"Drink, Ashton. Don't make me get Oyaji involved again." A glass of very viscous blood was thrust under his nose and Ace pushed it away.

"No offense, but I'm not drinking your rank ass blood, Marco." He said, glaring with no heat at a luminous pair of blue eyes.

"You back with us, pup?" Well, that was never a good sign. His face must have given something away because Marco was grinning at him with all the indulgence of an older sibling for all that the man was technically one of his makers. "To answer the question you don't want to ask, just for two days. And no, you didn't hurt anyone." Marco said, pressing the glass into Ace's hand.

Pouting, he looked over at Thatch who was standing in the doorway. The man just grinned back, all teeth. "I've told you before that you need to take better care of yourself, pup. How long has it been since your last feeding? And I'm not talking about that cold pigs blood crap you chug down."

"Not that long! Maybe a few weeks…. Two months, tops." The younger vampire muttered, drinking the fresh blood mixed with that of his maker. It tasted nasty, but it was the surest way to get them to stop hovering.

"Well," Thatch sighed, "That's better at least."

"Ashton," Marco said, poking him between the eyes. Ace hated that name and the other knew it. "You're very lucky your…. Friend…." Marco's face twitched at that, "was there with his brother."

Ace bit his lip, slightly worried. Marco and Thatch were really progressive for older vampires for the most part. Except for the whole 'being friends with humans' thing. Not that he blamed them…. They'd been alive through the Crusades and had lost family to those they'd thought were their friends. So as far as they were concerned, humans fell into three categories, sheep - humans that were basically ignored, lambs - blood donors who were usually related to the family in some way, and hopefuls - those that they were considering changing. They didn't understand how Ace could be friends with a human and not want to change him, or feed off him.

"Shit, Luffy was there? I bet I made a wonderful first impression."

"Well, apparently he thought you were a perverted burglar at first." Thatch laughed, "Cute kid, brave. I can see why you like him."

"Actually, I've never even talked to him." Ace admitted easily, "But Sabo talks about him all the time."

"Ah yes. Sabo." Marco cut in, "He handled the situation admirably." That was high praise from Marco.

"I told you he was a great guy!" Ace grinned back, "I totally owe him an apology, though. Bet he freaked out…. Man, this is gonna be a bitch to explain…" Especially since as a vampire only a few centuries old he was bound by his maker's rules. Which meant he couldn't really tell Sabo anything beyond him being a vampire - and that had more been him confirming what Sabo had said in jest. Marco was watching him carefully, and after a moment he noticed Thatch was as well. "What? Did I have a bad episode while I was….er… out?"

"No, thank Oyaji for that." Thatch sighed. "But you're ordered to report to Oyaji once a week for your feeding." Well… that wasn't completely unexpected, even if it made him feeling like a fresh fledgling all over again. Marco was still looking at him, though.

"I-" Thatch coughed, "We- spoke to Oyaji. If your… Sabo…. wishes, Oyaji is willing to consider him as a hopeful."

Ace was touched. Really, it was an amazing offer, and if Sabo hadn't been one of his best friends he'd have jumped all over it. "Thanks, but… he'd never go for it. Not with his little brother to look after. It's just the two of them, and he'd never forgive me."

The other two nodded, understanding. Family always came first, and they would respect that. But the very offer did mean that Ace would be able to share more about his world.

Tomorrow night was gonna be fun.