A/N: This is for the Day 7: Random of the MarcoAce Week of this year. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to finish, so I'm only posting the first part. I think there'll be only one more chapter, two at most. The next one will take a while to appear because I have a lot to study, and there are also a few other things I want to write. But it will come, don't worry!

The inspiration for this story came a while ago when I saw a post on Tumblr about synesthesia, and I've wanted to write about it since then. I researched a lot and tried to make this accurate enough, but I've also added some little twists and elaborate descriptions to it since this is a fic, after all. Thanks a lot to shockandlock and lunarshores for being sweeties and helping me with a few things in the story, and to Kaline Reine, who helped me understand better how this synesthesia works.

This was betaread by lunarshores. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Warning: Description of a panic attack (if you want to avoid that part, skip from "A deep dark red flickered in his vision" until the next dash signaling a scene change).

Synesthesia:

A rare neurological condition in which two or more senses intertwine. It is not harmful to the body, appearing to be as natural as breathing to those who have it.

Ace was tired - dead tired.

He let his backpack fall on the bench with little care and sat beside it, ignoring the startled looks sent his way at the loud noise it made. A yawn escaped his lips as he rubbed his eyes - a futile try in keeping himself awake as it had proved to be little effective during the whole morning.

It was a pity his narcolepsy never acted at times like this, since Ace would welcome with open arms an excuse to take a quick nap. Instead, he had to struggle with heavy eyes the whole morning, and by now he knew he'd fall asleep if he got too comfortable sitting or leaning into anything. That would be bad for a number of reasons - the one at the front of his mind was that he'd have to endure Sabo lecturing him for half an hour on the importance of not procrastinating finishing a project to the point he barely slept on the night before the deadline. Ace understood the importance of what Sabo said, but that didn't mean he wouldn't repeat the same mistake when laziness hit again.

Ace repeated to himself that he ought to be more productive next time, before fetching his earphones from his backpack and his cellphone from his pocket. He connected both and searched for a good song on his playlist as he put the earphones on, then pressed play with a smile.

The next second, red invaded his vision. As if someone had gotten a brush with red ink and decided to paint in the air, a red swirl formed and rolled around at the quick beat of the music, the form disappearing as the swirl kept moving through his vision. The rhythm changed, and in synchrony it unfolded into curved lines that spiked sometimes as it accompanied the music. That was all Ace needed to distract himself from his sleepiness.

Humming in synchrony with the song, he observed with interest how the red started mixing with purple as the tone changed, the colors flashing as they moved and slightly obscured a tree that Ace could see that way. Although he already knew well this song's colors and moves after seeing them many times, they never ceased to catch his attention.

Ace let himself be immersed in the beat and colors, the annoying and uninteresting noises from his surroundings being drowned. That's what he liked the most about music; it always gave him a pleasant experience unlike the sometimes overwhelming mix of voices he heard everywhere. It wasn't like all noises affected him, thankfully, but they created a bothersome cacophony.

As the last notes of the song came to a stop and the purple and red disappeared from his vision at the same time, he passed to the next one, taking comfort in the chocolate brown that came in slow twirls going up and down. Just as he started moving his head to accompany the movement of the color, he felt someone tap him on his shoulder.

Turning to look over his shoulder, Ace saw Sabo standing right behind him with a raised eyebrow. Stopping the song and pulling the earphones out, Ace sent a grin in his direction.

"I got your books for you, you should be grateful."

"Hi, good to see you too." Sabo rolled his eyes, and Ace's own followed the orange that spiked and curved with calm close to Sabo's throat. "Thanks for getting them, but uh, what's with the living dead face?"

Ace plastered an offended look on his face, and complained about 'ungratefulness' and 'how it had given him so much trouble to find the right building to get the books for his dear brother' in hopes it'd distract him - Sabo hadn't taken even five seconds to notice, it had to be a new record.

He got an amused look back from Sabo. "Alright, your highness. To show you how deeply grateful I am, I'll prepare whatever you want during my turn at cooking tonight."

Ace accompanied the wave movement Sabo's orange performed before it disappeared, then moved his eyes up to Sabo's face. "Much better. It's a deal!" He grinned cheekily, and opened his bag to get the books and leave his cell phone and earphones in there. "Let's go back home. I can't wait to get to somewhere more silent." He got up and stretched, sighing satisfied when he felt his bones pop.

"Heh, so that's why you look so tired. You spent the whole night finishing something for college." It wasn't a question. At Sabo's deadpanned comment and the almost still orange line that accompanied it, Ace cringed. Changing the subject hadn't worked.

"How did you even reach that conclusion from what I said?"

"You've been following my color the whole time we've been talking, it wasn't hard. You only do it that much when you want to avoid falling asleep," Sabo said and shrugged, then got his books from Ace and put them inside his bag.

Ace's eyes snapped from the orange that disappeared after a twirl to Sabo's face with an embarrassed smile. "Of course you'd notice that."

"Of course," Sabo agreed. "I live with you for far too long not to notice that."

"Fair enough." Ace chuckled, and they began walking towards the exit of the campus.

"We both know now's when I try to knock into your head that you shouldn't do your work at the last minute, but I need your help to buy a few things and to clean the apartment, so that should be enough punishment."

Ace stared at Sabo in disbelief, but he only received a nod back. "Why me? Can't Luffy help you this time? Also, cleaning days are on weekends, and it's still Wednesday."

"Luffy is at Zoro's place and won't be home until later. And I know that, but since gramps is coming for dinner, the apartment has to look cleaner than normal so he can't complain. Didn't we agree on this yesterday?" Ace gave Sabo a horrified look, making him hesitate for a second. "Okay, you weren't paying attention."

Ace roamed through his mind, but the conversation didn't come up. "You said that during dinner?"

"Right after it."

Ace groaned - that had been when he remembered his unfinished project due the next day. Not a moment he was very concentrated in his surroundings. "Eh…"

Ace's eyes flashed to Sabo's color, which appeared with slow wave movements when he huffed - of course Sabo would be amused. "Remembering or not, I still need your help. Luffy needs to finish some kind of homework or project with his friends, and though I talked with Robin and she said she'd make sure he got home in time, I doubt he'll finish it soon."

"Which leaves me to help and with no time to sleep." Ace sighed. "How great."

"Think positively. If we finish it quickly, you'll have time for a short nap."

Ace groaned in self-pity and ignored Sabo's chuckle, hoping that maybe his narcolepsy would be kind enough to kick in soon. Sabo couldn't make him do anything if he was dead asleep.

And so, the both of them went on their way, one complaining and the other rebuking good-naturedly. It'd be a troublesome evening, but at least he didn't have to do it alone, Ace concluded resigned, but couldn't hold back a smile as he watched Sabo's orange move about with fluid spikes while he laughed.

Chromesthesia:

A sound-to-color synesthesia. A person hears sounds, voices and/or music, and sees a corresponding color in their vision.

Ace held back a sigh as he watched the common but tiring scene going on at the dining table, his plate already empty in front of him for a while and his stomach demanding more. He wasn't about to get up in the middle of a discussion, though, so he just kept playing with a napkin and trying to hold his tongue lest he say something in a fit and make it last longer.

It was always the same routine whenever Garp visited them. It impressed – and annoyed – Ace how Garp never failed to find something to complain about, being it how their apartment wasn't clean, something was messy or even their performance at college and school. Really, Ace didn't understand why he insisted on getting involved with their lives when they had been living in different cities for around two years. They had proved they were indeed capable of taking care of themselves, and while that happened, their deal wasn't broken, and Garp had to leave them there.

Besides, it wasn't like they used to spend a lot of time together when living in the same place besides when he taught them how to fight and defend themselves, so his constant 'worry' was unsettling and tiresome to deal with. He never cared to do it before, so why that changed now was a mystery to Ace.

"You can't expect me to understand everything! There's way too much stuff to remember, and it's hard!" Luffy crossed his arms with a frown. Ace observed the quick flashes of yellow move close to Luffy's dark hair, their shaky pattern one Ace recognized quickly; Luffy was getting angry.

"If you don't try then how are you going to know? You need to try better so you'll be accepted into a good college." Garp countered, his eyes narrowed. His color, a vivid red, barely moved from its place at the side of Ace's vision, close to Garp's neck, before disappearing with the voice. Ace avoided the urge to frown, knowing Garp was serious about the subject.

"But I am trying! You don't live here, how would you even know?!" The yellow flickered wildly. Ace's hand closed in a first.

"Look gramps, Luffy really is trying." He commented, eyes moving between his family. "He's even studying with his friends, and with Robin and Nami there, they're surely getting things done."

"He was doing that this afternoon, actually. That's why he got here late." Sabo added. His face was perfectly calm, but coupled his drumming finger and twirling and spiking orange showed Ace otherwise.

Garp stared at them for a while, seeming to analyze them with suspicion, and Ace wanted more than anything to confront him, tell him off, but he was too tired to deal with it, and he knew his brothers were as well by their postures.

Garp sighed, and Ace felt a victorious smile grow on his face. He had gotten too tired of arguing with them.

"Very well then. But you better not slack off, Luffy! I didn't let you all live alone so you could stop giving your best." He said at last. "And how's your training going?"

Ace noticed the red swirl a bit at the end, and was sure they had moved forward in the conversation definitely. This time, he let a relieved sigh escape his lips as he got up to retrieve more food, Sabo's voice sounding from behind him while his wavy orange accompanied Ace in the corner of his eyes until the kitchen.

After a while, Luffy's yellow joined Sabo's color, and they danced together in his vision before the yellow overlapped the other color as Luffy got excited and started spewing something about his last training session, the earlier discussion probably already thrown to the back of his mind. Ace smiled softly, and put more food in his plate than he knew he wanted.

Hours later, when Garp had already said his goodbye and almost crushed them with a hug – and a "light" Fist of Love "so as not to lose the habit", according to him - the three found themselves huddling together in the sofa with the TV turned on. No one was paying attention to it, though, and Ace was happy to let the voices from it fade away as he concentrated on their conversation. It was a nice habit they had created at one point in time, and it was comforting after a stressful day or moment.

With his brothers' colors dancing in his vision in familiar patterns, Ace felt himself relax and his eyelids getting heavy once again. Laying his head on one of his hands, he let himself be lulled into a much-needed sleep.

"Goddammit, I can't believe I lost them!"

Ace searched through his backpack one more time, but the result was the same as from the other times he tried. Grumbling under his breath, he zipped his bag closed, put it on his shoulder and ran a hand through his hair, allowing himself a moment to glare at nothing in particular before starting to walk again.

It was just his luck, just his wonderfully amazing luck, that he'd lose his earphones today of all days. It couldn't have been yesterday, tomorrow, or even next week, maybe never, of course it couldn't. It had to be today, the very best day for him. And just when he wanted a bit of peace…

"Yes, of course I told him that! But do you think he believed in me? Of course not, because he never does that!"

Ace flinched when a flash of bright green invaded his vision, twisting and shaking for a moment before disappearing as the girl who passed by him got distant and her voice turned unintelligible."I really don't need to hear about your life story, so can't you just speak like a normal person instead of shouting?" Ace growled under his breath, wishing he could actually say that to the girl and to a few others who went by him, but he knew it'd be an useless effort.

Ace was already used to the way his synesthesia worked - hard not to when he lived with it ever since he was born - but it didn't mean he could tame it. His habit, now seemingly stupid, of paying attention to other people's voices as a distraction when he was tired was working full speed now after a whole night without sleeping. Ace had a slight suspicion his synesthesia and narcolepsy had an agreement to torture him together, since one had made him sleep the whole afternoon yesterday then not be able to rest at night, and the other was going to annoy with too much stimulus until he got home.

"How fucking great," he hissed. He only wanted to listen to his music peacefully until he got home, what was so bad about it? Just a few familiar colors, enough to distract him and that was it. Ace sighed internally, knowing it was futile to complain to himself when there was nothing to do.

"No, don't do that. It's just plain stupid, and you know it. Sure, I know that, but-"

"Hey, did you hear about that guy who-"

Ace didn't hold a tired sigh this time as a small purple blur with flecks of blue appeared in his vision, pink swimming behind. That's why he tried to only go to crowded places when really necessary, and, if possible, using earphones. Too many people speaking at the same time, and too much attention from Ace didn't mix well together. It left him tired, annoyed, with a slight headache and even dizzy on his worst days, and he didn't need any of that today.

As he finally left the college grounds, Ace went in the subway's direction, trying to ignore the voices around him, and frowning at the loud ones that managed to get his attention. Most of the time, he was great at tuning out all the sounds around him so they wouldn't bother him, but it seemed he wasn't being good at even that today.

Damn prick teacher, damn annoying classmates, and damn noisy people. I should have stayed at home today.

The increasing in the flow of people around him was the first sign that he was closer to the subway, and although he was one step closer to his apartment, Ace couldn't avoid grimacing. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to arrive home as soon as possible, he would have waited for a while longer so as not to have to endure the rush hour, even if it was closer to the end.

He went down the stairs humming a song, and sighed in relief at seeing the subway wasn't too packed with people. He paid for his ticket and entered the platform, deciding to wait in a mostly empty corner.

"Dude, I swear that teacher is evil! He definitely doesn't want to see us pass."

"He can't be that bad, you're exaggerating."

"I wish I was! The other day-"

The noise of the subway arriving seemed majestic to Ace at the moment, and as the shaky dark gray and flickering brown disappeared from his vision, he saw a wagon stop in front of him before the doors opened. Entering and making sure to stay far from the loud teenagers, Ace sat heavily on a free seat. He only had to endure for around thirty minutes here, and fifteen more walking to reach his dear home. He could do it.

Ace went back to humming inside his head when more people entered the wagon at the next station. By then, he was already feeling drained and just wanted some peace, so he couldn't even muster enough energy to feel annoyed.

With the thought that it wouldn't be much longer in his mind, Ace locked his eyes on the loose tip of his belt, playing with it as a way to distract his mind from the voices around him. He was doing a good job at that, only a few colors entering his sight to bother him, and acquired a numb sense of comfort. That is, until they reached another station and loud noises assaulted Ace's ears.

Startled, he looked up just in time to see a flock of people entering his wagon, and the already full space turned even worse. Ace offered his seat to a woman trying to hold more bags than she seemed capable of, and rested his back against the wall, barely finding a free place for himself between a grumpy woman and a man carrying a package.

A deep dark red flickered in his vision as the sounds of the woman talking with someone entered his ears, and Ace had to hold in the urge to grimace. Instead, he breathed deeply before starting to humming, adding a drumming of his fingers against his leg as further distraction.

Twirling light green, soft-moving black and a wild forest green joined the red in his vision as the conversation about a TV show three teenagers were having to his right ended loud enough for him to hear. This time, Ace didn't hold the grimace.

He changed his humming to one of the newest catchy songs he knew, but the intensity of the colors didn't fade as his concentration was half on the conversations that caught his attention one way or another.

Orange and purple flashed as Ace heard someone talk about their new cat. He felt dizzy.

Maybe it was some divine force up there that hated him, or lady luck just decided to pick on him today, but his ears seemed to perk up at any more audible sounds of voices around him. Calm pink – "around a month for my trip! Isn't that great?" -; deep blue – "no, no, I know that. I'm just telling you to pay more attention." -; bouncing bright orange – "I don't know what to do anymore. He just keeps getting sick..." -; wavy blue violet – "It's so close! I can't wait for it!".

Ace supposed he would be called nosy, even if not by option. He tried rubbing his eyes, but the color mix came back as soon as he opened them.

A shiny gray arrived at the talk of a math exam getting closer. Exam. Yes, that's right. Ace had had an exam today, and he knew he failed it. He didn't study enough, not like he wanted, not like Sabo, who spent the week only reviewing. Sabo, yeah, he should hurry home and rest there, he had gotten out of college later today, he and Luffy were going to get worried at this rate…

Bright yellow changed places with a previous wine color – something about a ladybug? He was pressed a bit more against the wall as some more people entered the wagon. Go find somewhere else to stay, we don't need more people here! Ace definitely felt dizzy.

An automatic voice announced their arrival at the next station – just one before Ace's stop, just a little bit more – with an almost still green line. Ace frowned at the top of someone's head, though he was more intent on observing the colors twirling and waving and spiking and rolling around there. It might be his imagination, but he could swear there were some black, almost transparent, dots forming there. Which voice did it belong to? Then they seemed to go away.

Brown flashed on the middle of his vision, and Ace was tempted to close his eyes. Something inside him screamed it wasn't a good idea, so he didn't. Dark pink appeared – "Hold on, you're stepping on my foot!" – with black right beside it – "It wasn't me, mister. There's not much space to move, anyway".

Black. That's right, the black dots had come back. This time, Ace's eyes widened in recognition. Fuck.

The doors of the wagon opened, some people filtering out. In an impulse, Ace followed them, deciding he needed just a moment to recover from the onslaught of colors, but regretted his decision as soon as he laid his eyes on the busy station. People were rushing by him, parts of their talks making it to his ears and creating new flashes of colors only to be soon replaced by others.

Someone bumped into him, and he took a few steps back. The person turned and seemed to complain about something – Ace mostly processed the distracting mix of pink and yellow – before going back to walking.

Dark green and blue plus purple – "Really? Didn't we eat that yesterday?" -; white, grey-blue and beige – "Come on, hurry up! We're already late!".

His dizziness was getting worse.

Ace needed to find somewhere to sit until the flow of people decreased, preferably right now. He turned to his left, but different hues of brown and green blocked his view as a group of teenagers passed laughing and talking in excited tones. Ace grimaced and turned right, this time meeting soft yellow and royal blue, both moving in a quick pace.

Damn it.

He took a few more steps back, and jumped when he felt his back touch something. His head snapped around, but he only saw a grey wall behind him. Gray, but hardly gray. So many colors seemed to stain it; he could barely see anything else.

Someone behind him while talking about a book – violet with orange flashed in a patch of the grey wall. His breath hitched.

He couldn't see the wall, he couldn't see the wall, he couldn't see the goddamn wall. He needed to get home. Sabo and Luffy were waiting for him, it was his turn to cook dinner, and he couldn't even see the wall, but he needed to get moving and get in the subway before it left him. But he couldn't see right and people didn't stop talking, didn't stop making noises and being loud and their voices were so catching and the colors were flashing-

A face appeared from between the colors in front of him. The person's mouth was moving, and Ace thought maybe he had gotten in their way, but he didn't understand them, couldn't understand, but their mouth kept moving and Ace just wanted to apologize and say he wasn't understanding them. A flash of red almost covered the person's face - "Stop being stubborn and listen to me!". Ace reached forward blindly, needing to hold onto something, anything, and found a warm thing – a hand? - before squeezing it.

The face was still there, and he thought he was moving for sure this time. Was the person annoyed at him? Their face didn't look angry, but Ace was feeling so dizzy right now, how could he be sure about that, so why couldn't he just apologize and get on his way? He had to go home, he still needed to cook, yes, cook, his brothers actually liked his cooking, but he couldn't see right, couldn't see the damn wall, couldn't apologize, couldn't open his mouth, but the colors still flashed and pieces of words entered his mind, and he was feeling nauseous, but he didn't have time for that...!

He felt himself sit down, and saw the person's mouth move again, this time in strange even movements. It didn't seem like words were coming out of it, they were more like… breaths?

Your breath isn't right. Try to do like me, breathe deeply, like this.

A deep blue swirled lazily in his vision. A memory of rare childhood trips to the beach came uncalled to his mind. Beautiful days, the sun shining with no clouds in sight, delightful moments of peace between him, his brothers and their grandpa, and the ever-present sea in the background, its waves moving in a pleasant rhythm.

Yes, that color was very similar to the one of the sea on those days. The calm and tranquil sea.

Ace found his eyes locking on that color, a calmness washing over him at the imagination of the waves. Almost in a daze, he felt himself following their lead, accompanied their breaths' rhythm, and after a while, his dizziness faded out. His tense muscles seemed to relax, and his fogged mind started clearing, allowing Ace to look at the situation once more. Realization came to him just a moment after. Fuck, I was… I was having a panic attack, wasn't I?

"How are you? Do you need anything, any medicine or the sorts?"

"Ah…" Only then did Ace realize he was feeling breathless. After a few more slow breaths, he managed to answer, hating how his voice came out shaky. "I-I'm better, thanks. I don't take any medicine, don't… don't worry."

The person – a blond man, probably quite a few years older than himself - smiled. "That's good. Don't force yourself until you're fine, please. Do you want to call someone to get you here?"

The sea-color came back, but Ace didn't mind its presence. He noticed vaguely how the other colors seemed to stay behind that one, or just disappear. The station was emptying.

"No, I'm… I'm fine. I'm not that far from home, I can do it. I just… I just need to find a good wagon." Ace shook his head slightly, and his mind finally cleared. He released the man's hand as soon as he noticed he was still holding it. "Ah, I'm sorry about that. Just… thanks."

"It's okay. I couldn't leave you alone like that." The man's soft voice brought a new wave of the calming sea-color, and Ace couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from twitching up at the beautiful color. He noticed it fit well with the man's eyes. "You'd probably faint in a bit more."

"Yeah…" Ace rubbed the back of his neck, feeling his fingers trembling but urging them to stop. "It's been... a long time since I last had a panic attack. I didn't miss it."

"Are you sure you don't need any other help?"

Ace shook his head slightly and smiled. "No, it's alright. You've already helped a lot."

They stayed there for a while longer. Ace contended himself in just taking deep breaths and hearing the man tell him about some misadventure he once had in the subway. It was a funny story, and by the time it ended and Ace was feeling better, he realized he had lost two subways.

The man helped him up – his legs were wobbly, to his embarrassment -, and looked at him with worry. Ace waved it off with a grin.

"Thank you." Ace repeated once the next subway came and he made sure the wagon wasn't too full.

"You're welcome." The man replied, and Ace grinned at his blue curved line waving slowly. If only he could save that color and bring it home with him… It was refreshing. "Goodbye then."

And with one last flash, the color and the man disappeared as the doors of the subway closed. Ace took a deep breath and found a good free space for himself, deciding he'd just keep humming until he got home.

"Ahh, sweet freedom! No more exams for now, and no more fretting over stuff I didn't understand." Ace stretched with a grin as he walked through the corridor, the mid-morning sunlight coming from the window feeling refreshing on his skin after so long inside a cold classroom.

With a hand covering a yawn, Ace traced inside his mind the time for the classes of some of his friends, and decided it wouldn't hurt trying to find someone to keep him company until lunch. Satisfied, he exited the music building, ready to start scanning his surroundings, only to stop mid-step.

A big number of booths of different sizes spread on the grass, colorful objects seemingly on display and many people were what met Ace's eyes. He looked on in confusion for a moment before a vague memory of a poster about an art fair came to his mind. This was much bigger than he had imagined, to his surprise.

"Makes sense why Professor Brook's class was cancelled." Ace chuckled to himself before continuing on his way.

His phone buzzed inside his pocket, catching Ace's attention as he stopped under the shadow of a tree to obverse the fair - it seemed to have attracted a lot of people, and he wasn't feeling like entering the crowd now. Fetching his phone absentmindedly, he answered the call while looking at what seemed to be a clay sculpture of a bird.

"Hello?"

"Still alive, huh?"

The yellow-green colored line that swirled into his vision helped him recognize the speaker immediately. "I can't believe it either." Ace grinned, even though Apoo couldn't see him. "It wasn't that bad in the end, so I'll probably get a decent grade." He paused for a moment before adding. "I hope."

"We all do, man." Apoo laughed. "Mine could've been worse, so I'm fine with them. Anyway, wanna get a snack with us? You also have free time because of the fair, right? We're on the other side of the field, at the entrance."

Ace perked up at the mention of food, his smile widening. "Of course! I'll be there in a while."

"Try not to drown in that sea of people. Some known artists were called, and now everyone wants to see them."

Ace hummed in understanding. "I'll try not to. See ya."

Soon enough, his phone was already back in his pocket and he was making his way around the side of the fair. It was better this way, so he'd avoid bumping into people and having to look at more than just a few colors swimming in his vision – he already had new earphones, but he didn't feel like putting them on now.

Ace let his mind wander as he looked at his surroundings, happy in tuning out the voices close by and just focusing on observing. He was just passing a group of three students who were eagerly talking with a tall and finely dressed man, a few others standing close enough to listen, when he bumped into someone. He opened his mouth to apologize, but instead hissed in pain at the sudden feeling of warm liquid falling on his arm.

Shit, talk about an inconvenient wake up call. Ace quickly looked around in search of something to dry himself with, but he didn't have to worry for soon he had a few paper napkins offered to him accompanied by a voice.

"Take these, please. I am so sorry, I wasn't looking at where I was going."

The voice's color danced smoothly at the side of his vision before disappearing, and Ace had just taken a few napkins when the familiar hue clicked in his mind. With wide eyes and a gaping mouth, he glanced up and found himself looking right into a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

It was definitely that guy from the subway, one part of Ace's mind supplied while the other kept staring dumbly. He knew he had just had a panic attack the last time they saw each other, but Ace wondered how he could have missed how drop dead handsome this man was, from the fitting eyes, voice-color and his actual shirt, to his strange-looking stylish blond hair. All in all, he looked dazzling, and Ace was impressed. He didn't know what the odds of seeing the same person who helped him a few days ago when he was so handsome were, but he wasn't going to complain about his luck anytime soon.

He was brought back to earth when the man asked if he was alright. "Oh, huh… I'm okay. And it's fine, I'm to blame too because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. So, I'm sorry."

The man ran a hand through his hair, bringing Ace's attention to his blond locks before it changed to his sea color-voice when he spoke again. "It's no problem. I can buy another coffee easily. It's your arm that got the worst part." He made a pause, but before Ace could answer, he continued. "Are you by any chance that… guy at the subway from the other day?"

Ace was torn between grinning, oddly glad that a hot stranger remembered seeing him once, or groaning in embarrassment that he was remembered because of a panic attack. He decided in waving with a hand full of brown stained napkins and smiling softly. "Yeah, it was me. Thank you one more time for that, and don't worry, my arm is just fine."

"Really, it was no problem. I'm glad to have helped a bit in the end." The man smiled back, and it looked just as beautiful as the rest of him.

"Actually, you helped a lot. Your voice-color is very calming, it's quite amazing." Ace only noticed what he had said after the words were out of his mouth.

"My voice-color?" The man raised a brow in question.

Ace rubbed the back of his neck, and chuckled nervously. "Ah, yeah. Voice-color. Uh, have you ever heard about synesthesia?" The confused expression he received back was enough of an answer. "I thought so." He sighed. "Synesthesia is a condition some people have in which some of their senses mix with each other. In my case, I hear voices and songs, and I see corresponding colors flashing in my vision."

"Really?" A short wave of blue. "What an interesting thing. I had never heard about it. By the way, I never introduced myself. I'm Marco." A hand was extended to him.

"Ace," he grinned and shook it. Bingo, now he had a name. "And most don't. It's not like it's a disease, so less of a reason for people to know it. It's not bad, most of the time it's fun discovering people's colors. Ah, but it does have its bad sides sometimes and-" he was starting to rant. Time to shut up. "My bad. When I start talking about synesthesia I can go on for a long time."

Marco didn't seem bothered, if his amused smile was any indication, so Ace relaxed a bit.

"I don't mind it. It's very interesting to know about it, actually." A curious expression adorned Marco's face. "What happened in the subway had anything to do with it, by any chance?"

"Ah, yes." Ace frowned at the remembrance, before shaking his head when Marco apologized. "Don't worry about it. It had to do with my synesthesia, but it hadn't happened in a long time, so it's weird remembering. I've gotten better at tuning voices out, but I guess it was a bad day for me."

"So it only works when-"

And so, to Ace's surprise, they kept talking. Marco seemed genuinely interested, and Ace felt well being able to share some of his experiences. It had taken him many tries and failures in trying to explain what he saw and what he felt that it was satisfying seeing someone get it and want to know more.

The talk didn't stop there, straying after a while to the fair, art and much more. They had already taken a sit on a bench nearby when someone, who Ace recognized with surprise as the finely dressed man from before, interrupted them with a sorry smile and a tap to Marco's shoulder. Only then did Ace realize he had been keeping Marco occupied without even knowing if he had something else to do.

"Do you study art here?" Marco asked after exchanging a few words with the man.

"Art no, music yes."

"Then we'll probably see each other again soon. I'm going to give some lectures the next few days and do a job in the campus as well." Marco's smile and words got Ace grinning.

"Really? That's great!" He couldn't bring himself to feel embarrassed at his eagerness. "Are you by any chance one of the artists invited here today?" He chuckled.

"Actually, yes." Marco laughed at Ace's bewildered look, who had to take a moment to process what he just heard.

"Geez, and I've been keeping you here all this time! I'm sorry about that." Ace sent an apologetic look at Marco, who shook his head.

"That's not a problem. I stayed because I wanted, and it's not like I had anything urgent to do too. I have to go now, though. The music section isn't far from the art one, I think, and that's where I'll be. See you, then."

Ace's grin came back in full force and he waved in goodbye, watching Marco's back retreating to somewhere in the middle of the fair. He was startled out of the reverie he had fallen into when his phone started buzzing, and he groaned. He had forgotten about his friends.

The buzzing stopped before he could answer, so Ace hurried towards his earlier destination, deciding it was better to call back without losing time, and a content smile fell back on his face. His first batch of exams had ended, and he had met – this time properly - a very interesting man. Yeah, he had had a very good morning indeed.

The next time Ace saw Marco wasn't in the art section, somewhere close to it, or even at college at all, but at the market. He had decided to go buy the few things he and his brothers needed before the beginning of the next month in Sabo's place since, although it wasn't his turn, he pitied Sabo's big pile of books and papers to study. It also helped that he was bored.

Nonetheless, even if Ace thought this would be a good enough distraction for his lazy morning, he never imagined he'd see Marco there, and so soon at that. He decided, inside his mind, that it was justified how he almost let the chips bags fall from his arms when he took out one earphone and saw the familiar sea-hue, albeit a bit darker, float at the side of his vision as a voice reached him. Even if the woman passing by him seemed to find his startled expression funny.

Exasperated, Ace dropped the bags inside his shopping cart and turned to the other snacks with a huff, making a mental note to train better his outward reactions. He chanced a look to his side after some seconds of staring at the shelves absent-minded, and found Marco a bit down the corridor.

He looked just as stunning in his casual clothes as he did in the finer ones, and his blond hair was still as beautifully kept, but something seemed wrong in the whole picture. Years of honing his observation skills through wondering why some people's color changed slightly at times got him the ability to pinpoint details easily, so Marco's tense posture wasn't hard to notice, even with his blank expression.

Seeing it on Marco's face bothered Ace.

He took a step forward, wanting to go to him – to do or say what, he had no idea -, when Marco turned slightly and the cell phone in his other hand became visible.

Ace hesitated. Whatever it was that upset Marco wasn't his business as a stranger, because even if they'd talked for a while, that's what they were to one another. Ace knew he wouldn't have liked someone butting in his problems without being invited. Sure, he could just go there and talk about something random, but maybe Marco would prefer to be alone.

Ace turned to the snacks with a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He fetched one of the chip bags from the shopping cart and compared it to another that seemed better, proceeding then to glare at the earlier chosen at seeing it was more expensive. He put the new one inside the cart, and organized the position of everything before sighing again.

He probably seemed like a weirdo, standing there doing useless things while trying to decide if he should approach or not. He didn't like ignoring people when he noticed their colors were wrong. Sometimes it was nothing, the change in their voice not meaning much, but other times…

Ace's hold on the cart tightened. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Damn it all.

It wasn't his place, and maybe he would just be a nuisance, but he was going to pass by and wave in case Marco looked at him. If he let Marco's reaction choose for him whether he should stay or not, it wouldn't be bad, right?

He glanced at Marco once again, but he had lowered his voice, making it impossible for Ace to see his color again and be certain that it was indeed wrong. He was sure, his mind supplied, he knew what he had seen. He wouldn't make the mistake of getting it wrong, no, he wouldn't.

Leading his shopping cart down the corridor, Ace relaxed his hold and put an ease smile on his face. He readied his arm in a mechanic way to rise and wave at the smallest sign a look was going to be directed at him, and willed his mind to stop reminiscing ("No, NO! Wait!" "That can't be right, what's going on?!" "Hey-") because that wasn't what he needed right now. And so, he kept on walking with an even pace-

-only to stop abruptly as Marco took a step backwards and got in his way.

He winced at the loud clank the cans made when falling on each other, and thanked his earlier organization of the cart as otherwise it could have been the bottles of glass clinking dangerously together.

"I'm so sorry about… Ace?" Ace wanted to sigh at the dark shade of the sea-color that appeared in slow wave movements. Not a mistake, indeed.

"Oh, hi!" He gave a soft smile, though he was certain it looked more tired than anything else. "I don't think anything broke, so it could have been worse."

Marco's blue eyes scanned Ace's shopping cart before he nodded. Ace absently noted that his cell phone wasn't anywhere in sight anymore. "Seems so. Either way, I'm sorry." He looked apologetically at him, and his color swirled close to his face as if to highlight it to Ace. "I should have paid more attention to where I was moving, especially in a market."

Ace remained in silence in silence for a few seconds, a stray thought entering his mind, before snorting. "It seems like every time we meet, something like this happens."

Marco seemed surprised, but then a small laugh escaped his lips. "You know what, you're actually right. We should find a way to fix that."

Ace felt himself relax when he saw some of the visible tenseness on Marco disappear. "We should, or next time you'll definitely find a way to break something."

"Maybe I'll make you drop whatever you're holding at the time."

"It better not be my acoustic guitar, or I'll have my revenge, and it'll be sweet."

The laugh they shared at the silliness of their conversation made Ace relax fully, and he felt like patting his shoulder inside his mind at seeing Marco had too. His voice-color was still wrong, but as Marco laughed, it seemed to have regained its energy to dance and wave around.

"As strange as it seems, this reminded me of a book I read not long ago."

"A book?" Ace raised an eyebrow. "What, the person almost created an accident whenever they met someone?"

"Almost that," Marco rolled his eyes. "They were unlucky in general, but when they met knew people it reached a whole new level. It was pretty funny. Oh, and there was a mythical reason of sorts behind all those problems."

"Heh, so it's a fantasy book." Ace straightened in curiosity. "You like those sort of books then?"

"Pretty much. I try to read a bit of everything, to be truthful. It's nice to change styles according to what you want at the time. And you?"

Ace took a moment to realize Marco had asked a question, as he was staring at his color dancing on his vision. Maybe he could call it stormy-sea, to distinguish it better from the original one. It was beautiful in its own way, but Ace still felt uncomfortable at seeing it with the knowledge it brought bad news with it. "I don't read all that much," Ace shook his head to clear his mind. "But fantasy is one of my favorites. I think I just love the idea of extraordinary things being something possible in them."

"It is a very nice aspect of the genre." Marco smiled, and then his expression turned pensive, almost melancholic. "The impossible happening, miracles existing… It's all a very nice thought."

Ace left a weak chuckle pass through his lips, one of his hands moving to hold onto the cart again. There it was, that tenseness was coming back, and Ace didn't like it. At all. "Yeah, but to all good things there are also bad ones. Fantasy has a lot of that."

With that, he started a conversation about some books and movies he liked, using them as examples and urging Marco to participate. He highlighted the funny parts for him, and the 'sitting-on-the-edge-of-the-seat' ones as well, and it didn't take long for Marco's face to light up again as he contributed with examples as well, getting enthusiastic when they both found a few common favorites to discuss about.

Ace supposed a market wasn't the best place to stop and have a conversation like that, but he had done that in worse places, so he didn't mind. After a while, they simply started going through the corridors together, gathering what each of them still needed, before going to the cashier, words and soft laughs still being exchanged in the meanwhile.

Ace could say he was feeling lighter when they exited the market, and by the wavy and lightening dark blue, he guessed Marco was as well. Ace felt quite proud at himself, and the sheer contentment coursing through him made him comment about it.

Marco's confused look was expected, and Ace tried to avoid the urge to facepalm. Why the hell did he have to talk about it now?

"It's just, you seemed so worried earlier, and now you look a bit… better?" Ace finished unsure, and winced mentally when a distant look appeared on Marco's eyes.

"Oh…" The small wisp of blue wasn't enough for Ace to notice it's exact hue, but he hoped he hadn't screwed up by making Marco remember what was bothering him. "It's… it's nothing you have to be concerned about. It'll be okay, I'm just… worried, I suppose."

With Marco's hesitation, Ace knew that wasn't the word he meant to use. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Marco surprised him by smiling at him. The sincerity in it froze Ace. "Thanks for worrying about me, though. It's a very nice thing of you. Most wouldn't care enough to waste their time trying to cheer someone up."

Ace felt his face reddening at the acknowledgment, but he grinned nonetheless. "I wouldn't call it wasting my time. It was nice seeing you again."

Marco hummed, and Ace noticed it had darkened a bit, though it was far from the hue from earlier. "Hey, what do you say about we continuing our conversation in a coffee shop near here? Their desserts are delicious."

Ace perked up at the mention of food, before stopping and processing what was said to him. A soft smile grew on his face, and he decided he didn't mind carrying the heavy bags for a while longer. "I'd like that."

The time seemed to fly afterwards.

That day passed quicker than Ace would have liked, but he ended up getting to know more about Marco than he expected. They weren't able to finish their conversation - which morphed from books and movies to story making in genera, productions and different styles of art - so they decided to meet on another day.

Days turned into weeks, and Ace found himself surprised by how often he met Marco during that time. Being it somewhere at college, or in one of their random conversation days, Marco had turned into a frequent presence in his life. He was a good friend, a very hot one, but Ace was fine with the way things were.

It didn't stop at that.

Weeks became months, and sooner than Ace thought possible, the semester had ended, his summer vacation had begun, and Marco's time working at the college ended. Ace got the opportunity to meet some of Marco's many siblings - he was baffled at discovering the other man from the day at the fair, Izo, had been one of them - and introduced Marco to his brothers as well as some friends. With his group of friends having gotten bigger, college giving a break, and a growing closeness with Marco, things couldn't have been going better.

It was around then that Ace finally realized his feelings for Marco, which had been turning strangely unclear with time, could be different from friendship, that maybe they had developed into something more. With one last push from a silly romantic movie he watched on the television one day, he was certain.

He had fallen head over heels for Marco.

"Okay, spill it. What's with you?"

Ace stopped mid-hum and tsked in annoyance as orange entered his vision, disrupting his concentration. He looked up and saw Sabo leaning against the doorframe of his room, determination radiating from his posture.

"What do you mean?" Ace raised an eyebrow in question.

"You know very well what I'm talking about." Sabo rolled his eyes, and his voice-color wavered almost in synchrony.

"Yeah!" Luffy's yellow was barely a warning before a blur jumped towards him. Ace only had time to take his acoustic guitar out of the way before Luffy bounced on the bed, a big grin on his face. "You have this weird look on your face all the time like you're concentrating!"

"True," Sabo hummed in agreement, his orange bouncing beside his head, before approaching them and sitting on the bed beside Luffy's lying form. Ace almost rolled his eyes in exasperation, for there went his free time to compose. "You're also playing all the time."

"That's not weird," Ace rebuked. "I study music, of course I play a lot."

"But you only do that more than usual when you have stuff on your mind and want to forget it." Luffy's yellow swirled before uncurling and almost stilling, matching his suddenly serious face. "So what's wrong?"

Ace took the moment to watch his brothers' faces, both serious and with a hint of worry, and sighed. Of course his brothers had noticed, he shouldn't have expected anything less after so many years. "I suppose it's only right to tell you. It's a bit complicated, but... Well."

In a few minutes, he finished telling his story, about how he discovered his feelings for Marco had changed and was now unsure on what to do - even if he should do anything. The big and excited grins on his brothers' faces weren't expected, much less the mischievous look exchanged between them.

"What?" Ace blurted out, suspicious.

"We're just glad you finally understood your feelings." Sabo explained, and his orange waved as if in excitement.

Luffy nodded, close to bouncing in his place on the bed. "And we can to help you!"

"What...?" Ace repeated, looking at them in disbelief.

Another look was exchanged before Sabo crossed his arms and Luffy latched onto Ace's. "We have a plan! We're going to help you get Marco."