Old Adventures: Breakfasts and Accusations
"What do you mean you're gonna be uncles?" Ace asked as he stepped out of Izou's room.
The three men who were discussing about baby names and how to murder Ace came to a stop when the person they were talking about stood right in front of them.
Izou lunged at him and held him by his shoulders, shaking him back and forth, "What do you mean you're gonna be uncles? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE GONNA BE UNCLES? ACE I'LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO IRIN-SAMA!"
"WHAT DID I DO?!" Ace yelled as he was being shook back and forth harshly.
An invisible fire raged behind Izou, "WHAT DID YOU DO? IS HE BEING FOR REAL RIGHT NOW?!"
Marco sweatdropped at Izou's expressiveness while Thatch decided to join their banter.
At this point Ace was getting beat up by both Izou and Thatch.
And just when the freckled man was about to fight back, Irin emerged from Izou's room with a towel in her hand and dressed in Ace's clothes. She wore a yellow button up that was extremely large on her and a pair of shorts which was also huge on her but she folded the pants up to stop at her mid thighs.
"What are you guys doing?" she raised her brow at the sight in front of her.
Everyone was holding a fighting stance and Ace had his fist held out towards Izou while Thatch just had his fists clenched.
Marco on the other hand was just a bystander, watching the scene play out.
"Iri-" Ace called out.
However, the three men had crowded around Irin, leaving Ace behind and, once again, stealing the girl away from her best friend.
"Irin-chan! You make Ace's boring clothes look stunning! C'mon let's go get some food!"
"Are those clothes okay for you, Irin-sama? If not, I can always get you a change of clothes."
"Irin-yoi! You should really stop by my quarters later for a check up-yoi!"
The pinkette was drowning in the questions being bombarded at her and she didn't know who to reply to first, "Um..." her face contorted into one that made her look like a sad puppy.
"Y'all are annoying! Let's just get her to the main deck! Everyone's already eating!" Ace huffed as he broke through the small crowd around Irin and dragged her away.
"What a doting husband," Marco and Thatch whispered, wiping a fake tear off.
Irin released her breath which she didn't realise she was holding, "Thanks for the save, I almost died there," she sighed.
Ace grinned, "So I was right, you didn't know how to reply to them! You still make the same face whenever you feel cornered and you don't know what to say."
She chuckled at him, "Didn't know you paid so much attention to me," she teased, "It's nice to know you're not a complete jerk."
"Hey, I was never a jerk!" Ace argued.
"Sure... And I'm a donut," Irin noted sarcastically, "Y'know, I explicitly remember you making Luffy fall off a bridge on purpose, that seems like a pretty 'jerky' move to make"
The freckled man cringed at the memory, "H-He was annoying, okay?!" he defended, averting his gaze from her then glaring at her, "Also you punched me right after that then you jumped off the bridge, if anyone's anything here, that's you and you're crazy!"
"Hey don't change the subject! I'll apologise for punching you in the face but that doesn't change the fact that you almost killed Luffy!"
"I'm not changing the subject! I'm just bringing the important topics into the conversation like how you were an absolute psycho for willingly leaping off a bridge!"
"Me? A psycho?! I'm not the one who took on a pirate captain at the age of 10, if anyone's crazy here, it's you!"
The three men watched the duo argue, this was certainly uncommon... Ace was arguing with a woman but that was not what was strange, it was the fact that he was arguing yet he had the brightest grin on his face.
This was a common occurrence for the Dadan Family duo as they continued to playfully argue.
"You fought Bluejam too!" Ace defended his case.
"I went back when Dadan came, so it doesn't count!" Irin argued, "Besides you and Luffy always did the craziest shit!"
"Half of them were your idea! Like that time when we decided to fight a tiger to see who becomes the captain! That was all your idea!" Ace huffed, "And that time when you thought it was a good idea to carry Luffy on your shoulders when we swam near the waterfall!"
"What?! How does that count as being crazy?" Irin questioned waving her arms around with her towel swinging in the air.
Izou sweatdropped at the two's arguments, 'I think both of you are pretty crazy... What kind of children did those kinds of things?' he thought, scratching his cheek as he smiled awkwardly at the duo.
The two continued to argue until they reached the main deck and even then they continued to argue until Whitebeard laughed at their antics. They froze when they heard the familiar, strange and slightly concerning laughter.
Irin immediately saluted and greeted Whitebeard, "Good morning- Eh? Why am I saluting?" she muttered to herself.
The Strongest Man in the World only laughed at her strange habits, "Gurarara! Too used to the Navy's methods eh? You bunch are late for breakfast! Gurarara!"
Marco laughed, "Blame it on Ace-yoi! He had too much fun with his wife last night," he smirked.
Everyone, besides Thatch, Marco and Izou, had their eyes widened in shock. Well, some already suspected that the two had done the no no but most of the Whitebeard Pirates had no clue about their sexual activities.
Irin and Ace raised a brow at everyone's stare, "What did I do? If anyone's at fault it's Irin's," Ace pointed his finger at her both figuratively and literally, "I couldn't sleep last night because of her!"
Everyone gasped at Ace's information, some might say that he had just given out too much information. Nobody gasped as hard as Irin though, "Me?! It's my fault?! What did I even do?!"
"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that you literally stuck to me like a bear and didn't allow me to sleep? You move a lot in bed!"
"I move a lot in bed? Don't make me laugh, have you forgotten what happened this morning?! I couldn't even move because you were holding onto me! I wonder how that happened, hmm?" She glared at him, raising a brow.
"Oi oi! That's too much information-yoi! Keep those nasty things y'all do in bed in your bedroom-yoi!" Marco exclaimed as he cringed a little at their conversation, "I mean I wouldn't mind listening about it-yoi, but not in front of everyone."
This time it was the Dadan Family duo who raised their brows, "Hugging is nasty?" Irin looked at Ace.
"It is if it's from you," Ace replied nonchalantly, smirking at his attempt at teasing the girl.
"Hey!"
Marco cocked a brow, "I'm not talking about hugging-yoi, I'm sure the two of you did much more than just hug each other," he chuckled at their antics.
Ace put his hand on his chin and looked up as if he was in deep thought, "I guess you're right," he nodded with his eyes closed as he thought about how he felt sick from Irin's girl cooties.
He was genuinely convinced that she had passed her girl cooties onto him when, in fact, there was no such thing.
Because of Ace's confirmation that they did more than just hug last night, everyone was convinced that they had done the deal and the uncle trio was convinced that Irin was pregnant. On the other hand, Whitebeard just laughed at their antics, sure, he held little to no concern with Ace's sex life but one thing he was concerned about was if his son was smart enough to not get someone pregnant.
Irin also thought deeply as to what happened last night and agreed that they did more than just hug.
The two went on to eat their breakfasts, joining in with the rest of the crew. It was a joyful and bright atmosphere, a little like the party they had last night but it was slightly calmer. Teach sat in his corner eating blueberry pie while Ace, Irin, Thatch and Izou sat in a group.
Marco sat with Whitebeard discussing who-knows-what, he was probably reporting to their captain of Ace's doing, which was nothing but they didn't know that.
Ace stuffed his mouth with a meat sandwich before smashing down into its plate and falling asleep, Irin grimaced at his antics then completely ignoring him. She shook her head lightly at her friend's narcoleptic self, 'Somethings never change,' she smiled to herself.
Thatch and Izou were busy conversing with each other. They would occasionally slide a dish over to Irin, asking her to eat more when she, in fact, did not need to eat that much. "You're eating for two, Irin-chan," Thatch said as he slid another plate of sandwiches towards the pinkette.
'Oh shit am I really eating that much?' she thought to herself before faking a smile and accepting the plate of sandwich.
"Huh? But Irin's not even eating that much," Ace said as he observed the situation slightly after waking up. He continued chewing on his meat sandwich while he looked at Thatch and Izou.
"She isn't eating a lot but she really should eat more," Thatch said, "I'm no doctor but I'm pretty sure that's what a woman with child should do."
Irin's eyes flew wide, "Huh?!"
She would rarely burst out with a 'huh' like this but she was absolutely confused at that moment, she thought it was strange that the three males were paying so much attention to her wellbeing but she didn't know that the reason they did as such was because they thought that she was pregnant.
"Woman with child? The only female here is Irin..." Ace slowly deduced, "Eh? Since when did you have a child?"
"I didn't," she replied.
"Eh?" Izou and Thatch looked at each other back and forth. She's not pregnant? "What? Didn't you two have sex last night?" Thatch asked.
"HUH?! WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT?!" the two exclaimed, faces painted bright red as they stared at the two men who thought that they had done the no no.
The air was suddenly quiet despite the noisy atmosphere they were just in a second ago. It wasn't that the people around them had stopped talking, it was just the four of them who stopped. They stared at each other with wide eyes and confusion visible on their faces. Irin and Ace were blushing deeply at their accusation, even if they did not have feelings for each other anyone would blush at such accusation.
"T-Then what happened last night?"
"We just slept..."
The air was finally cleared for them, Izou sighed in relief and Thatch chuckled awkwardly. On the other hand, Irin and Ace sat awkwardly next to each other, unable to look each other in their eyes.
"S-So... You're not pregnant right, Irin-sama?" Izou asked to double confirm.
"Of course not! I think I would know if I was pregnant or I'd be a failure as a doctor!" Irin exclaimed, still embarrassed at their accusation.
Izou nodded awkwardly, "O-Oh that's good."
Ace on the other hand sat quietly next to Irin and had dirty thoughts flood his mind, he may or may not have imagined the two doing the deed. He blushed even more at the thought of that and he let out a sudden scream, "ARGHH!" he yelled as he brought his palms to his face to shield his redness.
Everyone on the deck stared at the freckled man in silence. If the ship was not quiet before, it sure as hell was at that moment. Ace had successfully drawn the attention of everyone on board.
Whitebeard cocked a brow, "What's wrong, Ace?"
The freckled ravenette flinched when he realised that he had just screamed out loud and that everyone was now staring at him, "N-Nothing..." he stuttered as he smiled with his eyes closed.
Everyone at that moment raised a brow at Ace's odd antics but shrugged it off and then continued to enjoy their feast. Even though it was only breakfast, the Whitebeard Pirates always enjoyed their meal as if it was the last, they even had booze for breakfast. Irin giggled at their difference in breakfast, she had a much healthier lifestyle compared to them but she liked how lively they were. Breakfasts at the Navy Headquarters were always dull for her because she always dined alone. Her schedule was just too different from her friends and she wasn't particularly close to them either, they just happened to not hate her.
Ace turned to look at his best friend, her gaze was fixed on her surroundings and a gentle smile was etched onto her face. He wondered if she remembered all that he had said last night but whether she did or not all he knew at that time was that she looked happy.
"Hey," he tapped her on the shoulder.
She turned and glanced at him, "Hm?"
"You okay?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
At those words, Ace concluded that she had forgotten about what happened last night but she didn't, she pretended to forget but in reality she remembered it as clearly as the day. Irin grimaced at the fact that her drunk self had spilled the beans, it was her problem and she didn't want to drag anyone into her emotional shenanigans. That and also the fact that she refuses to believe that it was an actual problem, she just thought she was being dramatic or something.
Ace nodded at her reply and shifted his focus back onto his food, stuffing a whole sandwich into his mouth before nearly choking to death. She glanced at him from her peripheral vision and giggled at his idiosyncrasies. Irin pushed a cup of water towards him which he gratefully accepted and drank immediately. He sighed at the relief of his meat sandwich finally going down his throat.
"Slow down, will you?" Irin chuckled as she put an egg sandwich into her mouth, "Your food isn't going anywhere."
Shoving another meat sandwich into his mouth, "It kinda is though," he spoke in a muffled tone, "They're all gonna be gone if I don't eat quickly and Thatch won't make more for me."
Irin then looked at her plate of sandwiches before sliding it over to Ace, "You can have mine then," she offered with a soft smile etched onto her face.
The freckled ravenette was getting deja vu from this.
Throughout their childhood, Irin had always offered food to either Luffy or him when they complained about still being hungry. It didn't matter if she was still hungry or if she still wanted to eat, she would always offer her food even though the hesitance could be seen on her face.
But this time, Ace was all grown up. He knows better than to accept her offerings.
Smiling at the pinkette, the freckled man gently pushed her plate back, "It's yours,"
"Besides, I'm not that hungry," he lied, grinning at his best friend.
She looked at her plate of egg sandwiches, "Are you sure?"
He nodded, resting his head on his hand and smiling at her.
Irin happily ate her sandwich while Ace watched her with a gentle smile on his face. He ate his meat sandwich slowly, as suggested by Irin. "So... You got a boyfriend?" Ace asked, trying to make conversation, he didn't know why he chose this question but something in him just compelled him to do so.
He hid his awkwardness with a smile as he looked at his childhood friend, awaiting her answer.
Thatch and Izou, who were busy talking to each other, had their attention caught by Ace's abrupt question. The two switched their gaze towards the pinketted and waited for her reply too.
The pinkette stifled a laugh, "Boyfriend? I don't even have friends," she replied, all to bubbly as she busily ate away.
Silence befell them after Irin's slightly concerning answer to Ace's question. Thatch and Izou were speechless but not Ace, he had something to say.
To be fair, he always has something to say when it comes to Irin.
"Huh?! What do you mean you have no friends? What am I then? A sack of potatoes?"
"That's not what I meant!" she waved her arms around, "I was just kidding..."
Ace pouted a little and looked to the side, "Well you better not joke about this kinda stuff... B-Because I- Luffy would be offended, yeah! Luffy would be offended."
Irin raised a brow and giggled as she listened to Ace's little declaration, "Alright," she said, stifling a laugh.
"You're not gonna ask me if I have a girlfriend?" he asked, hiding the blush growing on his face with his hat.
"Hm? Why do I have to ask when I already know you don't?" she looked at him quizzically, "Didn't Marco and Thatch say something about you not feeling a woman's touch before, yesterday?" she giggled.
Ace groaned at her reply and internally scolded his crewmates for making it so obvious that he was probably going to die a virgin. It wasn't that he wasn't good looking. In fact, he was quite the looker and he had many females swooning over him but he had no interest in them which was what convinced Marco and Thatch that he was interested in those of the same sex. Ace wasn't as dense as Irin when it came to love but he was extremely blunt. If a woman tried to woo him and she did not appeal to him, he would simply tell her that to her face and walk away.
That was just Ace, he was a simple man.
But when it came to a certain pinkette he wasn't all that cold and uninterested in females.
"Hey! Don't laugh at me! I'll get a girlfriend before you do!" he declared, trying to cover up his blush and embarrassment.
She only smiled at his declaration, "But I think it's cute how you don't play around with women while waiting for the right woman to come around," she said, tilting her head to the side and resting it on her hand, "It's admirable."
How straightforward and honest with compliments, that was exactly how Irin was. She may be shy at times but she was always unafraid to tell people the good things she thought about them and, to top that off, she found many things admirable.
Ace's heart was beating twice as fast as it was before, just like how it was when he saw Irin in a towel. 'Damn it, it's the girl cooties again!' he thought as he blushed at Irin's straightforwardness.
Thatch, who was listening to Izou and their conversation, smirked at Ace's expression. 'Guess he isn't gay after all,' he thought.
The freckled man pouted a little, "I guess I won't get a girlfriend then..." he whispered softly, avoiding her gaze.
Irin only chuckled at his response as she went on to finish her breakfast. It was truly a hectic breakfast but at least they now know that Irin and Ace did not fuck.
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She could gather that the life of a pirate was fun, it made her want to quit her job and join them but she had a duty and a promise to protect. Irin didn't hate her job, in fact she enjoyed doing her job quite a bit and protecting civilians. However, she had the spirit of an adventurer flowing through her veins too.
For the rest of the day after their breakfast, she spent the day relaxing and listening to Ace talk about his adventures, with the occasional playful banter between two. The duo spent the majority of their time on the main deck with Whitebeard sitting on his chair that was made for large people. The older man would occasionally listen in on their conversations and laugh a little.
Whitebeard loved how his son was so carefree when he was with Irin, he was extra playful when he conversed with the pinkette, it was like he didn't care about his heritage anymore. That was the kind of carefree Ace was whenever he was with Irin.
The older man also liked Irin's personality, he had noticed how she always had her guard up whenever she talked to anyone who was not Ace. It wasn't the kind where one would put up when they're in a foreign territory but more so of the kind where an individual would put up when they're afraid of judgement.
He could tell the young lady was afraid of being herself because she was scared that she wouldn't be liked. However, when she was Ace she was unapologetically herself and Whitebeard would wonder why she was afraid that people would dislike her personality. Even in his aged eyes, she had a blinding personality. Her whole being was so full of colour and bright.
It was no wonder she managed to bring out the best in Ace.
If only she was a permanent member of the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace would've liked that, Whitebeard would've liked that, everyone would've liked that.
A/N: WE'RE AT 3.2K READS WOOOO THAT'S CRAZY BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!!
also i was rewatching stardust crusaders and ugh milf hunter's death was so painful to relive. don't even get me started on iggy and avdol's death T^T