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Ace had just joined their crew and that meant that Thatch was going to confront the fire man. Why you may ask. Well, Thatch had given himself the task to know everybody's favorite food and now that the fire brat had officially joined, he was going to find out his favorite food even if it killed him.
The kid had refused to join the Whitebeards for 3 months, so Thatch was expecting the fire user to put up some kind of fight. When he saw Ace he practically jumped him. Ace who had no idea what was going on just listened to Thatch speech about his cooking and how important food is. About ten minutes in his speech Ace had stopped listening. 20 minutes later Thatch stopped. That brought Ace's attention back.
"So in short?" You could hear Thatch being hit by lightning. "What do you mean in short! Weren't you listening!" Thatch pouted. "Well, I just want to know your favorite food."
"My favorite food?" It was silent for a moment. "Uh, I've never thought about it. I like everything." That wasn't what Thatch meant. He knew Ace would try to deflect or avoid his question. Haha, he wouldn't give up now.
"Yeah, but what is the dish that you enjoy the most." Ace was looking puzzled "Meat?"
"What kind of meat?"
"I don't know, all kinds of meat?"
"Seaking meat?"
"I don't know."
"Cow meat?"
"I said I don't know."
"How about sheep meat?"
"I really don't know!" Ace was getting annoyed by Thatch persistence. What part of 'I don't know' didn't he get.
"So you really don't know?" Ace nodded. "Just you wait. I will figure it out. Don't worry. Big brother Thatch will fix your huge dilemma." Thatch walked out the door. Going through more effort to make it as dramatic as possible.
Over the course of the next few days Thatch had made various dishes with all kinds of meat in it for Ace. Sadly, the fireman didn't think any of those better than the others. So Thatch had made more and more, determined not to give up. When he had heard that Ace was from the east-blue he made more dishes from there. Maybe the taste of his home place would do the trick, but no. No dish was good enough for Ace.
Weeks went by and still nothing. He had made every meat dish he could think of. Maybe Ace really didn't have a particular favorite. Thatch hit his cheeks. No, he couldn't just give up.
It had taken him months of asking for Thatch to figure out Marco's favorite food. He should have seen it coming, it was fucking pineapple. Even though Marco disliked being called that, it was his favorite food. Izo liked Ganmodoki and Jozu flying fish Chazuke and he could go on and on. Maybe Ace was like pops, who likes everything with sake in it, but for Ace meat instead of sake.
Thatch had one last dish in mind. It was a very spicy dish out of the East-Blue. It had a rare ingredient in it, the Bhut Jolokia Pepperoncino, also known as the ghost pepper. It was the hottest pepper in all the seas. Thatch was planning on adding just a little bit, because well, they didn't need a fireman whose mouth was on fire.
He was so focused on the dish that he didn't notice Ace walking in. Ace just wanted to let Thatch know that he should stop putting so much effort in finding his favorite food. He saw that Thatch was busy and didn't want to disturb him. He quietly walked around for a bit before something caught his eye. It was long and red and looked tasty. He had never seen it before. So Ace being Ace grabbed it and put it in his mouth.
Thatch who had just turned around to grab the 'long, red and tasty' thing had yelled a 'wait don't eat that Ace!' But it was too late. The fireman was already chewing on it. Thatch had immediately abandoned his dish in search for some milk. He came back seconds later with some and practically shoved the milk box down Ace's throat.
After Ace had recovered from the milk attack, he threw a sour gaze at Thatch. "What was that for?"
"Are you an idiot! That was a Bhut Jolokia Pepperoncino. It's the hottest spice out there! Are u insane! You can't eat that!"
"Really? It wasn't that hot."
"That is because I neutralized most of it with milk."
"Well, you ruined it." Ace ate another one and before Thatch could stop him. Thatch looked at him with a gaping mouth. Had the idiot not heard what he had said? Ace chewed on it and then swallowed. Ace had the most satisfied face Thatch had ever seen. He was practically beaming with joy. "Thatch do you have more of those Bullet Jolomaniac Peperinco's or something? Those things are amazing! Have you ever tasted it? "Ace found another one laying around and immediately ate it. "Fuck this is much better than meat! Thatch! How did I not know this existed?! This Peperinco is the best food I've ever tasted!" Ace grinned and searched the kitchen for more.
Thatch, poor Thatch was done with everything. Fucking D's. This wasn't normal. He watched as Ace ate another one like it wasn't the hottest pepper in all the seas. It hurt him stomach just looking at him eating that. No, nope, he was out of here. Thatch couldn't even handle a little bit of the Pepperoncino and Ace just downed it like it was nothing. He said it was it was the best food he had ever tasted. "The dish on the counter has the Pepperoncino in it. You should try it." Thatch felt himself getting sick. "Let me let you eat in peace." And he walked out.
He blamed the stupid D in Ace's name for this. Only D's could be so crazy to have a Bhut Jolokia Pepperoncino as their favorite food. He should consider himself lucky that Teach wasn't so bat shit crazy.