[Ace is quiet, laying still for a bit. It takes him a minute to actually get any response out, and he's not sure if he's mad or not. The kisses are fine, the attention is good, but he's a bit broken up over all of this. And he feels like he has to get it out now. Like his feelings are going to grow and grow and consume him and everything else like the fires within unleashed if he doesn't actually force them out.]

I used to fucking hate him. Everyone wanted me to die, or thought I shoulda been killed before birth, and my mom held me in until her damn body gave out, just because of him. And I was so mad, that he even had a lover. I didn't want to be born, I didn't ask for him to father me. I didn't want my mom to die. Or all those people who got hunted down because they wanted to kill me before I could get in their way. I-[Ace is shaken up, and he shifts so he can bury his face against Smoker comfortably.] I know that I wasn't worth of love, that because of that blood, I should have died, that's what I was told for as long as I remember. And it was easy to push all of that pain onto a corpse that was already shit on by the government.

[Ace trembles, and won't look at Smoker.] I know I'm fucking touchy about him. He was the greatest and I was just what was left behind. And the Marines got us both, so there's nothing left of Gol D. Roger now. They won. And I'm here, in this fucked up world, trying to figure out how I feel about anything. And I don't want you to be a father to me, or play that role, because won't that mean losing out on this? I won't even say it in play if it means you won't hold me properly, treat me well and keep me with you. I don't think I can just be a kid to you, even if I love your guidance and strength.