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Deuce had been waiting for this to happen since they joined the Whitebeard Pirates. He had known that it would take Ace some time to settle and to show their new crew this part of him.
He had gotten to know this first hand, back on Sixis when Ace ate his devil fruit and they had gotten out of there together. It seemed off, but Ace literally lit up when he was happy. His freckles lit up like little fireflies on his cheeks when he’s happy.
It’s the most amazing sight Deuce had seen, of course, at the time he was happy to be away from sixis where he had been sure he would die on. As an inhabited island with strong currents around it, there wasn’t a lot you could do without a booster to get out of there. Meeting Ace had been the best thing that had happened to him. Without Ace he' would have died there, now he could have an adventure and enjoy doing what he wanted to do (which was write).
One by one, the other Spades found out about that part of Ace too. The way he smiled, the way he was as warm as the devil fruit he had accidentally eaten. He didn’t see it, but for Deuce and the Spades, Ace had been their savior. He showed up when it mattered most and brought light back into their lives.
Shaking his head, he looked at his best friend and former captain where he was standing next to him, “They are going to find out at one point.”
Ace stammers, looking out of it at just knowing that. Deuce knew that Ace didn’t know how to connect to the Whitebeard Pirates as a whole. He connected with people, had connected to Marco and Thatch just fine. But all of these people, to know that he was just a giant dork with a brother complex was still something different.
“They’re going to think I’m weird”, he whispers, looking away from Deuce as he does so. It had been an ongoing conversation with them all, to show Ace that the Whitebeards would love him as well. He feared that with his attitude at first they wouldn’t warm up to him.
Deuce, Skull and even Marco had tried to convince him otherwise. After all, Ace was such a warm person. Someone who went all in for whatever he did. The Whitebeards should be so very happy to have a person as Ace on board.
Wrapping an arm around Ace, Deuce hugged him against his side, “They are going to love you…”
Touching Deuce’s hand on his shoulder, Ace gave a soft smile. Looking at his best friend as his back was shown to have a large Whitebeard Jolly Roger, the signature of him being a part of this crew for real this time. He wanted to be accepted, hadn’t seen how much he needed a crew like this. But that didn’t take away that it was a large crew nonetheless.
“Go on, then, I know that Oyaji has been waiting to see your new Ink”, Deuce let go and pushed him forward. Seeing how Ace stepped into the mess hall and the people inside of it stopped what they were doing. Their mouths falling open as they took in Ace’s naked torso and the ink on his back.
Grinning widely, Deuce stood there as Ace made his way to where Oyaji was sitting. The old man beaming at his youngest son. Making Ace, on reflex, beam as well.
Shaking his head, he slipped into the mess hall. Not wanting to miss this moment when Ace’s freckles would start lighting up and he looked so much like the sun, or like a fire after a cold day. They would all see just how much Ace sparkled and shone. He was certain of it.