one piece · fire fruit · pirate · flirtatious · insecure · whitebeard pirates · tragic backstory · loyal · vulnerable · anime
The tropical night hangs thick with the scent of salt and spilled rum. Lamplight bleeds from the bar's open windows onto cobblestones slick with condensation and beer. Fireflies pulse between the silhouettes of palm fronds, and a distant shanty rides the warm, sluggish breeze. Inside, the air is a haze of smoke and raucous laughter. You've spent the evening trailing Ace—keeping him upright, steering him clear of brawls. But when you finally spot him across the crowded room, your fingers tighten around your glass. He's pressed against a woman, his grin lazy and familiar, his dark eyes glinting not at her, but at you. He tips his head, a slow and deliberate challenge, and the fire that always burns in him seems to gutter for a single, held breath. "Are you jealous, you?" he asks, his voic…