Birds of a Feather
CisFem Reader x Marco
CW: Violence, blood, language, adult themes and scenes. 18+ only
Summary: Life has not been kind to you. After a string of bad relationships, you're a little jaded and a little depressed in all honestly. The worst day of your life seems to be the turning point, but the roller coaster ride that follows could either throw you soaring free, or have you caged forever?
Tag List: @clumsyraccoon
Chapter 23: Talk it Out
“So, when’s the party going to start?”
“Five. My brothers prefer to party into the night, instead of starting in the afternoon like normal people.”
“Are you going to work beforehand?”
“Mm, probably, yoi.”
“Are you going to work on your actual birthday?
“… I’m suddenly afraid to say yes to that.”
“Even I take my birthday off work.”
“I don’t sleep overnight at the clinic.”
“…Touché.”
“Don’t worry, the staff won’t let me overwork that day, yoi.”
“Mm, this food’s almost as good as Sanji’s.”
“Yeah, Zeff doesn’t slouch, the recipes are solid even when he’s not actively preparing them, yoi. We should try and catch the Baratie when it’s nearby.”
“It doesn’t dock though.”
“Afraid of sailing?”
“Not… implicitly.”
“I’m sure we can ask Sanji to have Zeff come really close, yoi. Couple hours out at most.”
“I feel like I’m abusing my friendships doing that.”
“I bet Sanji won’t see it that way.”
“Humph, no, he wouldn’t.”
“… You have any questions? About earlier, yoi.”
“Yes, and no. He called you an old friend, do you see him that way too?”
“There’s no bad blood there. But we have different definitions of friend.”
“It’s just… This is going to sound weird no matter how I word it, but I don’t want to be nice to him if he hurt you, is all.”
“… Oh.”
“When you blush a little it’s hot, but I’ve never seen you so red…. You’re getting redder.”
“You’re killing me, yoi.”
“I… find I can’t honestly apologize.”
“Yeah, yeah. Ahem. Things just didn’t work out. I don’t think it was anyone’s fault, yoi. Shanks is… a lot, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s probably genuinely happy about all this.”
“About… us?”
“… Yeah.”
“…”
“…”
“It’s hard to talk about, and it shouldn’t be.”
“You’re not wrong, pretty bird.”
“Because it’s happening so fast, but who says you have to wait X days before you can do something, or say something, or whatever. I… I wanted to… I want to invite you to stay over.”
“I thought I was staying tonight?”
“No, yes, I mean, yes, but I meant like… bringing over a toothbrush, and… and work clothes, and you know, staying over.”
“That’s -.”
“Too soon, yeah, but I mean, it’s been on my mind and, I just needed to say it.”
“Pretty bird-.”
“If we could carpool at least, I just want to… um… see you more… Even if you can’t stay over, because maybe there’s reasons for you to go home to your brothers, and I don’t want you to think that you have to decide between them or me or anything like that. I understand if it’s too fast or too soon I won’t be upset, and -.”
“Mi cielo.”
“… Yes? That’s… that’s me, yes?”
“Yes, and I want to… stay over as well. I’ll bring over what I need, and… we’ll go from there.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s not… I mean, it is kind of fast, but, it’s not too much?”
“It’s not too much, yoi.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“You were quiet the rest of the ride back, what’s on your mind?”
“I… didn’t let Kid into my house for months. Not for coffee, not for… anything. Everyone else I dated was either just visiting, or… yeah. I just… I’d say I don’t know what to do with this, but I do, it’s just-.”
“Scary?”
“… Vulnerable.” You admit, sitting cross-legged on the couch.
“Same thing sometimes,” he says, sitting beside you and pulling your legs across his. Warm hands start to massage your calves and you can feel your bones melting already. “You don’t have to say it right now. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Where’d you learn to do this?” Your words are slurring a little as Marco’s fingers push and rub the muscles in your legs.
“When my family sailed a lot.” He explains, continuing his work. “Vitamin deficiency could happen even with the best planning, and you mix in strenuous work in the hot sun and all those factors lead up to muscle cramps. Especially in legs.”
“Family trait then?” You murmur.
“Little bit. I was, effectively, the ship’s doctor. I’d been apprenticing since I was a kid, and at ten I started learning medicine and techniques like this.”
“Then you became a vet-trim… veteran… puppy doctor?” You’re pretty sure your leg muscles are connected to your brain with the way he’s turning your entire being into mush.
“Glad to see I haven’t lost my touch, yoi.” He muses. “But yes, when we settled here, my generalized medical knowledge translated into Veterinary care easier. I bought the practice for someone getting ready to retire, and here I am.”
“Here you are.” You smile, flexing your toes and legs before moving them aside and slowly sitting up. Marco reaches out and helps you, teasing you about your melted bones even as you move - and he moves you - onto his lap.
A leg on either side of him, sitting on his thighs, eyes moving up his stomach to his chest. He’d spent most of the day in a t-shirt, having worn a heavy jacket when you’d gone out. His hands are loosely set on your hips, but he’s not moving as he watches you look at him.
“Here we are.” You say after a long moment, eyes shifting to his. You can see his eyes shifting a little, searching yours, trying to see what was behind the irises that he seemed to take every chance to lose himself in. Searching, but also waiting, wanting you to say what you wanted, when you wanted.
“I’ve… never felt toward someone what I feel toward you.” You admit, pressing your lips together and looking away a little. Despite your desire to continue, you still found yourself painfully shy on the matter. “I’ve felt connections with people, but not like this.”
“Never scary like this before.” He agrees.
“Yeah, never quite so strong.”
“Steals the breath from you before you can even breathe.”
Your lips are a whisper away from his. Your next words are quiet. Painfully quiet, but you know he’ll hear you - there’s nothing else but you and him.
“I have a devil fruit.”
“I know.”
“What if this is because of that?”
“It’s one and the same.”
“We’re… just vessels bringing them together?”
“Thousands of islands, miles of ocean, six seas, and here we are, yoi. Years on the same scrap of land, working in the same city. They aren’t that patient.” He insists. “How did I not see you all those times in his café?”
“I kept my head down.”
“You couldn’t have kept it down far enough.”
“M-Marco, haaa-nnngh!”
“From the moment you stepped into my clinic.”
“Ah, hahah, oh gods, but everything was going wrong that day!”
“I don’t think it could’ve gone better.”
“Yooooo-ur haaaaa-ands!”
“You don’t have to say it.”
“I know.”
“I already know, yoi.”
“I know.”
“I should’ve seen you sooner.”
“There’s years ahead of us.”
“One life isn’t long enough.”
“Yesteryears don’t matter.”
“I won’t focus on the what if’s, I promise.”
“I’m here now.”
“You are.”
“We are.”
“We are, mi cielo.”
“Marco.”
“…”
“I love you.”
16 notes
·
View notes