Yes, this fic is still getting updated, yes i got writers block, no i don't know when the next update will be.

...I am so, so sorry.


"Put me down for 300 Belli,"

"Which one?"

"Haven't made my decision yet, just put my name down first,"

Blamenco scrunched up his lips, glancing from Rakuyo to Curiel, "Are we allowed to do that? I still haven't made up my mind yet too,"

Rakuyo shrugged, taking the pouch of money from Curiel and writing his name down on the thick tome that is his 'betting book'. From where he can see, there's at least a couple of hundred names already, and it's not even 2 days since the bet was first announced, "Sure, i can always add the details later. There's a couple you can join in: The sex category, the announced due date category - different from the actual date of birth category, by the way - the number of kid category—"

"Wait, we can also bet on the number of kids?!" Curiel interrupted, trying to take a look at the book in Rakuyo's hand as well. He then reach into his pocket again, pulling out a larger money pouch and pulling out a handful, "Here, put me in on that. A separate one, i'm still saving up that 300 belli for another category,"

With the efficiency and dexterity from years of experience as the ship's main bookie, Rakuyo took the money, counted it in mere seconds and flipped his book to the correct page in one swift movement, "Your bet?"

"Twins, no, just one really big kid," The helmet wearing commander paused briefly, "No, actually, put me down for twins,"

Taking another peek at Rakuyo's book would tell Blamenco that that seems to be most people's bet as well. Haruta's name even has it down for 4, and he made a noise of amusement from inside his throat, "Does he think Ace is having a litter or something? That can't be right,"

"Haruta has never seen a pregnant person before in his life," the bandana wearing commander snickered, "But then, you can hardly blame him, with Ace growing that fast,"

Which is something he won't deny. At 4 months along - and everyone knows how far along he is because well, they all know the exact day of conception, obviously - Ace's figure already made it clear that he's not gaining weight out of nowhere. Not only that, several people noted that the Omega's stomach had gotten bigger than the usual size at this stage, which led to a lot of speculations if there's more than one baby on the way.

And for Marco to become even more unbearable with his worries, of course, but what else is new? These days, even Ace coughing could raise his level of stress.

"Yeah, but it's a little unreasonable to put it down to having 4 babies. He's big, he's not that big, just slightly larger than usual,"

"How would you know? Literally no one has ever been pregnant on this ship,"

There are other couples on board, of course, but most of them were cautious enough when it comes to their heat or rutting cycle, while Ace was a very special case. The very few cases some decided to start a family of their own, whether with another crew member or someone they met away from the ship, no one ever decided to stay to raise said family because the life of a pirate wasn't really suited for it.

Blamenco highly doubt that Marco and Ace would ever give up life on board of Moby Dick for anything, and that would also mean their little growing family would be the very first one the entire ship could observe closely.

"Just use common sense, moron. Babies are like, what, this big?" Curiel demonstrated by framing both of his hands, putting the distance between them barely wider than his chest. He then puts them in front of his abdomen and moved them backwards, a vague measurement that's supposed to be an indication of the size he was going for, "So if there's like 4 of them, that'll be this big and Ace is way smaller than that. Well, not much smaller," the artillery expert pulled his hands closer, but not so much so, "Maybe, like this?"

"That's way too big," Blamenco found himself protesting, trying to recall the last time he saw Ace this morning during breakfast, "Just a couple inches more and you're good,"

Curiel obliged, moving his hands and stopping just shy of what his fellow commander has said, "This big?"

"It's not just the baby weight, i reckon he filled out a bit more than that," Rakuyo piped up, waving his pencil and wagging it around, "He's wearing a shirt, so it's pretty hard to tell but i caught him after shower once. It's like uh, maybe just about the size of someone's head?"

"Who's head? If it's yours, then i might have to change my bet to triplets,"

"Fuck you, Curiel, you got no room to talk,"

Blamenco snickered at Rakuyo's ire, but then exchanges like this between these two were common. Almost as common as Pops being caught having one of the rookies sneaking him alcohol, or someone being kicked by a nurse's sharp heel for disobeying medical restrictions, or before all of this, Marco trying to discreetly stare and ogle at Ace not knowing that everyone could see him doing it. That routine is of course now traded with the Alpha charging anyone who invaded his beloved mate's proximity and personal space and stayed for too long.

Depending on who you might be, one could be worse than the other.

He would put himself as one of the people who was glad for the latter; Marco from months ago was pathetic, there's no other way to describe it. He had never seen anyone moon over something so badly, and literally everyone has to watch that pitiful sight without any choice.

This Marco, however, while most would say was a pain to deal with - enough that if he should thwart Thatch and Haruta's attempt to have Ace and the baby for themselves again, there would be an inter-commander war - as a fellow Alpha, Blamenco actually admired his dedication. Keeping nosey individuals away were just one of the few things Marco had gone extra lengths to do for Ace, and any other time, when he's not maintaining his own division or any duties on board, he'd be ready to fulfil anything Ace might want.

Not that Ace seems to want or need a lot of things, but a chair would be conjured out of nowhere when the young commander felt even slightly tired, Blamenco had seen him around the bathroom and medical bay while Ace was there when he knew for sure the blond had been on another side of the ship a while ago, and for any wish that Ace might have, he's on top of it. No one on board would ever forget that moment a couple of weeks ago, when Marco disappeared for half a day and came back in his phoenix form, flying to the deck carrying a giant Rainbow Shark because apparently Ace said he had it once and wanted it for dinner that night.

They were near Sabaody then. Rainbow Shark's habitat were in the edge of West Blue.

He always thought of it as rather romantic, really, but then he's always been a sucker for those sorts of things and there's not quite enough of it in this sort of high-seas life.

"Man, i'm jealous of them," The banter next to him faded to nothing, and at Curiel's eyebrow quirk, Blamenco shrugged, "It just seems to nice, having someone you can care for that much and be near them all the time. Someone to warm your bed at night, someone to share intimate and secret moments with. All the couples on this ship are really lucky,"

When no one answered him, the plump man turned to his two nakama, briefly catching the them glancing at each other silently, "What, you guys don't think so?"

"No, no," Rakuyo was the first one to answer, shaking his head and turning back to his book. He began scribbling along some of the names, though what exactly the Alpha was writing Blamenco couldn't tell, "Just uh, well. Forget about it,"

In front of him, Curiel grunted in agreement. Blamenco glanced between the two of them, frowning in confusion.

How weird.

Shrugging, the 6th Divison commander glanced down, finding that Curiel still had his arms in the exact same position for their previous discussion. He held the man by the wrist to pull it further, making the gap between the helmet wearing Alpha's hands and abdomen wider, "Okay, i think this is just about right,"

"I still think he's a bit bigger than that," Rakuyo said again, his previous silence forgotten, as he reach up and pulled Curiel's arms to the side slightly, "There, we're forgetting the width of his stomach. Now that looks a lot more accurate,"

Curiel cocked his head to the side, grumbling a little, before moving his arms again, "Nah, i still think Ace is probably about this bi—"

"I'm not that fat,"

The three commander jumped almost simultaneously at the new voice, and snapped their head to the source, to find Ace standing just a couple of feet away. The logia's lips were quivering and his eyes were suspiciously shiny with tears, tears that started to drop from the corner of his eyes as he cross both of his arms in front of his bulging stomach, "I'm not that fat, am i?" he started to sob, "I know i'm getting fat, but the Doc said it's normal, but i didn't think i'm that fat,"

In intense panic, all three commander broke into stammers and consolation - though at least Rakuyo remembered to hide his book away, the book that has someone basically saying they thought Ace was carrying 4 - crowding around the sobbing Omega commander, "No, no, no, no, we didn't think you're fat at all! This was— Curiel, you moron, why would you say Ace is fat?!"

"I didn't say any of the sort! And why are you blaming me?! You're the one who started mentioning about width and shit!"

"Ace, we swear, we did not say that at all, we're just talking—"

But no matter what they say, the younger kept sniffling and sobbing quietly with his arms wrapped around his stomach - which, in a hindsight, was smaller than any of their guess - unwilling to even look up to face them. And to make things ever worse, there were footsteps approaching, accompanied by a familiar and dreaded voice calling out, "Ace?"

Blamenco caught the exact moment all three men around Ace grew pale, their heads mechanically turning to see Marco at the end of the hallway, the commander's face turning from confusion to wrath in a split second.

Never had those blue healing flames seem even more menacing and threatening than when they surrounded an enraged Alpha at the sight of their Omega in apparent distress. With the culprits that caused said distress still in sight.

"What have you done to Ace?!"

"N-no! We didn't—"

"Blamenco you idiot, why are you still talking?! Fucking run!"

"Marco," a voice called out in the flurry of motion, meek and sad, "Am i really getting fat?"

"Running!"


There is one thing that none of the Pocket Tribe's people liked, and that is anyone using their unique genetical ability to store anything without their knowledge. Which is why Blamenco had always abhorred the pranks that involved putting unknown items inside of his body pockets, especially when it is easily perishable items like food. Sure, his people's ability allowed them to carry just about anything, but it's never fun to open his own holes to realize there's a rotting banana that had been causing his unpleasant body odour.

And to be honest, he himself loathe to carry anything but his mallet and other types of weaponry inside of him - contrary to popular belief, his body pockets are not limitless - yet right now, he had at least 30 different types of food boxes shuffling together around his choice of weapon and it's honestly getting a little too uncomfortable.

But he'd feel a hell lot more uncomfortable if he left things the way it was, and that was why he's currently sitting on the edge of the quarterdeck, pocket filled to the brim with every boxes of food for Ace's lunch while the Omega ate quietly in front of him.

Glancing into the current box in Ace's hand, he reach into his pocket to pull out another box of food, this time filled with 3 racks of ribs, "Here you go,"

Ace looked up from the box of food in his hand, some sort of steamed grain and berries that was a part of his new diet from Thatch. It didn't look appetizing at all yet he ate with gusto, but then again, that's Ace with just about every food. He finished off the last spoonful, eyeing the new box and then Blamenco himself warily, "I don't feel like eating meat right now,"

Is what he said, but his expression and the way he inched closer to the box said otherwise, "Ace, i'm really, really sorry. None of us said you're fat, you're pregnant, you're eating for two. It was," he paused, trying to search for the right word, but in the end could only come up with, "It was Rakuyo and Curiel being stupid, okay? Ignore them. Eat what you want,"

With one last hesitant look, the box was taken from his hand. The smell of herbs and spices filled the room once the lid was pried open, and while Blamenco took in a deep breath - he's feeling hungry after seeing so many food, okay? - he heard Ace sighed and say, "I'm sorry for being so irrational. I know you didn't mean it, but i still felt so upset," he murmured, pulling one of the set of ribs out and taking his first bite, "I've been feeling like that lately too. It's like, one moment i'll be fine, but then it's… it's not, you know?"

Yes, in fact the whole entire ship had known of this. Hormones.

The very same reason why Ace could one second laughed along with the crew over some silly joke and suddenly crying the next because they shouldn't have said that to the poor soul. Or why he could be laughing and playing around with Stefan one moment but then started getting teary because the dog's fur was 'too soft'. Hell, at least the crying doesn't take any victim, but his anger does. One of the oldest rugs in the Commander's Meeting room has to be thrown away after he burned it in a fit of rage over something Haruta said.

And that's not saying what it had done to Marco.

The box of ribs was suddenly placed down, and Ace turned to him, "Hey, can you tell me the truth? Do you think people are getting fed up with my attitude? Do you all think my outbursts are annoying? Are you all getting sick of me?"

"Uh," was all Blamenco could say seconds after he opened his mouth, flabbergasted by the series of seemingly out of nowhere question. And that Ace's eyes are getting teary again, "I… uh, well, no—"

"You do, don't you?" the second the tears started running again, the blue-clad commander frantically looked around, paranoid of any incoming blue blur that will once again pick him up and toss him around as punishment. But all thoughts about Marco was chased away when Ace suddenly surged forward, still crying, dropping the food on his lap and pulling Blamenco to a loose embrace, his swollen bely pressing against the commander's own, "I'm sorry, okay? I can't help it. I don't like… i don't like being like this, i don't usually cry, you know that right? But everything made me cry or mad, and i know i'm annoying a lot of people and especially Marco, but i swear i didn't mean to,"

"No, no, no, no, Ace, we're not—"

"And i felt like i'm a burden to everyone, you know? Jozu, Vista and Thatch has extra work because of me, i've been breaking stuff around Moby because i kept getting angry, and Marco, Marco has to deal with me being like this every day and i'm so scared that he's going to think it's all not worth it, and he's going to hate me, i don't know what to do if he hates me, Blamenco. He looked so tired these days, and what if he got fed up with me— What if you all got fed up with me and abandon me, i can't— Please, don't hate me, if you guys hate me too, i won't be able to—"

To hell if Marco sees them. The Alpha and most importantly, the brother in Blamenco refused to let someone else stop him from comforting this trembling body, his nakama holding on to him, even if that person is the Alpha mate of this Omega. He shushed Ace gently, running his hand down from the crown of his head and to the middle his back, "Don't think like that, okay?" he said softly, almost whispering to the still wailing man, "We all understood, Ace, we all get it and none of us is holding it against you. We know how hard these last few weeks has been for you, and trust me, no one, absolutely no one in this ship feels like that,"

And he's not just saying that. The reason why it was so easy for him to ask Thatch for Ace's food and bring it out here is because there is a major preparation in the kitchen right now for a party tonight, celebrating the end of Ace's first trimester. This was planned for weeks on end, ever since the end of the last party, a belated celebration of the pregnancy announcement itself. The entire preparation was big and rowdy enough he had to take Ace away to this rather secluded place so he won't find out until the moment of reveal.

"You don't think i'm a burden? You're not sick of me, or got fed up by me?"

Considering there is an ongoing war between several divisions about who may be given an important, Ace-and-baby related responsibility next, he'd highly doubt that. Jozu and Thatch's divisions are out and forever gloating over the fact that they have an important role in the ongoing pregnancy in their midst, and there is a very loud and controversial debate right now that Vista might be given some sort of similar duty by Marco though no one knows it yet.

The thought of 'more work' and 'annoyance' never really comes up their mind, he'd say. In fact, it had been Pops who laid down the rule of keeping their incessant fighting away from Ace and Marco, not wanting to stress out the new parents even more. And also solved another never ending debate of who gets to babysit the baby first once they're born by deciding that as GrandPops - his words, not anyone else's - he gets to babysit first.

That was probably the closest this entire ship has come to a mutiny.

At the thought of his the ship's entirely ridiculous behaviours, Blamenco chuckled, snaking the hand from Ace's back down to the side of the stomach pressing on to his. This child is already so loved, he thought, they'll be so overwhelmed by the time they actually arrived.

"I don't know how you ever get the idea that we'd ever get sick, or even hate you," the rotund Alpha said with a smile, glad to find that the sobbing against his shoulder has quieted down, "Trust me, ask everyone, we all care for you, for the baby, and we'd all love to help out as much as we can,"

Understatement of the century.

It was Ace who pulled back first, still sniffling but at least he wasn't crying as hard as before. His eyes were bloodshot and nose stuffed, evident from the violently wet and noisy way he inhaled. Blamenco pursed his lips and reached into his pocket, rummaging between his ever-present mallet and the boxes of food to look for a handkerchief he swore he had somewhere.

"And what about…," Ace murmured just when he could feel his finger brushing against the soft surface of the handkerchief, "What about Marco? Do you think he's getting tired of me?"

"Absolutely not," and this is an even easier thing to answer, "Do you see the kind of things he would do for you? The amount of hoops and obstacle he'd jump through if you as much as ask him?" Because he's pretty sure everyone else has, "That man loves you to the moon and back. You, your baby, I think out of anyone at all, it's him you should never doubt,"

Ace bowed his head down, hair moving to cover a part of his face, "I don't want to be a burden for him. I don't… i don't like relying on someone so much and make him do all the heavy lifting,"

"I don't know, looks to me you're doing your own kind of heavy lifting here," a playful grin made its way to the 6th division's commander, as he moved his hand on the side of Ace's waist, rubbing slightly on the swell. From behind the curtain of fringes, he could see the corner of Ace's lips lifting up slightly, and took it as a win.

Until the younger commander's face suddenly scrunch up again, and he began to let out a pained keening sound while placing both of his hands around his stomach, "I knew it, i am heavy!"

"It's a figure of speech! It's a figure of speech, i didn't really mean that you're heavy! Oh have mercy! I'm probably still heavier than you, it's not— Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Blamenco?"

The Pocket Tribesman grimaced, still keeping on hand on Ace's shoulder but putting his other one on his back, the source of the persistent aching that he hadn't dared to voice out until he moved too quickly earlier. A hand reach out to his shoulder, forcing him to turn around on his seat to show his back, and more importantly, the rather large and drying scratch that's very visible on his pale skin to Ace. The logia let out a choked gasp, "What happened?! Why are you injured?"

Oh, he didn't like ratting people out like this, but the surprisingly strong pair of hands on his back forced him to turn around again, facing a still teary eyed but now visibly angry Ace, "Who hurt you! Did…did you get attacked like Thatch did? Did someone else—"

"No, it was," he groaned, scratching his nape and considering whether or not it's a good idea actually telling Ace, "It's Marco. It was from earlier when he chased me around, i fell down and he caught me with his talons,"

"Marco did this?!" Ace wasn't exactly spitting fire, but the rage in his voice made little difference, "I already told him not to be too rough or he's going to to hurt someone— Wait, then why are you here? Why didn't you go the infirmary and have that taken care off?!"

Because Doctor Amox's method of healing every wound is by calling Marco and having him use his healing on them. And for obvious reasons, Blamenco is not sure of his own safety in the Zoan's hands right now.

"I'm taking you to the infirmary and have Marco apologize to you," suddenly, Blamenco was pulled up to his feet, and along with the abrupt motion, he could feel the food boxes inside of him jostling around.

Oh, he hoped nothing spilled, it'll be a pain to wash.

…Probably not as painful as his imminent 'treatment' is going to be though.


"No more throwing your nakama around or tossing them into water!"

"But Ace—"

"No more! Someone could get seriously injured and you're going to have to deal with them," Ace's fire had been scarcely seen ever since the first time they all found out he was carrying - not until they could figure out if it's dangerous for the baby or not - and while he technically does not use them, the brightness in his angrily frowned eyes could be mistaken as licks of flames, "I already told you, i'm fine with people being around me, you don't have to go overboard all the time!"

With a face that clearly showed disappointment and reluctance, Marco nodded.

Just like that, the tight coils of anger suddenly left Ace, and gingerly, he took a step forward to frame his disappointed mate's face between his hands and pulling him close to that their foreheads could touch, "Well, maybe if someone is a bit too clingy,"

The smile was back on Marco's face, affectionate yet sharp, and that sent down chills down the back of everyone present.

Blamenco quickly looked away from them and to the rest of the ongoing party, taking a sip from his beer. The 4th Division had really outdone themselves with the amount of food coming out of the kitchen and decoration wise, the 16th Division has his respect. There's an entire section of food that could only be touched by Ace but everything else is fair game, including some of their best wines and rums. He overheard from Dalli, one of his subordinates earlier that there has been some debate about whether or not alcohol is appropriate for a party celebrating pregnancy milestone, until they all agree that while Ace couldn't drink, Marco could use some.

Hey, just because he told Ace everyone didn't mind his fluctuating hormones, doesn't mean they don't feel some semblance of sympathy for Marco for having to deal with them on a daily basis.

It was in the middle of his idle observation did Blamenco caught a hint of yellow, and after a few seconds, he was finally sure of who it is. Irritation boiled in his chest as he stomped over and sure enough, found both Rakuyo and Curiel on one corner, leaning on the wall, "Thanks a lot for leaving me behind," he immediately say upon arriving, not bothering to hide the vitriol in his tone, "Do you know how nauseating it is to be tossed to the air a couple of times?"

"Oh, shut it, he got us too," Curiel groused, taking several large gulps from his tankard, "Pinpoint us down with Kebunshoku Haki and then kicked us and the crate we hid in with Busoshoku. Thank heavens that man is not a Haoshoku user or we'd be dead by then,"

Besides him, Rakuyo nodded solemnly, rubbing the side of his head, "At least he's gracious enough to heal us after," the dreadlocked-wearing man commented, before tilting his head up, "Heard you offered to be the one to distract Ace from the surprise party. Good job,"

"I wanted to apologize for something i got in trouble with because of you two. Poor Ace was crying his eyes out," Blamenco harrumphed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He then grinned, and with an edge of gloating, said, "I got to touch the baby bump,"

Both Rakuyo and Curiel looked up to him, eyes bugged wide, "How?"

"Just went for it," Okay, it's a bit more… melancholic than that, but he didn't think it was right to mention what he was talking about with Ace earlier to anyone.

"And Marco didn't give you a new shiner?"

"He was away catching the Giraphant," he nodded to the table of 'Food for Ace', to the steaming plate of the giant, fatty beast. Its long neck was made into the soup place next to the giant plate, while the trunk was cooked separately, specially for some exotic cooking only Thatch knew and Ace seems to be reacting well to earlier, "So nope,"

Rakuyo peeked at the direction Blamenco thought Ace and Marco must be, jealousy palpable on his features, while Curiel simply grumbled 'lucky bastard' under his breath.

"Blamenco,"

At the sound of someone calling him, the commander turned to find Ace walking towards him, a small smile on his lips as he asked, "Can i talk to you for a moment?"

Of course, he wouldn't say no, but even as he walked away, he could feel Rakuyo and Curiel's eyes boring holes on him. Ace led him near one of the quieter part of the party, which was appropriately enough, near a chair placed there specifically for Ace to rest, right next to the tables filled with food specially for him. Marco was standing close by, right next to a plate filled to the brim with assortments of food that he could guess what Ace's before he suddenly decided to look for Blamenco.

Strangely enough, Ace gave Marco a quick glance before he spoke, lowering his voice slightly, "Um, i wanted to thank you about earlier. You know, for listening to me and cheering me up,"

A smile bloomed on the older commander's face, one that turns into a grin, "It's no biggie, Ace. I'm happy to help,"

"I just.. now that things kinda settled down, i realized i said a lot of weird things," the logia sighed, looking a little embarrassed, "I mean, i…,"

When Ace didn't say anything further but started glancing to Marco again, Blamenco felt like he knew what the younger wanted to talk about, "Listen," he waited until Ace turned his attention back to him, and levelled to the young man a stern look, and motioned to the rest of the ship, where the crew mingled, "If i feel like i can speak for these guys, it's because i've been involved in every ridiculousness they came up with when it comes to you and the baby,"

He glanced to Marco, a bit relieved the blond commander was too busy finishing his drink to notice. Or maybe he purposefully did that, because the way Marco angled his body was as if he pointedly avoids seeing them or let them see him. It wouldn't really surprise him if the man was told by his mate not to eavesdrop, "But i can't tell you what Marco is thinking. I know he loves you deeply, i know he'll do anything for you and his kid, but that's because i can see it. But anything else, you have to talk to him. He's your mate and you're his. That's a special bond between you two that only you can understand,"

Ace took in a shaky breath, before exhaling slowly.

The rotund man smiled at this, and patted the side of Ace's shoulder as gently as he could. He highly doubt that Ace was just 'saying weird things' in the height of his hormonal tantrum earlier. Even if Ace has come a long way since his days as Pops' persistent assassin and become an invaluable family member, he could observe that there are still something he's hesitant about, a degree of companionship he hadn't dare to look and hope for just yet. Granted, everyone else around him knew each other for years, even decades, but they love Ace like one of their own, and he's not the only one who wished the logia would quickly find his comfort amongst them.

"Hey," he called out, just loud enough to gain Ace's attention, "If you ever need someone to talk to again, if you got things in your mind you can't tell anyone or can't even tell Marco, just come find me any time, okay?"

He wasn't surprised to see Ace looking hesitant at his offer, so he pushed, "I won't tell anyone, i can keep secrets like i keep stuff in my pocket," Blamenco winked, prompting Ace to laugh lightly, "Let's do it again, just you and me on a quiet corner on the quarterdeck, i'll bring you plenty of food in my pocket and you can tell me anything until your mouth felt like falling off,"

This time, Ace laughed harder, and behind him, Blamenco could see Marco turning around curiously. Overprotective bastard.

Ace's eyes was shining when he lifted his head, and instead of feeling the same shock he had whenever he saw the Omega like that today, Blamenco only felt relieved, as if he had done something right, "Thank you. Really,"

His reply was simply a gentle and affectionate pat on the head for Ace, his dear little brother.

He was about to turn around, when Blamenco caught sight of Rakuyo and Curiel still in the same corner and watching them with curious glances. Still feeling rather vindictive, he said, "Hey, Ace, mind if i ask you a little favour?"

The younger blinked, before nodding, "Think i could uh, think i could touch your belly again?"

Seems like he said it a bit louder than he expected, but Marco turned around again, this time with his whole body, and narrowed his eyes. It took a burst of courage and the need for some revenge that Blamenco ignored the Zoan, as Ace said, "Sure. It's just um, i ate a lot, i swear, they didn't get bigger out of nowhere,"

"I understand, Ace, don't worry," he said off handedly, and placed his hands on the side of the bulge underneath the loose shirt Ace wore, feeling the unmistakable hardness underneath soft skin. Momentarily, he forgot his own ploy of vengeance in favour of being mystified by the feeling - there's a living being under that skin, growing and alive - and he placed another hand on the side, running his hand from the bottom to the side of Ace's waist, "Oh wow,"

Above him, he could hear Ace chuckle.

But that's about all he heard.

Slowly, Blamenco look up, and found much to his shock that everyone in the party was staring at him, their faces stuck in various degree of shock, disbelief, and most commonly, outrage.

Somewhere in the middle of the crowd, a shrill voice that sounded suspiciously like Haruta shouted, "He broke the sacred rule of no touching!"

"Guys?" Ace called out in confusion, "What's going on? Why's everyone looking at me?"

"Not you, Ace. Blamenco," Somewhere on the side Marco replied, voice very casual. Too casual, and with a hint of amusement and even satisfaction. The absolute sadist, "He just got himself in deep shit. Come here, why don't you sit and eat with me and avoid the splash zone?"


RIP Blamenco the Mallet, he never got enough screen time.

Keep this 'un-parted' because still considering whether the next part is still going to be him or if i'm moving on Rakuyo. The way it's going now, it's going to be Blamenco again, but it's just the matter of flow, really.

Anyway, thanks for reading!