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The first time he sees oranges after leaving Sixis—the fruit, not the color, he’s going to be seeing the color every day for the rest of his life thanks to Ace’s hat—he actually does freeze in the street briefly. Ace continues on, head swiveling back and forth to look at all the market stalls and products on display, but Deuce stares at the pile of oranges, intermingled with other citrus, perfectly innocent as their vendor sells a small bag to a pair of children who happily skip away with their prize.
It’s so obvious now, how different oranges are to the Devil Fruit Ace had found on Sixis, and Deuce would feel silly about it, except hunger and exhaustion and the sheer emotion of his confrontation with Ace on the island had overcome him to the point that he had mistaken the Flame-Flame Fruit with a simple orange and devoured his half unthinkingly. Silly now, in hindsight, even if he logically knows it was understandable.
Ace moves from stall to stall quickly, and before he even realizes it his captain is talking to the fruit vendor, nodding cheerfully and chatting amicably before handing over a coin and receiving a pair of oranges in return, shaking his head at the offering of lemons or grapefruit in addition. Ace looks up once the fruits are secured, catches sight of Deuce right where he’s been the last few minutes, and grins brightly, despite the glint of recognition, understanding in his eyes.
Something in Deuce’s chest warms, a sensation quickly becoming commonplace the longer he walks alongside his new captain, and he shakes off the strange spell that’s befallen him and hurries to rejoin Ace, catching the orange that’s tossed to him and setting to peeling as Ace starts to theorize about their next destination.