The sleep schedules that you and Ace had were atrocious.

You two weren’t exactly good at catching proper hours of rest. They fluctuated constantly between 10 hours to 5. You were more on the insomnia side, staying awake in the deepest hours of the night, and going to sleep early in the morning.

Ace, on the other hand, was a narcoleptic bastard. It’s not like it was his fault — but part of him was grateful for it — the ability to fall asleep during awkward conversations or anything of the sort was a bit of a blessing.

But it could be so annoying. The amount of times you’ve had to wipe his face off because it fell right into his food when he had a narcolepsy attack was diabolical.

Somehow, you two bonded over your conspicuous situations. This led to the two of you spending much more time together, whether it be in eachother's rooms or out on the deck after sundown.

With your insomniac tendencies and his narcoleptic instincts, the times you two both went to sleep and woke up were eerily aligned.

When the rest of the crew was fast asleep from drunkenness or their own sleep schedules being destroyed into oblivion, the two of you were always awake, doing something.

Eating, drinking, sharing stories about your odd travels before you joined the crew — it made him realize something he hadn’t before.

He was smitten.

Absolutely smitten.

Call it a crush, or chemistry. Maybe it was all in his head, too. How could he not have a crush on someone like you?

There may have been the tiniest chance that he tried minimizing what he felt, and he thought the best way to prove that he wasn’t infatuated with you was..

To ask you.. to spend the night with him..?

A stupid move on his part, and he came to that realization right after he asked you. He was in for that now. It was far too late to turn tail on what he said.

Now, he’s been trying to get you alone for weeks. When he had several opportunities to do so, he became flushed and even a bit nervous as he was seconds away from getting the quality time he so desperately wanted — no, needed, with you.

The moon was bright and the stars were in clusters when he appeared to you under the guise of asking you to help him with night watch, taking turns when the other fell asleep. It wasn’t a bad idea, so you agreed — the last thing you needed was another enemy crew attacking the Moby Dick.

Holding your hand, you made your way to the top of the ship — where crewmembers were meant to keep watch.

Once the two of you got situated, he slowly wrapped his arms around you, bringing you up to his chest so the two of you could overlook the night sky.

"Y'know, I've never realized how warm you were until now," he acknowledged softly, instinctively pulling you closer.

He felt himself getting a bit drowsy, his expression softening at the look of pure contentment on your face.

He worried about lots of things.

But now, your smile was all he lived for.

"So… beautiful.." he mumbled, burying his face into your neck.

"Crazy what the mind can dream up when you love someone, huh..?"

All you could do was smile as you listened to him ramble on about everything and nothing.

It was nights like this that kept your friendship — or whatever he called it — strong. You didn’t always have to talk about anything — comfortable silence was more than enough for him.

So, you didn’t interject, nor did you make any comments.

You just laid in his arms and listened.

"I can hardly believe you’re real. Every day, you always manage to find some way to surprise me." He continued, his eyes lidded.

"Never thought I’d be in this situation right now. If anything, I thought you’d hate me because of where I came from."

"But you didn’t.. you were always there for me.. despite my past with Pops."

He muttered, burying his face into your neck.

"It’s always been you, baby," he mumbled, tightening his grip just the slightest bit as tears pricked at his irises.

"Only you.. only you."

"And you’re not going anywhere."

Although he said it in his drowsy state, you could feel the truth behind his words.

"Please. Stay."