[Ace wasn't going to ask about anything just yet, he was having too much fun with the dogs, but the moment that Smoker was serious about something his attention was pulled right to him. And Smoker all but owns his attention, word by word.] You're something else, you know that? You always make me think. [And he noticed that, the show of control, and he just holds the ball for a moment, rotating it in his hands before tossing it again.] I wanted my life to be free. I wanted to be free. And Pops? He made it feel like it was okay for me to have been born, even for a little bit. We were all his sons, children of the sea, and back there under his flag I didn't feel like I wasn't supposed to exist. And maybe, it's okay that I died, if I made people think too. If I shook shit up enough that change might actually happen someday.

[Then there's a cocky smile to make up for how shaken up he is.] Payback? Is that a promise? [Then he blinks.] How old are you now?