"Did something explode?!" He's trying to throw buckets of water on the mess, but the fire was quickly growing beyond his ability to control it. "Damn it!" Even the water was evaporating! "Seriously?!" How is this possible?! It's fire! All that's fueling it is food! Medicine! General stuff! And--
A standing body.
OH, SHIT-- "HANG ON!! I'M COMING-!" He shielded his face as the flames lashed out at him. "Just- LAY LOW!! I'll put out the fire! Don't move unless absolutely necessary--"
*Clunk.* The shadowy figure of a man had taken a step towards the fire. ...*Clunk.* And then another.
Wait; Coby balked. Is he stepping into the fire?! "H-HEY!!" He frantically waved out. "Stop!! You'll die, doing that!!"
...*Clunk.*
Oh my god!! "STOP!!!"
...*Clunk.*
"DON'T DO IT!!!"
...*Clunk.*
Jesus Christ. He's witnessing a suicide.
He's got to do something!! He's looking around. The fire's too hot; he can't get near it. Burning debris surrounded him, blocking access to the area. He's breathing. Panic on the onset. One more look at the burning man, and his mind blanks out. Before he realizes it, he's throwing flaming debris out of the way, his palms audibly searing. "GHH-kch--!!" He immediately dropped the charring wood, and the entire side he'd gripped disintegrated into embers. He looked down at his hands, and belted out a sigh of relief. He'd only sustained minor burns.
But he's wondering if this will even help, what with--
*Clunk.* The figure, lumbering, completely undeterred by the blaze. Slow, heavy, thudding footfalls, clunking across the metal floor. Then in a bizarre twist, the fire began to recede, swirling up into a tornado. Shrinking. Thinning out. Coming to-- swirl into the man's body. Almost as if...he absorbed it.
Coby squinted through watering eyes. "What..." Is this?!
*Clunk.* Suddenly, a heavy black boot morphed into being. ...*Clunk.* Then its twin. ...*Clunk.* A pair of muscular calves and sturdy knees. ...*Clunk.* Black cargo shorts, a small blue pack belted around the left thigh.
A Devil Fruit user? "Who are you?!" Coby threw his fists up, readying his defensive stance. "S-stay back!" Crap, he stuttered!
...*Clunk.* Abs. ...*Clunk.* Pecs.
"I mean it!!"
...*Clunk.* A long red bead necklace, swinging into being around broad shoulders.
Coby was growing unsettled. If this guy's a Logia type, he won't be able to hit him.
...*Clunk.* Biceps. His left one had a tattoo: "ASCE," scrolling down the side in black lettering.
Suddenly, everything became clear to the marine. How the explosion occurred. Why the fire moved strangely. Why this man walked uncaringly through the blaze. No... He didn't just walk through it. He is it. This man...is a notoriously dangerous criminal. One especially sought after by the World Government.
...*Clunk.* His face, a scowl. Hooded, shadowed eyes. Blank. Bored. Unbothered. His iconic orange cowboy hat, with two little blue smileys, one smiling and one frowning, fastened along red beads, which circled above the rim.
Coby could drop dead by the mere sight of this man.
No...freaking WAY?!
"Fire Fist" Ace?! The practically untouchable?!?!
Fire Fist stepped intimidatingly his way, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. Flames flickered along his arms, shoulders, off the top of his hat, dancing and licking the air around him.
What can he do?! Coby was shaking. He can't touch this guy! He ate the Flame-Flame Fruit; his body is literally made out of fire! Any punch he'd attempt would phase right through him! Damn it... DAMN IT!!! Regardless of his heart catching in his throat, and fear retching in his stomach, he clenched his burned, reddened fists. He's gonna try, damn it!! He's gotta!! He's ready!!
But then the pirate just...passed him.
Coby deflated a little. He didn't even acknowledge him! What the-- "H-HEY!!" He spun around.
Fire Fist stopped.
"What're you doing?!" Coby was trembling violently. "Th-th-th-this is a Navy ship! What're you here to do?!"
...Fire Fist didn't respond. He wiggled his calloused, bony fingers, embers crackling from them with every crack. He rolled his hulking shoulders, the long purple cross of a tattoo, with a skull sporting an upturned white moustache stretching with his back muscles. He cracked his neck and then glanced behind, his eye glinting sharply in the shadow of his hat.
Coby shuddered. His stare was so...calculating. I-it...pierces him! Renders him useless! He...
There's nothing he can do...is there?
To his horror, he could feel the familiar sensation of his arms growing numb. His legs, jellifying. Dizziness; the onset of tunnel vision, blackening his peripheral vision... He's swaying. His feet, slipping. Into the fire, he's falling...
*Clunk-clunk-clunk-CLUNK*-- But then he was caught. "YO!!!" His face was lightly smacked. "Hey, you okay?! Dude!!"
His vision blackened. Ears, ringing. In the firelight, above him, he caught a pair of blown, frantic dark eyes, underscored by freckles along high cheekbones.
"Hang in there!!" screamed the blurry figure. Fuzzily.
Then out went everything, fading into comforting darkness.
The next time Coby came to, he was in the infirmary wing. The same lightly-colored wooden ceiling graced his eyes. That all-too-familiar hospital smell, filling his nostrils.
He groaned tiredly. Damn it... He passed out again.
He pushed himself to sitting, the significantly cooled navy blue blanket falling to his stomach. He looked around to an empty room. An empty desk chair. The mahogany wooden desk, laden with papers and files. Various hospital supplies, cotton swabs and patches in scratched-up jars, all neatly aligned on a counter to his right. The familiar sting of an IV, hooked up to the back of his right hand, administering fluid.
He looked at the clock above the door. It was quarter past twenty-hundred hours; 8:15 PM. Four hours, he'd determined. Since he passed out.
Damn it...! His fingers twitched, slowly closing into trembling, angry fists, cooled by the aloe vera gel applied to the burns. He passed out! Again!! He was so angry at himself.
And this time, he realized. Nobody waited for him to wake up. The nurses were gone. Nobody was here.
Not even Helmeppo.
No; he shook his head of pink hair. 'Meppo's training under Vice Admiral Garp right now. He'd be here otherwise. They weren't best friends for nothing. But...gosh. Even the nurses left him alone. He'd been here multiple times, and steadily, he could tell the head nurse was getting annoyed, having to care for him again and again. He tried to ignore it. He tried to take the metaphorical punch. But...
DAMN IT!! He's squeezing the yellow sunflower-patterned bandana around his forehead. He's useless! A burden! All he does is faint in high-stress situations! What kind of a soldier does that?!
Then he gasped, remembering kind of the key problem that caused this. What about Fire Fist? What happened to him?
...He... It's a long shot. But he wasn't the one who...saved him. Did he?
*BANG!!*
He jumped from the sudden loud noise. JESUS CHRIST!!! WHAT NOW?!?! He shot his head to the left at the porthole, shielded with light blue curtains.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
...Did someone just...knock?
"'Scuse me!" *Knock-knock-knock!* "Is this the infirmary?"
...Coby could only stare at it, confused as to how there's someone outside the window??? There was nothing to stand on out there! Just the sheer drop that was the side of the ship!
"Helloooo?" *Knock, knock-knock-knock, knock!* "I'm hangin' upside-down, here! Blood's- rushing to the head-!"
Coby shoved out of the cot, but the IV pole caught against it. He turned back, reached across and quickly, awkwardly shuffled sideways, pulling it along, forcing his wobbling legs to the window as soon as he was free to do so. He threw the curtains apart, and-- A man was indeed hanging upside-down, some rope entangled around his leg! Around his--
Heavy boot.
Black cargo shorts.
A hastily put-together doctor's coat and stethoscope. With no shirt?
And the orange. Cowboy hat, dangling from its chin strap around his chin.
"Oh...great!" "Fire Fist" Ace laughed, cheerfully beaming. "Wasn't sure if this was the right place!"
...Coby shut the curtains.
"What-- Hey!!" A kick against the window. "C'mon, man, I'm just checking on ya! You had me worried when ya passed- out..." His voice was wavering.
Coby clutched the curtains, unsure of what to do. How is Fire Fist roaming free on the ship right now?!
"Help...!"
Screw it! He ripped the curtains back open, swung the porthole open, and with all the strength he had left, he's pulling him in by the leg.
"Cut- the rope-!"
With quickness and precision, he's pulling out a pocket knife and whittling away at the rope. He'd been carrying this around since he left Alvida's crew, in case her and her creepy lackeys came stalking him at any point. He did just up and leave his former captain after insulting her to her face, and if she was reactive over that, then who knows what else she'd do?
He cut the rope. Caught the leg. Straining, hands slippery from the aloe, he hugged the leg and pulled the heavy bastard up, over, and inside, the both of them falling to the wooden floor.
"Brbrbrbrbr..." The pirate shook his head, blinking away the dizziness. "Heh..." He grinned loopily. "Thanks."
All Coby could do was stare, a new wave of fear whitening his face.
He just saved a pirate. A dangerous criminal.
Fire Fist blinked. His grin, faltering a little. "Evening...question mark?"
Nope. Coby's scrambling backward. Nope nope nope nope nope nope--
"Hey, hey!" Fire Fist caught the IV pole, and the tube stretched taut, catching Coby spinning by the arm.
"Ow?!" He clutched his affected hand.
Fire Fist got up. Wheeled the pole with him. "Hey, listen--"
"S-stay back!" Coby held out the knife.
"I'm not gonna hurt ya!" Fire Fist put his other hand up. "Besides, you won't be able to hit me with that dinky little thing. I'm made of fire, bro." His free hand morphed, flaring into an open flame. "Flame-Flame Fruit."
Even still, Coby kept his knife up. He passed out before. He's diligent now. But at the same time, Fire Fist is carrying his means of life support. Not only could he kill him, but, with his powers, he could shatter this entire ship and more with a single punch.
So, then...why doesn't he? He could've done that this whole time?
Then it hit Coby. Four hours. He'd been roaming free on the ship for four hours.
Fire Fist's flame reshaped back into a hand. "Don't worry." He let go of the pole, putting his other hand up. "I'm not gonna try anything. Don't want to." He smirked, eyes friendly and honest. "Matter of fact, I'm just hitching a ride."
Coby's breathing. Confused. Sweating.
Hitching a ride?? On a Navy ship???
Fire Fist shrugged. "Well..." He looked to his right. Then to his left. Sighted the desk chair. And clunked slowly over to it.
Shakily, Coby kept the knife pointed at him. "W-what're you doing?"
He pulled out the chair, eyeing the marine. "Sitting."
Coby clasped his wrist, stilling it as best he could. "Why're you here?!"
Fire Fist plopped down, staring simply, looking him over. "I just told ya."
Coby furrowed his brow. "But..." He looked aside. Then back at him. "On a Navy ship?"
"Look, I know." Fire Fist calmly dipped his head below his shoulders. "I destroyed your supply bay." He put his hands up again. "I apologize. But since I did it, your ship's gonna have to restock at a port near here." His right hand flopped aside, his pointer finger extended lazily at the window. "Which happens to be my next destination."
"Then..." What?! "Why choose to put yourself in danger like this, i-if you could've gotten there yourself??"
...Fire Fist was silent.
"Not only are you on an enemy ship!" Coby pointed the knife frantically at the pirate's leg. "But w-w-what if that rope snapped?! You have Devil Fruit powers, you could've- sunk like a rock in the ocean!"
"Hey. I lived." Fire Fist lifted his head, and clicked with a wink, smirking. "Thanks to you. Buddy."
"Sh-SHUT UP!!" Coby fumbled with the knife, nearly dropping it. "I-I mean...of course? Uhh-h..." If he were honest... he wasn't sure what to feel. Scared? Safe? This guy - he's supposed to be a threat! But he's...so friendly-seeming.
Fire Fist tapped a finger to the tip of the knife. "Tell ya what." He guided it...towards his own chest. "If you're gonna subdue me..." He took the marine's wrist, and planted the blade right above his heart. "I'll let ya do it."
Coby balked. "What?"
"No bullshit." He let go. "Go for it."
What?!?!
No fair! He can't just- do this to him! What the hell?!?! Nerves fraying, Coby squared his jaw, failingly stilling the knife with all he had left in him. "What's your goal, here?"
Fire Fist's brow furrowed. "Hmh?"
"Why hitch a ride on a Navy ship?!" Coby yelped. "You're just asking to get arrested!"
Fire Fist's eyes hooded. "Are you gonna do it?"
Coby recoiled from the stupidly simple gesture. "What?"
"Arrest me?"
He gulped. "N-n...no way would you l-let me." He winced at his stutter.
"True." Fire Fist slowly bobbed his head. "I could easily up n' snap your neck. Be done with it." He looked aside. "But I'm not gonna do that. So--"
"Why don't you?" God damn it, why did he ask that?
Fire Fist blinked wide, just as surprised. "Just...figured I'd make sure you're okay." He smiled sympathetically. "You passed out pretty dang quick. I dropped ya outside the door, away from the smoke. So your comrades could get ya."
Coby gaped at him.
So he DID save him!
Fire Fist eyed the knife. "But, uh, if that's still not enough info for ya. Then--"
Coby lowered his arm. Sheathed the knife. Gripped it tightly at his side.
Ace slowly came to grin. "There." He put out his hand. "Name's Ace. Portgas D."
Coby stared warily at it.
Ace smirked. "Capricorn, or whatever."
What's his deal? Coby squinted confusingly at him. Why is he being so friendly?
Ace's eyebrows raised expectedly. "And you are...?"
"Coby," he found himself answering.
"Hey, Coby." Ace gestured for reciprocation. "Put 'er there."
...Coby...hesitantly raised his shaking, needleless hand. Fingered into the other's palm. And gingerly cupped it.
Ace gripped him powerfully, shaking once for him. "Awesome." He dropped their hands. "Look, like I said. I don't wanna hurt you guys, or anything shitty like that." His eyes dulled, his smile glinting darkly. "If I wanted to do that, frankly, you'd all be dead right now."
Coby shuddered, dropping his head. Staring unbelievably at the hand he shook.
Ace reached around his back and pulled over a green backpack he was apparently carrying. "You want a drink?"
This can't be real.
"I got sake." Ace pulled out a sizable red gourd.
Coby's shoulders tensed anxiously, and he struggled to speak. "P-pretty sure I'm...n-not- s-supposed- to." He bodily scrunched up, preparing for retaliation.
Ace shrugged. "All righty." Then smiled with a lazy giddiness at his gourd. "More for me." He messed with the cork.
Coby waited...but retaliation never came. No punches. No weapons.
Ace popped the cork. Sniffed the concoction. Shuddered, his eyes rolling back. "Fuck, yes." He threw it back, taking huge, hearty gulps.
...After a moment, Coby risked a glance. The guy's splayed out and vulnerable, lying back in the chair.
Millions of questions flooded the marine's head. What...is he doing? Why is he drinking? Wouldn't that impair him? He's deliberately putting himself in more danger, and he just- doesn't care???
Some drops dripped from the corner of Ace's mouth, trickling down his bobbing Adam's apple. Past the stethoscope. Down his- pecs, and- settling on his pumping abs.
Coby couldn't help his face heating. Why's he gotta be shirtless? Why is he sitting like that? What the heck is he gonna do, drunk?!?!
Ace popped off. Sighed, his whole body shivering.
God, don't do that! Coby shielded his pinkening face with a hand. Now is not the time to be gay!
"Tell me something," Ace husked.
WHAT THE HELL!!! Coby pressed his palm into his sweating temple. His voice doesn't help! He wished he'd just shut up!!
Then Ace looked plainly at him. "You got 'ny napkins?"
Coby nearly collapsed to the floor. HaVe YoU gOt AnY-- He's freaking out. Clawing into his face. "What kind of qUESTION IS THAT?!"
Ace simply blinked. "'M just asking for napkins." He lied back, gesturing up and down to the sake on his body. "I made a mess," he lilted.
What the Christ. Coby avoided looking entirely.
"...Eh, never mind." Ace boredly resorted to pulling his doctor's coat, wiping it off on the inside.
"Why're you here?" Coby cracked.
Ace looked at the marine. "Huh?"
"You...n-never answered my- question." Damn it, he's stuttering again. Stupid, stupid speech impediment. "Why're you- hitching a r-ride?! Couldn't- you..." He couldn't keep himself from cringing, anxiety riddling him tense. "Y-y-you must- have...s-s-some- method of- transportation. Around the- Grand...Line?!" He braced himself again, ready to take the hit.
Ace exhaled contentedly. "Well..." He smiled goofily. "Can't drink while I'm driving."
...Coby untensed, processing what he'd just heard.
What?
"Also I'm hungry." Ace looked around. "Don't doctor's places usually have lil snacks lyin' around?"
Coby's red in the face, twitching angrily. "Are you f-f-f-f-f-f-f-FUCKING me right now?!"
...Ace swung back around, cocking a prospective brow. "Well, let's see. Uh..." He looked over his shoulder at the desk. He's riffling through the papers.
Coby paused, confused. What's he--
"'Coby,' 'Coby--' ah, here we go." He pulled out a copy of his medical history, looking it over. "All right..." He lied back again, flicking the paper in front of him, getting comfortable and spreading his legs further apart. "'Coooo-by,'" he rumbled, licking his teeth flirtatiously. "Age..." He hissed an inhale, grimacing. "Six...teen..." He sadly pursed his lips. His shoulders slumped. He sighed, head falling back, looking disappointed. "Sorry, buddy." He awkwardly squinted at him. "You're underage."
Oh my god-- "W-w-would you- take this seriously?! P-p-p-please?!" Coby's blushing profusely. "You'll get in trouble, i-if...you- stay- here!"
"No need to worry." Ace tugged the rim of his coat. "See this? I actually stole it from some nurse who was bathing."
Come to think of it, Coby recognized the name tag. It's the head nurse's jacket. "You're kidding...right?"
Ace shrugged. "Wasn't caught. They won't know."
"The n-NURSE will- know--" He clammed up. Something tells him this guy won't listen to reason, no matter what he says.
Ace went back to reading the paper. His brow lifted. "Oh, shit, you have reflex syncope?"
And he's READING his MEDICAL HISTORY. That's illegal!
"I've got narcolepsy, myself." He flicked the paper flittering to the floor. "Shit sucks. Messes up my sleep schedule, like, a lot."
Coby watched the paper fly across the wood.
"Makes sense as to why ya fainted."
He flopped to the floor, crumpling the paper in his grip. "Doesn't...matter," he snarled, turning to glare at the pirate. "Don't...read, m-my--"
...He'd stopped. Ace's head had fallen back over the edge of the seat.
"...*Snoooooore*..." A snot bubble proceeded to inflate from his nose.
Coby stood up. Stared incredulously at him.
He fell asleep. He fricking fell. Asleep.
Suddenly, the doors down the hall slammed open. Some familiar grumbling reached Coby's ears; he shot around alarmingly. The head nurse is coming!! He spun to Ace. Rushed up, taking his- abnormally warm shoulders. "Uh-h..." He gently shook him. "H-hey," he whispered. No response; he shook him harder, the pirate's hat falling off his head and catching around his neck. "Ace, wake up! The nurse is-s-s--"
Opening the door. Stopping in her tracks, hair up in curlers, halfway finished putting on lipstick.
Now was the time Ace decided to snork awake, his bubble popping. He tipsily lifted his head. "'M fell asleep."
The nurse furrowed her brow. "I never scheduled anyone to watch him right now," she snarked in a passive-aggressive tone.
Coby stepped back, planting his arms to his sides and his eyes to the floor.
Ace came to understand the situation, looking coolly at the nurse. "Nobody said you could bathe during your scheduled hours either, lady." He lifted a clipboard into view. "Says here you were supposed to keep an eye on the kid. Make sure his vitals stayed stable."
The woman became irrationally furious. "EXCUSE ME, SIR!!" She clicked over in heels, ripping the clipboard out of his hand. "It's my business what I do! I'm the head nurse! I don't exactly have time to myself all that often, you know! I haven't bathed in days!"
Ace flicked his brow. "I haven't bathed in a week. But I don't let that stop me." He smirked, looking at her lips. "N' didn'tcha hear? Red lipstick?" He grinned smugly. "Totally outta style."
"What's your name?!" She snatched his jacket. "I'll have you reported to the Vice Admiral-!!"
She froze, as she'd recognized her name tag.
And as Coby was a witness, the head nurse was thrown ragdolling into the wall, crashing into jars of medical supplies. She went limp, as if- unconscious?!?!
"C'mon!" Ace took Coby's wrist.
"W-w-wait-- ggh!!" The IV was pulled taut. It's still in his hand.
"Just- take it with you!" Ace wheeled the pole along, clattering across the floor as he rushed them into the hall. He shut the door. Just in time, too, as infirmary personnel came rushing out of their rooms towards the racket. "Doctor's orders!" He lifted Coby's hand. "You're to rest up in your room, soldier!" He shouldered past some confused nurses. He dipped to whisper in Coby's ear. "Where's your room?"
Jesus Christ. "Room f-five- thir-teen. Ups-stairs."
The pirate weaved the poor marine through questioning doctors, through the double-doors, out onto the night-shrouded deck, armed soldiers turning their heads, cocking brows as they watched them rattle up the stairs with the pole.
"Kch-" Coby's stumbling as he's being pushed along. "Pretty sure I'm not s-supposed to- take this with me--"
"Doctor's!! Orders!!" Ace flashed the IV at some advancing soldiers. "You see this?! Move!! Boy's gotta rest!!"
The soldiers stalled, promptly stepping aside for them.
Ace snickered, pleased at the IV. "Holy shit, that actually worked."
Coby could only focus on not tripping.
What is even happening anymore?!?!
"Ahhh..." Ace, removing the doctor stuff, plopped down on Helmeppo's empty bed, twirling a plastic wastebasket at his feet. "Finally. Some decent room n' board."
Coby, meanwhile, was close to losing it, standing at the far end of the room.
There's a pirate in his room. He is harboring a drunk. Pirate. In his room.
Ace stuffed the jacket and stethoscope into the wastebasket. And flicked his fingers out, combusting the pile in a blaze.
Coby jumped. "Wh-h-h-what're you doing?!?!"
"Burning the evidence," Ace responded calmly.
For Pete's sake?!?!
"Also doubles as a campfire." He held out his hands over the jacket, blackening as it burned. "Heeee..." He grinned pleasingly. "Nice n' warm."
Coby could swear he'd pass out. His body's threatening it. But the IV's keeping him awake. He looked at the needle, still embedded in his hand. With all the yanking around it suffered, he was surprised it still remained in place.
"Beep!"
He looked to his left, at the end table next to his bed. The transponder snail upon it was literally saying, "beep," indicating someone had left a voicemail.
The sapphire-colored snail blinked its droopy lids, one stalk at a time. "Beep!" it repeated, as if it'd been doing so for hours.
He looked at Ace, who was downing the rest of his sake. He shook his head at him, opting to just pick up the receiver from the snail's shell, spinning the rotary on its side, dialing for voicemails.
The snail spoke automatedly. "You have, one, unheard message. First unheard message, sent, today, at, seventeen hundred hours, and, five, minutes:
H-Hey!! Coby, it's me! Helmeppo! *Crackle.* Sorry, I- I-I can't make it tonight. I heard what happened, though! Everyone's talking about it - the explosion in the cargo bay?! You were found passed out at the door! *Sob*... I would've visited you in the infirmary. But Garp doesn't want me to put myself in potential danger."
"Ptuh--" Ace coughed loudly, catching sake dripping through his fingers.
Coby jerked around. "Hey, a-are you okay--"
"*Cough*- Focus!" Ace threw a finger at the snail.
So Coby focused on listening.
"--keeping me on my toes with his training. He doesn't want me to stray from it right now, either-..." Helmeppo's voice was shaky. "I-I...didn't want you to think I resorted back to my old, selfish ways. I care about you. I really do! *Sniffle!* If you could, get back to me when you can. Please? *Sob!* ...I know it's not much, coming from me. But...I hope you feel better. Get well soon.
...
Cuh-lick! End of messages. To delete this message, dial one--" Coby clicked the receiver back on the shell. He's tearing up.
'Meppo... That means a lot. He cupped a hand over his mouth. Thank you.
Ace rubbed his throat. "Holy sh-..." He looked incredulously at the marine. "You didn't tell me Garp was your superior!"
...He's ruining it. He's fuc-... fricking ruining this.
Coby had had enough. "You need to tell me why you're still here!!" He pointed. "What if s-someone knocks at the door?! You can't just- throw people, a-a-and expect the fleet to not search for you!"
But Ace was off in his own world. "Holy shit, no wonder that ship-head looked familiar! This is Gramps's vessel?"
"You're not even listenig-" Coby sniffled.
Ace got up and ambled to the porthole past Coby's bed. "Sounds like he's doing just dandy, too."
"Just-!!"
Wait a minute. Did he say...Gramps??
Doesn't matter, he shook. "Dude!" He flailed around to him. "You need to get out of h-here," he gritted.
"Coby."
He stopped.
Ace tapped the curtains open. "It's fine." He smiled a little, looking out into the night sky. "I know the old man. He won't even bother arresting me."
Coby furrowed his brow. "W-w-what- makes you think that?"
"Because." Ace unlatched the porthole, swinging the window open. He looked confidently at the marine, the sea breeze blowing his thin black locks past his shoulders.
"I'm his grandson."