[action][open][everywhere]

[orangeoutlaw]

[it's night. Going on 12. Ace has been gone for about a week in the dungeons going deeper and deeper until he thought he would suffocate.

But even he can't stand the loneliness for that long. He'll stuff an envelop of money under Marco's door when he's sure the phoenix isn't there and then hurry on, wandering aimlessly through the streets, through one city then another.

There's a lot weighing on his mind but feel free to address him.]


Locked to Smoker:

[at 2 am he'll come into Smoker's room again. Quiet but not sneakng. Because screw everything, honestly]

Comments

Action, Memoria Park just because

[enchantressofore]

Ace?

[ It's probably an increasingly worrying habit that Adela is starting to go out when she can't sleep. Not that this park in particular is any kind of dangerous, but still.

She's in her pajamas and a coat when she wheels over to him, having spotted him. She hasn't seen him in a while... And it's pretty easy to tell that he's down.

The question is if Ace will actually let her catch up though, because as good as she's gotten at manoeuvring the thing she probably won't be able to keep up if he doesn't want her to. ]

[orangeoutlaw]

[he stops. If only because it's Adela and she's had to put up with enough crap]

Hey...

[said over his shoulder]

Let me push you.

[because if he's going to talk to her...he just... doesn't want to be looked at]

[enchantressofore]

... All right.

[ She nods to him, and just from how he's speaking she can already tell something's bothering him. When he is behind her she doesn't speak right away, wanting to meet his eye when talking to him but... What could she ask? She already knows something is wrong, so asking that is pointless... Maybe she should just let him talk at his own pace.

Which is hard, she really wants to ask, and to help, but if she really is as similar to Ace as Marco claims... Waiting and letting him do things at his own pace will probably work better. ]

[orangeoutlaw]

[he pushes her. It doesn't make him feel much better but a little at least. But he's also kind of pissed]

It's dangerous to be by yourself at night. Don't be such an idiot.

[youfool]

Wandering aimlessly? That's Ted's #1 hobby. His #1 accident is crashing into others, for he often walks with his eyes closed, reasonably confident his wayward paths would be lonely ones. Not so with Ace. They collided under the evening stars of Genessia City.

Ted apologized, dusted himself off, and offered a hand to the stranger he couldn't quite make out in the vague darkness, in case he were likewise floored. "Sorry, didn't see you there. I'm Ted. Yourself?

[orangeoutlaw]

He wasn't floored. He barely registered the other but the voice gives him pause. It takes him a moment to work out if he wants to be sociable or not and he decides he may as well be; though he doesn't take the hand.

"Ace." He puts his own hands in his pockets. "Sorry for running into you." But he doesn't sound at all sorry. Mostly if he just knows he's supposed to be polite because the alternative is punching someone in the face.

[youfool]

Ace...he'd heard that name before.

Crap! That was the guy who announced, in public no less, plans for lawlessness. He had half a mind to spin kick the guy out of principle.

But there was something else at play, too. He spoke with a seriousness very unlike that announcement. Like a man changed. That got Ted curious, at least. Might as well see what it's about before the feet get flying. "Penny for your thoughts?"

[orangeoutlaw]

"Why do you want to know?" He doesn't trust this guy immediately. Why would anyone ask that unless they knew and cared about the person they were talking to? And not some random stranger?

[Action]

[justicereigns]

Took you long enough.

[It's not what he wanted to say. But he doesn't know what he wants to say. Nothing. Something. He didn't want the brat to be there... but it was inevitable. And maybe if they fought it out again he could actually sleep.]

[And Smoker doesn't do the lying to pretend he wasn't somehow expecting this by now.]

[Because really, he was.]

[He didn't want to, but it was like fate.]

[Fuck fate. Kick it in the face.]

[Action]

[orangeoutlaw]

Touch my brother and I'll kill you.

[it's not what he had come to say but it is what came out]

[Action]

[justicereigns]

[It's so rote.]

[What's the point in it?]

[Roger, Straw Hat, Portgas.]

[So many dots, but why can't he connect them?]

[He wants to snark something that will definitely throw Ace into a fit.]

[But if he's going to do that...]

[He should do it outside.]

Too late.

[Oops.]

[Action]

[orangeoutlaw]

[he only barely fights down the initial reaction of 'you bastard!' even as flames flicker suddenly on his shoulders and down his arms. He clenches his hands into fists. Smoker is fucking with him. Even if he did touch Luffy there's nothing he could have done to him. Nowhere he could have taken him.


He snatches the jitte, letting flames dance over the handle but not eating it, not yet, it takes an enormous amount of self control to not and that's good for him he feels like]

How attached are you to this thing.

action

[om_nom_namur]

[Uh huh. Li'l Bro shows up sporting some gnarly soars, and suddenly Ace is wandering around town smelling moody as hell?

Even a dumbass like Namur can do that math.]

'Sup, bro?

action

[orangeoutlaw]

[he had kind of forgotten Namur was here. Sorry about that. It's weird to see him unexpectedly-- but not bad]

I'm dead.

[so you don't have to worry about keeping that secret]

Want to get a drink?

action

[om_nom_namur]

[Namur nods.]

On me.

[He turns and starts walking the same direction as Ace, but there's a strange distance between them. Should he make contact of some sort? Or would Ace rather be left alone?

After a moment, Namur decides to screw it, and drops his arm over Ace's shoulder.]

How much did he tell y'?

action

[orangeoutlaw]

[yay! Namur arm. Ace relaxes a fraction]

I'm dead. There was a war. I... [saved Luffy, but he can't get it out so he shrugs] I guess it all worked out in the end.

streetside, genessia city

[soru]

[ night one in his new home, and coby has found, unsurprisingly, that sleep is a hard commodity to come by. despite his new 'home', his new 'life', a prospect at a new job in the morning (or perhaps because of it), he's lain awake for hours. a bare ceiling only has so many things to offer a racing and desperate mind.

a walk, he thinks, might help. if nothing else, better to be on his feet than listless in a foreign and uncomfortable bed.

so he keeps to the main streets this time for convenience sake, strolling idly with his hands in his pockets and his scarf wound a little closer around his neck. habit bade him don his captain's coat on his way out the door, but he finds himself grateful for the weight on his shoulders, for the additional warmth it provides. ]

[orangeoutlaw]

[Ace had been crouched on a low roof, just watching the street and wondering whether he wanted to go back to the dungeon or not.

He hears footsteps and moves further back into the shadows....

And is surprised to see another Marine here. Shocked and not in a good way. It's a short one whose coat looks way too big for him and it's ridiculous in a way that pisses Ace off. Who the hell does he think he is being a Marine?

Well too bad for him there are pirates wanting to start some trouble.Anything to scrub the truth from his mind for just a little while.

So before the little pinkie is too far gone Ace is going to launch himself off the roof an aim a fiery kick to the top of the Marine's stupid head.

DEATH FROM ABOVE!]

[soru]

[ if there's one thing working tonight in coby's favour, it's that he didn't make captain by being a paper-pusher. it's the scrape of his assailant's boot off the rooftop that tips him off, the whistle of wind and a falling body that tells him this isn't going to be a quiet night, the clarion-bright alarm of the haki singing in his head that tells him that death is indeed descending from above.

he wishes, not for the first time today, that he'd just stayed in bed.

wishing only gets you so far. far more better an option to throw himself to the side in a whirl of white and black, skittering back several feet from his original heading.

he swears he can feel the passing heat of the kick still, a warmth against his ear and cheek.

well, damn. ]

[Action] Eventually...

[tonytonychopper]

[His nose hadn't lost any of its usefulness and Ace had been one with a very unique sort of smell. Like salt, metal, and a recently used grill. So it was fairly easy to notice when he happened to cross that smell while leaving the hospital after his shift. It was recent enough for him to actually start loping after it out of curiosity.]

[Too bad the city messed with his nose enough that he didn't avoid rounding a corner and almost running straight into Ace's back.]

[Action]

[orangeoutlaw]

[almost but Ace turns when the hooves are getting a little too close. He blinks.

Something is... f a m i l i a r...

Hat... clothes... backpack...

What is it?

He lifts the reindeer's face in one hand and turns it from side to side]

You've got some good meat on you.

[bow accompanied by a stomach growl that rolls up straight from his toes it feels like]

Thank you in advance.

Re: [Action]

[tonytonychopper]

[He'd put the brakes on so hard he was totally open for the handy examination of his face with a look of slight confusion.]

[But only for a second until the words registered.]

[And now over to Kung Fu Point with a left kick towards Ace's face.]

Don't even think about it, shit-head! WHAAASHAAAA! Besides! You wouldn't eat Luffy's crew!

Locked to Marco

[orangeoutlaw]

[near morning. Ace has been avoiding going back all night. For a while now. He feels better about some things. Worse about some things. But this is the ultimate test. He has to show Marco how strong he is even if he is dead-- especially since he kind of screwed up the first time around.

He lingers by the door, hands in his pockets, wanting to go in, not wanting to disturb them because what if they're doing it or something? He wants to figure out the right things to say. Or figure out how to brace himself if Marco is mad at him. Or thinks that maybe he shouldn't have been second division commander at all. Ace had never been too sure about it himself.

Dying like that wasn't really responsible was it?

He shuffles his foot and then, hesitantly, raises a hand and knocks very lightly on the door]

[fierybluebird]

[TACKLES IN A HUG.]

[Because he knew you were there and if you took any longer he was just going to come out and tackle you anyway.]

Stop running away, yoi!

[He wants to whap Ace, but also hold him, so he switches into phoenix and lightly whaps with a wing, also hugging.]

[orangeoutlaw]

[gasp!

Marco... Marco still loves him.

Ace is so startled he can only stand there and take the hugs, patting Marco's feathers, overcome by that feeling.

After a moment he comes back to himself a little.

There's a million things he wants to say but... Not here.]

Can... I come inside?