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"Ace!" With a cry and hugs, a hurricane of rubber limbs pounced on the guy.
Ace snorted in exasperation, but didn't refuse the crushing hug. Luffy often jumped on him and hugged him out of the blue. Sometimes he had fits of incomprehensible tenderness and in addition to hugs, he also climbed with ridiculous kisses — but Luffy is... Luffy, and it was no longer a kiss (not counting the opinion of Monkey D.), but a short and quick lick on the cheek. Ace didn't exactly dislike it, but it was a little annoying.
He was never a tactile person. Why, before Luffy came into his life, he didn't even let anyone hug him — the exception was always a shitty old man, but try to argue with this old geezer, you'll get concentrated and painful fists of love.
Before Luffy appeared in his life, he didn't even show any affection for anyone — not even Sabo. Not that he's showing it so easily now, but... Ace hasn't admitted anything yet.
But Luffy was a tactile enough child who was desperate for action. And Sabo, unlike Ace, didn't mind. But that wasn't enough for Luffy. So Ace had to do something. He doesn't throw himself into a hug, but neither does he resist it. Luffy seems to have had enough of this.
"Poppy seed bun!" His younger brother laughs.
A little further away is his other brother, who Ace can see is struggling to contain his laughter.
"What?"
"Ace is a poppy seed bun!" Luffy says. But then he thinks about it, tilts his head to the side, and proclaims again, "But it's not a tasty, and Ace deserves to be a meat-poppy bun!"
"What?"
"Ace doesn't like it?" Luffy asks. "I heard from someone that those you love are called buns with fillings, and as Sabo said, Ace looks like a poppy, but a bun with a poppy is not as delicious as with meat — and Ace should be delicious, so Ace is a meat-poppy bun!"
Sabo doubled over. Tears welled up in his eyes and Ace was about to explode.
"I'm not sure what he means, but," his blond brother says, still laughing, "Luffy just said that he loves you very much".
"Yes!" The younger boy nods.
Ace blushed and turned away.
"What nonsense!" He says angrily, with a blush on his cheeks. "If I'm a meat-poppy b-, bun, then what's a Sabo bun?"
Sabo was quiet. Luffy thought about it. Ace grinned.
"I don't know..." said Luffy sadly. "Ace, what does Sabo look like?"
Ace's smile turned bloodthirsty.
"No, no, Ace, you won't be so cruel!" Sabo exclaimed. "I'm your br- best fr- just no, Ace!"
"Hmm," Portgas D. says thoughtfully, without changing his expression. "I'm not very good at cooking, but maybe... vanilla?"
He moans faintly.
"Oh, then-"
"Marzipan," Ace says a moment later.
"Huh?" Blinks clogs. "Marzipan?"
"Yosh!" Exclaims the rubber boy. "Marzipan meat bun!"
"Is it even edible?"
After a few minutes, he thinks weakly and asks a question. "What's Luffy's bun?"
Luffy bows his head. "Why should I be a bun?"
"But we also love you very much," Sabo replies. "And if Ace and I are buns, then you are also a bun, respectively." It remains only to decide which one.
"Exactly." Ace nods.
Sabo and Ace look at Luffy carefully. The boy in the strawhat is embarrassed by the attention, but does nothing. Luffy himself is interested to find out what kind of bun his brothers will attribute him to.
"Cinnamon?" Ace asks Sabo a few minutes later.
"Why cinnamon?"
"It looks like a cinnamon bun, doesn't it?"
"Yes." Sabo nods. "There you go, Luffy is a cinnamon bun."
"Yosh!"
"Hey, Sanji," Luffy calls to the cook.
"What?" Sanji asks.
"Can you make buns? With a poppy-meat and marzipan-meat buns?"
"I can cook everything!" Sanji is indignant.
How could his captain ever doubt his cooking skills?
"That's great!" Luffy nods. "These are my favorite buns. I love them very much.
"I'll make it," the cook nods. "But what is this strange combination?"
There is no answer, as his captain has rushed off somewhere on the deck. Sanji sighed wearily. He has a job.
When their small team was visited by Luffy's older brother, Sanji decided to ask why Luffy had such strange food preferences — specifically, buns. Because there are any other buns, except as their favorite, he refused.
Ace froze at the question, turned to Luffy, and asked a single question.
"You're not serious, are you?"
"What?"
"I mean the buns."
"Ah!" says Luffy. "Of course! These are my favorites!
Ace groans.
Sanji doesn't understand what the conversation is about, but it seems to have something to do with his captain's childhood. Sanji is curious and wants to know what's going on. He continues to watch.
"Luffy-"
"I really, really love Ace! And I really, really love Sabo, too!"
Ace lets out a very pained moan. It looks as if they have discussed this many times and each time the result is the same. And Portgas D. blushed? This is intriguing.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ace nods, but it's more like he's just waving it off. "Sanji," the pirate says to the blond man, "do you happen to have any cinnamon bun?"
Somewhere in the background, Sanji hears the ringing laughter of his captain.