Work Text:
Whitebeard grew up with little money, but the one thing others tried to implement in him was the importance of taking care of their limited items. Books, though they had very few of them, were fragile and got messed up easily. Thus, they had to keep them separated from messy things, which included food, since food was eaten messily and the sauces and grease were bad for the pages of the books.
But as he sat in his chair on the deck, watching one of his quieter son’s sit and read next to his sleeping youngest with Kotatsu curled around them, he couldn’t help, but disagree with his childhood teachings.
Deuce, who was an avid book lover and writer, would be represented by the book in this case of the word due to his pale and slightly gentle features, mixed with his calm thinking, preference to stay out of trouble and level headed demeanor, while Ace on the other hand was food messy as he was, causing trouble everywhere he went, his brash and loud personality and his penchant for chaos following his every step.
But from the view of an outsider and a father, the only thing Whitebeard saw was two different forces of nature, working together in small ways and living in harmony, loving each other unconditionally.
Ace fought with everything his heart, if a bit recklessly, while Deuce covered his back and made sure he was always as safe as he could be in the heat of battle. Deuce needed help opening up, Ace parted the way with gentle kisses and words of encouragement. Ace didn’t know how to talk about his demons, Deuce made sure to always support him and make sure he knew he was loved. Deuce got lost in his head, a book or his writing and Ace would always appear with a plate of food, a smile and a gentle knock to the head.
Fragile books with messy food. His quiet, but firm, son and his brash, yet sweet, youngest. Whitebeard was an outsider and a father who knew.
The two needed each other and even fragile books could exist around messy, chaotic food.