Happy (belated) birthday, Imperialmint :D This is my first scifi story, and I enjoyed writing it more than I anticipated :) Unfortunately, it also grew out of proportions, which is why I decided to split it up.
Beta'ed by the wonderful Lunarshores. She also suggested the title.
"Today's your lucky day, kid," the guard grouched as he opened Ace's cell. "Someone bailed you out."
Ace looked up in surprise. He had expected to be here for several months at least, as he didn't have any money himself, nor did he have any family who could help him. Who would want to bail him out? He doubted it would be his brothers since he hadn't told them he was here. He didn't want them to know how pathetic he was by himself. He was their big brother, but somehow they had succeeded where he hadn't. Hence why he was in jail.
The guard just shrugged. "Just be grateful to them. And I better not see you back here, you hear?"
Ace smirked as he passed him. The guard, Smoker, would never admit it, but he was fond of Ace. It wasn't the first time Ace was here. He was a thief, a petty thief, but still. The universe was a big place to hide, but that didn't stop the cops from doing their jobs. Ace had been caught gambling with his stolen money, trying to make more.
Despite the size of the universe, Ace hadn't been able to land a job, so stealing was the only option to survive. It had started with some food here or there, but later it became more and more money. Yet piracy didn't seem his calling either.
Ace wondered who had helped him, and, more importantly, why.
Smoker walked with him to the entrance, where a man was standing. His brownish red hair was worked into a pompadour and he had a scar around his left eye. "Good to see you," he said cheerfully as if they were old acquaintances. "I'm Thatch, nice to meet ya." He held out his hand.
"Ace," Ace said and took the offered hand a little warily. He had no idea who this man was.
"I see you're confused. No one explained? I'm working for a man named Edward Newgate. Have you heard of him?" Thatch asked.
Ace shrugged. "I think so."
"Well, he is responsible for preserving many animal species after the Earth exploded, now over two decades ago," Thatch explained. He studied Ace's face. "I take it you were born after that?"
Ace nodded. He was born in the first generation of non-Earthling humans. He had heard a lot about this 'Earth', how people had inhabited it and called it home for millions of years, but long before the Earth exploded, they had started branching out to other planets. The time the planet would be destroyed had been calculated to the day by scientists, and all of human kind was evacuated safely. People had been less concerned about the animals, but one man had made it all possible. He had picked out planets that had a similar environment as where the animals lived on Earth and brought them there.
"So what's he got to do with me?" Ace asked.
"Well, Pops… I mean, Mr Newgate has a special programme for people like you," Thatch continued cheerfully.
"Like me?"
"You know." Thatch coughed. "Delinquents. Call it rehabilitation, if you will."
Ace scowled at him. "Are you one?"
"I was," Thatch admitted, smiling sheepishly.
"What do I have to do then?"
"Well, the animals Mr Newgate rescued are scattered around different planets with circumstances like the ones on Earth. However, these animals have to be protected, fed, observed, etcetera. For these purposes, Mr Newgate needs employees. Me, I'm overseeing a sea-planet, which is kinda cool. You know, fish 'n' stuff. "
"So, your job is watching these 'fish'," Ace said slowly.
Thatch laughed good-naturedly. "In a matter of speaking, yes. Me and my partner make sure they're fed if necessary, and we give tours to tourists. We'd prefer not to, of course, to leave the animals undisturbed, but we need the money. And it's a good way to educate people."
"I know nothing of animals. Especially not Earth ones. I was born after that planet was destroyed, remember?" Ace said. "So why me?"
Thatch shrugged. "I'm just the messenger."
"What if I refuse?"
"Then you should get used to sitting in a cell all day. Look, kid, I'm giving you an out here. Take it or leave it," Thatch said.
"Anxious to get back to your fish?" Ace said teasingly.
"You know, we have mammals too. And that's not what I'm anxious to get to," Thatch said a bit snappishly. "Are you coming or what?"
Ace looked from Thatch and his awaiting spaceship to Smoker, who was still standing there, smoking two cigars at ones. "And this is really okay?"
"According to my orders, yes. Just sign this." Smoker showed a hologram contract.
Ace read it through, but honestly, how bad could it be? Either he watched some animals for a bit, or he managed to escape and he was free. Either way, the prospect was more appealing than sitting in his cell for who knows how many more months.
Ace quickly signed the form and handed it back to Smoker.
"Congratulations," Smoker looked at Thatch, "he's your problem now."
Thatch grinned. "We can handle him."
"Oi!" Ace said indignantly. "I'm right here." Still, he followed Thatch into the spaceship.
"So, which planet will I watch then?" Ace asked as he strapped his seatbelt on.
Thatch had taken a seat in front of the steering wheel and was making ready for lift off. "I'm not sure. Pops… er, Mr Newgate will tell you that."
"Why do you keep calling him Pops?" Ace asked.
Thatch smiled. "He calls us his children. The whole organisation, it's one big family."
Ace hummed. A family sounded nice. He just wondered how much he would fit in.
The trip took three days, and three days aboard a ship with just Thatch was very long, Ace came to realise. It wasn't that Thatch wasn't nice, because he was, or because he wasn't a good cook, because he was, or because he sang off-key, because he didn't. It was just… well, a lot of Thatch.
Plus, Ace didn't have that much stuff, just the things he had had before he went to jail – minus the money, of course – so he was generally bored out of his mind. The Earth-game of "I spy" Thatch had taught him was not that much fun in space, seeing it was mostly black around them. Watching a movie or reading wasn't an option either, because Thatch liked to chat and so talked through the whole movie.
Finally, they arrived on the planet where this Edward Newgate lived. The fact that the man owned a private planet was impressive enough, but the building on it was huge, not to mention the gardens.
Thatch showed him in a bit proudly and led him through the mansion. Ace stared his eyes out at the paintings on the walls and the other artwork scattered around the hallways.
An odd looking creature came running their way and greeted Thatch enthusiastically – by licking his face. Ace searched his mind to find a name for the creature. He had learned about some Earth animals in school, but there were so many, he had lost track of them. Besides, there were many non-Earth creatures to remember.
The animal was white with a pointed snout, wagging its tail as he jumped on Ace to greet him. Earth animals were strange.
"Stefan! Down, boy!"
The tongue stopped licking Ace's face, which he was grateful for, and the animal – Stefan, apparently – sat down, looking up at Ace and still wagging its tail.
"He likes you," Thatch said with a smirk.
Ace wiped the drool off his face. "I noticed." Though, truth be told, some races had weirder ways of greeting.
"This is Stefan," Thatch introduced them, "Pops' dog."
Dog, huh? That did sound familiar. Those were supposed to be quite popular on Earth, being held as pets – though Ace vaguely remembered that some cultures also ate them. He knelt down next to Stefan, who was quite a big dog, and scratched him behind the ears. This was the first Earth animal he had seen in real life, and he had to admit, he enjoyed it. If all Earth animals were like this dog, Ace was going to be okay.
"Come, let's find Pops," Thatch said and beckoned him along. Stefan followed in their footsteps.
They arrived in a large study, where an equally large man was hunched over a desk.
"Pops?" Thatch asked, and the man turned around.
Ace was amazed. He had never seen a human this large. Perhaps he had some alien blood in his veins.
Edward Newgate turned around with his desk chair and looked down at Ace with warm eyes that he hadn't expected.
Thatch slapped on his shoulder. "Pops, this is Ace. Ace, meet Edward Newgate, aka Pops."
Ace took the extended massive hand and winced at the thought that Mr Newgate could crush his hand without breaking a sweat. Still, with manners beaten into him in his childhood, he bowed slightly.
"Thank you for giving me a second chance."
A booming laugh filled the room. "That's quite alright, son."
Ace blinked at the word son. It made him feel… weirdly accepted.
"Have a seat, son." Mr Newgate pointed at a chair.
Ace did as he was told, and Thatch sat down as well.
"Well, boy, has Thatch explained what we do a bit?" Mr Newgate asked.
Ace looked at Thatch. "You take care of Earth animals, right?"
Mr Newgate nodded. "Indeed. As soon as we found out the Earth would be destroyed, we started planning out the evacuation of animals. The Earth was one of the planets with the most diversity on it. There were so many species with each their own need, so it took a long time to find environments that were fitting, or, if we couldn't find any, adapt the conditions of an uninhabited planet."
Ace nodded to show that he understood.
Mr Newgate smiled. "It is worth the hassle, however. We have managed to save many species – not all of them, unfortunately, but we've done our best. However, these animals need to be taken care of, fed, etcetera. That's why I need you."
"Yeah, Thatch explained as much. I don't know much about Earth animals, though," Ace said with a frown.
"He didn't even know Stefan was a dog," Thatch said, snickering, and petted Stefan's belly. "He looked like he was attacked by a Globorg or something."
"It was the first time I saw a real one," Ace snapped. "And besides, the Earth criteria of 'dog' is ridiculous! I've seen pictures and some are huge while others could fit in my hand. So excuse me for not recognising this one."
Mr Newgate smiled. "I see you know quite a bit after all."
Ace flushed. "J-just what I learned in school."
"So who do you wanna place him with? I think the dogs have enough caretakers," Thatch said to Mr Newgate.
He hummed. "No, I had something else in mind. Tell me, Ace, what do you know about birds?"
"Birds?" Ace repeated. He thought for a moment. "I think they come in a lot of sizes as well."
Mr Newgate nodded again and rose from his chair, looking even more giant than before. He walked to a corner and pulled a cloth from something. It turned out to be a cage, with several small creatures inside. They started chirp right away.
"These birds are called parakeets," Mr Newgate said. He pointed to them and named their species.
Ace tried to remember, but failed.
Mr Newgate put a hand into the cage. One of the birds hipped on his enormous finger, and he took it out of the cage so Ace could see it up close. It was tiny, especially in comparison to Mr Newgate, but really pretty, with coloured skin, or feathers, as they were called.
"Do you want to hold him?" Mr Newgate asked.
Ace looked at the bird for a moment and then nodded.
"Hold out your hand."
Ace did as he was told, mimicking the form of Mr Newgate's hand. The parakeet hipped on his finger. Ace looked at the tiny creature in awe. It looked so much better than on the holograms he had seen. This animal was warm, and alive. A hologram couldn't do that.
"Raise your hand," Mr Newgate said.
Confused, Ace did as he was told and held his hand on which the bird was sitting in the air. The parakeet pushed off his hand and started flying across the room.
Ace followed the bird with his eyes, completely mesmerised. The only things he had seen flying were spaceships and cars. This was something else entirely.
"Birds were one of the few creatures on Earth that could fly," Mr Newgate explained. "Not counting insects, of course, that's another department entirely."
"I'm sure Haruta would love to tell you about them, though," Thatch said snickering. "And put them down your shirt."
Mr Newgate laughed as well. "Well, what do you say, Ace?" he asked as he held out his hand again and the parakeet landed on it again. "Would you like to be in charge of birds?"
"I would be in charge of all birds?" Ace asked breathless.
"Well, not all of them," Mr Newgate said. "Not all birds have the same needs. But you'll be in charge of tropical ones."
"Wait a second, Pops! You're not considering putting him with Marco, are you?" Thatch asked. "I don't think Marco would appreciate an assistant. You know how he is."
"A companion will do Marco some good," Mr Newgate said, with an air of finality in his voice.
Thatch seemed like he was about to protest, but closed his mouth again.
"Now," Mr Newgate said, "Thatch, if you will give Ace a tour through the museum? Tomorrow morning we'll discuss all you'll need to know about the planet and its inhabitants," Ace had the feeling he wasn't just speaking of the birds, "before Thatch drops you off. Agreed?"
Thatch nodded and Ace didn't see a reason to oppose. He just had one question. "Where do I sleep?"
Mr Newgate smiled. "Take your pick. There are enough empty rooms here. Now I'll bid you both good night."
Ace said goodnight as well and then followed Thatch through the mansion. When Mr Newgate had spoken of a museum, Ace hadn't expected there to be an actual museum on the premises. They left the house and walked through a beautiful garden. A sweet smell hung in the air. Ace didn't recognised most of the plants, but he supposed they were Earth plants.
They also met several other animals. Ace saw an actual cat, rabbits, chickens, pigs, horses and several other 'domesticated' animals from Earth. He was fascinated by them and wondered why his school had never taken him here. If they had, he would have paid more attention in class.
He was now more grateful than ever that Mr Newgate had given him this opportunity.
The museum contained many animals, though, unfortunately, these were all dead and stuffed. Thatch started his tour with animals that had been dead for millions of years, which he called dinosaurs. Of these beasts, only bones were left, but there were many reconstructions and movies to inform and entertain. They moved on to land mammals, insects and reptiles. There was even a butterfly house so Ace could see living butterflies for the first time.
Thatch explained that their usual tour guide had already gone home, and this Whitey Bay could supposedly tell him much more than Thatch could. Thatch knew a bit about everything, but it wasn't until they arrived at the section about sea creatures that Thatch could spout his knowledge.
Ace was a little surprised to find out how much Thatch actually knew about the sea animals. Apparently, there weren't only 'fish', but mammals as well. Ace was fascinated by a creature Thatch called a narwhal, which had a twisted horn on its snout. Thatch also showed him other animals, like crabs, lobsters and shrimp. The Earth oceans had contained the weirdest, ugliest, and most beautiful creatures, and Ace was almost jealous that he couldn't take care of these animals instead.
That was, until Thatch took him to the bird room. Ace stared his eyes out at the many kinds of birds there were.
"Yeah, Earth had like ten thousand species of birds, so of course we don't have them all, but this should give you an idea." He pointed out some different kinds, passerines, birds of prey, and more. Ace was utterly fascinated by all of them. It didn't matter if it was a duck, a parrot or a hawk, Ace loved them all. He ran from one end to the room and back every time he discovered another kind he hadn't seen before.
Thatch was amused by his behaviour, but eventually he started to yawn. "It's good to see you so interested, but I wanna go to bed."
Ace looked disappointed.
Thatch chuckled. "Feel free to run around all night in here. There are enough movies to entertain you, I'm sure. If you get tired, behind the door over there is an office you can sleep in." He pointed to a door in the corner. "Just make sure you come to the mansion for breakfast. Pops still has a thing or two he needs to explain to you."
Ace woke up in an awkward position surrounded by dead birds, which wasn't as disturbing as he would have imagined. He had fallen asleep during a film about penguins – which were just about the funniest birds Ace had seen.
A soft chuckle made him look up. On the other side of the hall, a woman was standing. Hastily, Ace scrambled to his feet and wiped the drool off his face as he smiled sheepishly at her. "Hi! Thatch said it was okay if I stayed here, so…"
She chuckled again. "I know, he called me to say I might find you sprawled out on the floor. Did you enjoy the films?"
"I did." Ace grinned broadly. "I'm Ace, by the way."
"Whitey Bay. I'm curator and guide here. So, Ace, do you have any questions?" she asked.
"Nothing but questions!"
She laughed. "You can ask me a few while I'll bring you to the mansion. Pops wouldn't want you to be late."
"Can I borrow some of the movies?" Ace asked.
"Normally, I would refer you to the gift shop, but I'm sure Pops will arrange something for you. Shall we go?" She turned to leave.
Ace hastened to follow her, feeling slightly bad about the mess he left. At a certain point he had started putting the stuffed animals together to compare them and he hadn't gotten round to putting them back in their original place. Well, Whitey didn't comment on it, so neither would he.
Instead, he asked nineteen to the dozen about birds, animals in general and the museum until they had reached the mansion. Whitey answered all his questions patiently, but she didn't go inside with him and instead turned back to the museum.
The moment Ace set foot in the mansion, he was almost tackled by Stefan. Ace grinned and petted his head. "Hi there. Can you show me where I need to go?" He had no idea where the dining room was – he just assumed there was one in a house this big.
Stefan just tilted his head a little, and Ace sighed. "Yeah, it was a long shot."
Fortunately for him, Thatch came picking him up, wishing him good morning.
"Morning," Ace said sheepishly.
"Did you enjoy yourself?" Thatch asked with a teasing undertone in his voice.
"I really did. Did you know that some penguins mate for life and that the male hatches the egg?" Ace babbled on about birds until they reached the dining room. Ace sighed in relief when he recognised the foods on the table and not weird Earth food – though, he would have eaten it either way, he was hardly picky when it came to food.
Mr Newgate was reading the holographic paper when Ace and Thatch entered, and put it down as soon as he saw them.
"Good morning," he greeted friendly. "I hope you're hungry."
"I'm starving!" Ace said and stared to stuff his mouth with things he liked.
Thatch stared at him slightly disgustedly, but Ace was used to those looks. Mr Newgate just seemed amused.
When Ace was piling up his third plate, a music sounded and Thatch reached into his pocket. "It's Izo. I'll be right back." He answered the hologram call, and a pretty face came into view.
"Good morning, darling," the hologram said. He grinned as he noticed Mr Newgate. "And Pops. My, what have we here?" Izo continued when he discovered Ace.
Ace halted his fork before it had reached his mouth.
"That's Ace. Freshly out of prison," Thatch grinned.
"That explains the appetite."
"Oi, are you implying I didn't feed him properly on our way here?" Thatch said indignantly to the hologram of Izo.
"Of course not, love. I was only kidding. When are you coming back?"
"As soon as I've dropped Ace off, and I'm planning on leaving right after breakfast." Chattering, Thatch left the room along with Izo's hologram.
"Mr Newgate, Izo's from the sea planet too?" Ace asked as he continued his breakfast.
Mr Newgate smiled warmly. "He is. And please, call me Pops. Now, Thatch seems eager to leave, so let's get to business, shall we?" He leaned back in his chair.
"Sure," Ace said with his mouth full, and continued eating.
"There are a few things you need to know about the planet you're going to," Mr Newgate continued. "The climate there is similar to the tropical rainforest on Earth – I take it you have heard of that?"
Ace nodded.
"Good. It is warm and damp, perfect for several types of tropical birds. However, the planet was not uninhabited when we discovered it. On the ground, dangerous creatures dwell. We chose not to kill them, because that would defeat the purpose of saving animals, don't you agree?"
Ace shrugged.
"Because of this, we couldn't place there any tropical animals who live on the ground, those have received other accommodation. For the birds, however, it was a good place to stay."
"But wait," Ace interrupted, "if you can't live on the ground, where will I live?"
Mr Newgate smiled. "We have built platforms high above the ground, so you'll be actually near the birds. We needed to place it so high up because of a certain giant wormlike creature, which jumps high in the air to catch prey and devours it with razor sharp teeth."
Ace gulped and became pale.
"The planet is a dangerous place, so I need to know if you're up for that. You will be safe as long as you stay on the platforms, and listen to Marco's instructions," Mr Newgate finished his talk.
Ace nodded slowly. "So… there is a chance I'll get eaten?"
Mr Newgate hummed.
A smirk spread across Ace's face. "Bring it on."
Thatch made ready for take-off, as Ace was hopping up and down in his chair, barely able to conceal his excitement. This was not what he had been expecting to happen when he was thrown in jail for petty theft, but he wasn't complaining.
Okay, so the prospect of being eaten didn't appeal to him as such, but the adventure did. Plus, he would practically be living between tropical birds.
There was one thing that was bothering him, though.
"Hey Thatch," Ace asked as they flew through space, "this Marco guy, what's he like?"
Thatch remained silent for a moment.
"You seemed to worry he might not like me," Ace added.
Thatch sighed. "Yeah… He needs some time to warm up to people. Try not to judge him right away. He has had a hard life and prefers on being alone."
"Sounds like he's one party animal," Ace muttered, crossing his arms before his chest. "Can't I come with you?"
"Do you want to take care of birds or not?"
"Well, yeah," Ace whined. He liked the sea creatures Thatch had shown him as well, but there was something about birds…
"Then you'll have to put up with Marco. Don't worry, he keeps to himself a lot. Oh, look, we're here." Thatch moved the spaceship so it could land.
They soon lowered into the atmosphere of the planet. It was hot outside, and the temperature in the space ship immediately rose.
"Sorry about that. I hope you're good with the heat. We said the climate was similar to the tropical rain forest, but…" Thatch said and wiped his brow. "Well, you might have underestimated it."
Ace shrugged. "Heat never bothered me." He pressed himself up against the windshield of the spaceship as he saw the crowns of the trees nearing. Soon, he could hear different sounds in the air, varying from chirping to screeching. While Ace was fascinated when he caught a colourful glimpse between the leaves, the sounds almost hurt his ears.
Thatch grinned at him, and continued to lower the ship.
Suddenly, they moved through some sort of bubble and the sounds vanished. The temperature also went down.
Confused, Ace rubbed at his ears. "Have I gone deaf?"
Thatch chuckled. "Nah. You can imagine one can't sleep with all that sound, right? That's why we built this shield – the bubble you see. To keep the sound out. Plus, it also keeps the bird poo out, which saves a lot of cleaning. The bubble cleans itself, and it regulates the temperature."
"You don't have robots here?" Ace asked confusedly. On almost every planet it was common to have robots to do the dirty work.
Thatch shook his head. "For some reason, large electronics stop working after being here for a longer time. Also goes for ships, which is why I can't stay too long."
Thatch led the way out of the space ship. As Ace climbed down the small ladder, he looked around him. Through the bubble, he could still see hundreds of birds flying around, but he couldn't hear them anymore.
The space ship had landed on a platform. Behind them, a path was made out of wood, which lead to a reasonably sized house, also made from wood. Earth wood, Ace imagined, as it had a strange, brownish colour.
Ace ran towards the edge of the platform, which was contained in the bubble, as was the house, and pressed his nose up against it to admire the birds. He heard footsteps approach, and assumed it was Thatch, until he heard Thatch cheerfully say, "Hey, brother."
Ace turned around and saw that a man had approached them. He was tall, with blond hair and a relaxed posture. He was obviously older than Ace, but by how much, Ace couldn't say.
So this should be the infamous Marco.
"What are you doing here?" Marco asked Thatch, who grinned.
"I'm bringing your new assistant." He gestured towards Ace.
Ace put up his politest smile and stepped in their direction. "Hi, I'm Ace."
Marco gave him a once over and then turned to Thatch. "I don't need an assistant. You can use him yourself."
"Pops insisted I brought him here," Thatch protested.
"I have no use for him. I manage fine on my own, Pops knows that too."
"Well, then you take it up with him, because my orders were clear." Thatch crossed his arms before his chest. "I'm not taking him with me."
Ace had been looking from one to the other, but the way they talked about him started to irk him. "Oi, I'm right here!"
Marco shot him an unimpressed look, but then sight. "Look, kid, I'm sure you're rather here than doing community service, but you're not needed."
"Who are you calling a kid, old man," Ace spat back. He was getting annoyed. Thatch had told him Marco was difficult, but he hadn't expected to be refused without even giving him a chance.
Marco looked at Thatch. "He is not staying here."
"Why don't you let him decide?" Thatch turned to Ace. "Do you want to stay here with Grumpy McGrumperson?"
Ace looked at Marco. "No," he said.
Marco looked at Thatch triumphantly.
"But I wanna stay with the birds." Ace looked over his shoulder longingly.
Thatch stuck out his tongue to Marco. "That's settled then. I'm off to see Izo. Don't worry, I'll send him your regards. And you get Pops', of course, Marco. Along with a present." Grinning, Thatch climbed into his space ship and waved.
Ace waved back, but Marco called after him.
"You can't leave him here with me!"
"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Just don't forget to feed him!" With that, Thatch dove into the spacecraft and started the engines before anyone could comment.
Marco and Ace took a few steps back as the spaceship flew into the air. When the sounds of the engine had died away, Marco sighed in defeat, his shoulder slumped.
Ace didn't really know what to say to him.
Finally, Marco turned around. "I haven't introduced myself," he said stiffly. "I'm Marco."
"Ace," Ace said, slightly caught off guard.
"So you said. Well then, you wanna be my assistant? Impress me."
"Excuse me?" Ace asked confusedly.
"Impress me. You don't look old enough to have lived on Earth, but you must have had a fascination for birds for years to qualify as my assistant. You must have studied them to be of use to me," Marco said.
Ace scratched the back of his head. "Well, I wouldn't say for years. I do have a fascination for them, though. Since last… night?" He smiled sheepishly.
Marco sighed. "Pops better know what he's doing," he muttered.
"I can tell you what I've learned in one night," Ace offered. "I'm a quick learner, so I'll try my best to be of service to you." He bowed.
Marco sighed deeply. "Well, it'll be a while before the next ship stops here to take you back, so we might as well use the time to your advantage."
"Wait… You're still gonna send me away?" Ace asked disbelievingly.
"Like I said, I have no use for an assistant. You'll be more useful somewhere else. I'll convince Pops of that too." Marco turned around and started walking in the direction of the house. "Come on."
Disappointed, Ace strolled after Marco. He had really hoped that he would have been allowed to stay.
Suddenly, realisation hit him. If he wanted to stay, he would have until the next ship came to convince Marco he was useful. With renewed determination, Ace quickened his pace.
They left the bubble, and immediately the temperature rose. The air was moist, and Ace could feel his hair dampening. "Is the weather always like this?" he inquired.
"This, or this with rain," Marco said, shrugging. "What, can't stand the heat?" He almost sounded hopeful.
Ace snorted. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm fine with heat."
Marco looked indeed disappointed, but shrugged it off fairly quickly as he continued to lead the way. They were still walking over the planks that formed a path, high above the ground, Ace now noticed. It made sense, as Mr Newgate… Pops, had warned about beasts on the ground. The trees were still higher than them, but the ground was far, far below. Ace gulped as he peered over the edge. He couldn't even see the bottom.
"Watch out that you don't fall."
Ace startled when Marco was suddenly behind him, almost causing him to fall.
"I take it you signed a contract. Which means we're liable if you fall to your death. So please don't do that." Marco started walking again.
"Thanks for the concern," Ace muttered as he followed Marco.
The path they were walking on split up in side paths several times, and Ace realised there was a whole system of paths high above the ground. More often than not, Ace could see birds flying nearby, sometimes skimming him narrowly, other times just sitting on the branches of the gigantic trees. It was the most amazing thing Ace had ever seen.
Finally, Marco came to a halt on a platform, covered in what Ace would imagine was bird excrement and moss. They were still surrounded by trees and, in extension, birds. On the platform, there was also a telescope, to look at the birds, no doubt.
Marco walked over to the telescope and peered through it, turning it a little until he seemed to be pleased. "Come here, Ace."
Ace did as he was told and looked through the telescope as well. He saw a dark blue bird with a curved beak.
"You're looking at a hyacinth macaw," Marco explained. "Or Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, in Latin. You know what Latin is, right?"
Ace nodded. "A dead language spoken by the Romans on Earth. I have gone to school, you know."
"Like I know what they teach you nowadays," Marco muttered. Then he cleared his throat and started to tell about the macaw family. After that, he moved on to another kind of bird. Some of the birds came sitting on the railing as if they wanted to listen to Marco as well. They were perfectly content around him and didn't even mind when Marco gently grabbed their wing and spread it to show Ace how it worked.
It was a fascinating afternoon for Ace, even more than the night he spent at the museum, because now the object of his study was actually alive. Marco had food with him as well and let Ace feed the birds.
"So, how do you manage to take care of an entire planet by yourself?" Ace asked when Marco had decided the lesson was over for today.
"It's only a dwarf planet," Marco said with a shrug. "Besides, the forest doesn't cover all of it. A large part are just wastelands, which I advise to stay away from. I take it that Pops has told you a bit about what dwells on the ground here?" When Ace nodded he continued, "There's more of that on the wastelands. We haven't disturbed the ecosystem by bringing the Earth birds here, but that doesn't mean we want to feed them either."
Ace nodded. To be honest, he had become quite curious to the creatures dwelling the ground below. He leaned a bit more over the edge, but the bottom couldn't be discerned.
Suddenly, Ace saw pointy teeth the size of his fist, set in a round mouth, nearing his face. For a second, he stood frozen, a second that was almost fatal to him, had Marco not pulled him away from the edge.
Wide-eyed, Ace stared to where the creature just had appeared, now already gone from sight. "What the hell was that?!" he stammered.
"Meet one of the indigenous creatures, the Jumping Raiku. The name is taken from an ancient fantasy game. (1) It can jump high in the air to catch prey. That's the only species here that noticed the presence of the birds and tries to eat them for dinner. Fortunately, most birds are clever enough and see him coming. The Raiku also only jumps once or twice a day, so you don't have to worry much," Marco explained. "Just don't lean too far over the railing."
Ace nodded, his heart still racing. The birds had indeed scattered. Maybe Ace should leave the original inhabitants in peace. He turned to Marco and bowed. "Thank you for saving me."
Marco seemed surprised, his droopy eyes widening slightly. "You're welcome." He looked at his watch. "It's almost dinner time. Are you hungry?"
Ace nodded, taking a few calming breaths to calm his still racing heart. He was always hungry, really.
Marco had started to lead the way again, and Ace followed him.
"Do many tourists come here?" he asked. "I mean, you're not the friendliest guide I can imagine…" He grinned sheepishly at the dirty look he received.
Marco sighed and turned. "Tourists don't come here anymore. Not since one…" He looked at the railing.
He didn't have to finish that sentence for Ace to get the picture, and Ace nodded.
"Which is why I don't get Pops sending you here. This planet doesn't make any money without tourists, so an extra mouth to feed makes no sense." Marco seemed more to let out his frustrations than talk to Ace. Ace kept silent.
They arrived at the house. Thatch had explained to Ace that delivery ships would bring food and, for Ace, also new clothes. He would have to make do with the few things he had with him when he went to prison – which really only the clothes on his back.
Marco gave him a reluctant and short tour through the house. There was a living room, kitchen and study. It was cosy, but seemed to be built for two, which was proven when Marco opened another door.
"You'll be sleeping here for the next few days."
Ace looked around. There was furniture, sure, but everything was covered in a layer of dust. Ace sneezed, dust flying everywhere. "How can I sleep here?" he asked indignantly.
Marco shrugged. "Clean it. I don't get guests who spend the night, as their ship would stop working after two hours."
Ace stared at him, blinking. "Clean it? Me?"
Marco rolled his eyes. "Spoiled brat," he muttered under his breath.
"I'm not spoiled! It's not my fault robots clean stuff up where I come from," Ace protested, insulted. He pouted a little.
"As I said, robots don't function here. No large electronics do."
"But how do you live?" Ace asked dramatically.
Marco just sighed. "The cleaning supplies are in the closet over there. I'll start dinner."
Sighing, Ace walked over to the indicated closet and opened it. He had no idea what he was looking at, and just grabbed the first thing he could reach. It consisted of a long stick with on top some sort of brush.
"It's called a broom," Marco's voice suddenly sounded behind him. He almost sounded amused.
"Broom," Ace repeated.
"The brush goes down." Marco flipped the so-called broom over. "You can use it two sweep." He demonstrated.
"You don't have to get condescending on me," Ace snapped and pulled the broom from Marco's hands. "I would have figured it out. It just seems… weird."
"It was used on Earth for thousands of years," Marco remarked, "even after the invention of the vacuum cleaner."
Ace looked at the broom in his hand. It did seem useful if you wanted to clean yourself, he guessed.
"And this is a bucket." Marco picked it up.
"I know what a bucket is!" Ace snapped. Marco enjoyed this a little too much.
Snickering, Marco filled the bucket of water for him and put in some cleaning product.
Sighing, Ace went to work. He first used the 'broom' to sweep all the dust together, before Marco handed him a 'dustpan and brush' to easily throw the dirt away. After that, he brushed the floor with a hand brush and cleaning water.
Marco decided to help while the food was cooking by beating out the mattress with a 'carpet beater', and handing him sheets.
Ace was still on his hands and knees when Marco announced dinner was ready. Ace wiped his sweaty forehead and looked pleased around the room. It had been a hell of a job, but it finally looked like somewhere he could have a pleasant stay.
Outside, it has started to rain, raindrops tapping on bubble.
They ate in silence, though Ace stuffed himself with relish. There were many pills on the market that were an instant meal, but Ace never understood why someone would give up food. He was happy Marco seemed to agree.
"Do you always cook?" Ace asked.
Marco hummed as he took a bite. "Not every day. I tend to forget. But I enjoy cooking, so if I still have enough supplies, I like to put together an actual meal."
Satisfied with the answer, Ace continued eating.
When Marco started to clean the table, Ace couldn't contain his curiosity anymore. "Marco, what's Earth like?"
Marco stiffened and didn't turn around as he spoke. "Just be glad you've never lived there."
"But it all sounded so wonderful when we were taught in school," Ace protested.
Marco turned around, his eyes dark. Instinctively, Ace moved back a little.
"Of course they don't teach you what happened there in the finals days of the Earth," Marco all but growled. "Never ask about that again."
Numbly, Ace nodded. He wasn't sure what was going on, but Marco obviously didn't have many pleasant memories to his life on Earth. It would be best to suppress his curiosity.
After helping Marco with the dishes – which was another weird thing to do yourself, Ace thought –Ace decided to watch a movie. Taking out his watch on which everything was stored, however, he noticed that it wasn't working properly, much to his annoyance. When he was about ready to throw the device against the wall, he decided it was time to stop. Groaning, he let himself fall back on the couch.
"Something wrong?" Marco asked as he entered with a beverage called 'tea', which, apparently, had been quite popular on Earth, despite the fact that it was dead leaf water.
Ace waved with his wrist. "The stupid thing isn't working!" His eyes widened. "You don't mean that my watch doesn't work either here?" His lower lip trembled.
"Calm down. Small devices should work here. We have some electricity, solar power. There are lamps too, see?" He pointed to the ceiling. "Your reader should be adjusted, though. Not worth the trouble for a few days."
"But then what the hell am I supposed to do without my watch?" Ace whined.
"Read a book."
"They're on my watch!"
"I meant an actual book." Marco rose from where he had just taken a seat and took a rectangular shaped object from a shelf. He handed it to Ace.
Ace studied the object closely. It was a little bigger than his hand and consisted of loose leafs made of a weird material.
"What's this?" he asked as he rubbed the page between his fingers.
"It's called paper. It's made from wood."
Ace stared up at Marco. "You're shitting me."
"I can assure you, I'm not." Marco sat down again. "Before paper, people used animal skin to make parchment, and before that, they made papyrus from some kind of reed. Again, I'm not shitting you," he said when Ace opened his mouth. "You can read, right?"
"Of course I can read." Ace flipped to the first page, frowned at it and turned it. "But not this!" he called out. "What the hell kinda language is this?"
"English," Marco said with a grin.
"Why would you want to read that? It's a dead language; it's like… learning Latin!" Ace huffed.
"I enjoy reading in different languages," Marco said. "As you can see, there is not that much you can do here on a rainy night, so learning new languages keeps me busy."
"Old languages you mean," Ace muttered. "Seriously, what century do you live in, like, the twenty first or something?"
Marco shook his head and rose, bring Ace another book, but in Chinese this time.
"Finally, something that makes sense," Ace sighed in relief. (2)
While Ace was reading, Marco went into his room. Ace could hear voices coming from there, though he couldn't hear what they were saying. The first voice was Marco's and the other, a deep one, was probably Pops. Marco called no doubt to complain, and Ace resisted the urge to listen at the door.
Eventually, Marco came out of his room again, his face giving nothing away, and went straight to the kitchen to make more tea. Ace wanted to ask, but he doubted Marco would give him a straight answer anyway.
It was becoming dark outside when Marco announced he would retire to bed. Ace wished him good night and continued reading. It was just getting good.
At the door, Marco turned around. "Whatever you hear, do not come inside my room, understand?"
"Why, what are you gonna do?" Ace asked with a smirk on his face.
Marco sighed. "Nothing of what you have in mind, I can tell you that much. Though I doubt you would want to come in then. Anyway, just stay outside."
"What if you call for help?"
"I won't."
"But what if," Ace insisted. "I've watched movies, and they never ask that and it turns out it's some alien impersonator who eats them. There is already enough chance I get eaten here, I prefer it not being when I'm trying to help you."
Marco sighed again. "Fine. If I explicitly ask for you, you can come in, and I won't eat you. Other than that, stay away."
Ace huffed a little and turned back to his book. Like he was so rude as just to barge into someone's room. He picked up the cup of tea Marco had refilled – Ace had found out he rather enjoyed it – and took a sip, when a loud and almost animalistic scream sounded. Ace almost choked on his tea and hastily put the cup down when a shadow fell over the small house.
Ace looked out of the window and froze when he saw it. The most gigantic bird he had ever seen flew outside. It was bigger than any of the birds he had seen in Pops' museum. Its feathers had a brilliant blue colour.
Ace threw his book aside and ran outside, following the bird. It left the bubble – Ace had learned that objects, including the birds, could pass though the bubble without effort – and Ace followed it, uncaring that it was still raining. He was soon drenched, but he could only stare at the bird. A bird like that he should have noticed before, shouldn't he? Marco hadn't mentioned something like that.
Focusing at the bird, he wasn't looking where he was going, until he walked against the railing and almost went over it for the second time that day. Shaking his head, he looked up in search for the bird, but it had disappeared between the trees.
Disappointed, Ace made his way back to the house. He considered telling Marco about what he saw, but dismissed that thought. Marco had explicitly said he didn't want to be disturbed, and seeing he lived on this planet for so long, he should know about it already.
Ace would just have to ask at breakfast.
Ace woke up in his new, and hopefully permanent, room. Still sleepy, he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He could hear the sound of water drops falling, so he assumed it was still raining.
Yawning, he stripped naked and pulled the shower curtain aside.
"Oi!" Marco called out as he covered himself.
Ace was immediately awake, and turned red-faced away. "I'm sorry!"
Marco sighed. "It's fine. I'm not used to having to lock the bathroom. Just hand me a towel and the shower is yours, yeah?"
Ace nodded, his ears still burning, and reached into the cabinet Marco had pointed the towels were. He handed it to Marco without looking. He heard Marco stepping out of the shower and when he came into Ace's view, he had the towel wrapped around his waist.
Marco looked at Ace for a moment, and only then Ace realised he was still naked. "I'll just go take a shower then," he said as he jumped into the shower and pulled the curtain shut.
After breakfast, during which Ace couldn't look Marco in the eye, Marco sent him back to the deck they had been watching birds the previous day, to clean it.
Ace remembered all the bird excrement and shuddered. "Do I have to?" he whined.
"If you want to make yourself useful."
"Does that mean you let me stay?" Ace asked excitedly.
Marco hummed. "Perhaps. If you prove to me that you are essential to run this place."
Ace huffed. "You watch me." At the door, he hesitated and turned around. "Hey, have you ever seen a large bird here?"
Marco turned around. "There are a lot of birds here."
"I mean really big. As long as me," he gestured towards himself, "and blue in colour."
Marco stared at him for a moment, but then shook his head. "You must have had a dream. There was no such bird on Earth. The largest bird there was, was an ostrich, but that one couldn't fly, nor was it blue."
Ace puffed his cheeks. He was sure it hadn't been a dream. His clothes might have dried during the night, but they certainly had been wet at some point! Right?
He was pretty sure he had actually seen what he had seen, though, when he didn't see any evidence of the bird outside – broken branches, excrement – he started to doubt it again.
If he saw the bird again tonight, he would make sure he had proof.
Ace set off to work, scrubbing the platform. It took him all morning, but while it was hard work, Ace didn't mind it too much. He could take the heat – though he had taken his shirt off – and several birds kept him company. He had actually started talking to them at some point, babbling about his life before he had come to this planet.
He even told them about his brothers, Luffy and Sabo, who had both become space pirates and were captains of their own ships, somewhere. It had been his ambition as well, long ago, but somehow, he had stuck with being a petty thief – and not a very good one. His money usually went to booze and gambling.
Pops really had saved his life, even if he didn't know it. Or perhaps he did, Ace wasn't sure. Somehow, he had the feeling that little went past Pops.
Ace knew Pops would let him stay in the Earth animals project, even if Marco sent him away. It didn't seem like Pops had been able to convince Marco to let him stay, though Marco did seem to be at least willing to give him a chance.
"So then he set sail too. Last thing I heard, he has a crew of eight now. Luffy has a knack for attracting weirdoes, though," Ace added in afterthought.
A parrot sitting on the railing next to him screeched and flapped his wings.
"Oi! I resent that! I'm not that weird," Ace said indignantly as he leaned on his mop.
"Weird enough to tell your life story to birds," a voice behind him suddenly said.
Ace turned around and smiled sheepishly at Marco, who was holding a plate of food. "Well, they don't judge. And it's better than talking to myself, right?"
"You do that often?" Marco asked amusedly.
Ace looked away. "There's no one else to talk to if you're alone," he muttered.
The smile disappeared from Marco's face. "I brought you food," he said, changing the subject.
"Great, I'm starving." Ace grinned at him and pulled off his cleaning gloves before taking the plate from Marco and sitting down with it.
Instead of leaving, like Ace had expected him to, however, Marco leaned against the railing and said, "So, pirates, huh?"
Ace smiled around his fork. He didn't mind that Marco had overheard him talking about his brothers – though he did wonder how long he had been listening, because some things he had said were rather personal, and he may have talked about Marco's naked body at some point. "Yeah. I was supposed to be one too, but I guess I'm not cut out for that life. I miss them, though. We usually call at least weekly."
Something in Marco's face softened. "They're very important to you," he said. It wasn't a question.
Ace nodded and looked up to the sky, smiling. "Yeah. They're my blood brothers."
Marco stayed silent for a moment and then pushed off the railing. "I'll have a look at your watch."
"But I thought you said it wasn't worth the trouble?" Ace asked confusedly.
"Family is always worth the trouble," Marco said. He took Ace's now empty plate and left without another word.
When Ace came back to the house, tired and sweaty, Marco presented his watch to him. "It should work now on the solar power," he said.
Ace's face split into a smile, and he flung himself at Marco. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He squeezed Marco tightly.
Marco was taken aback, but after a few seconds, he hesitantly placed his hands on Ace's back. "No problem," he muttered.
Ace moved back, the smile still on his face. "So I can use it now?"
"You should be able to, yes. Why didn't you tell me about them before?"
Ace shrugged. "You don't want me to stay, so I doubt you're interested in my life story."
Marco's face softened. "I'd like to hear about them, if you want to share."
"I have a better idea." Ace beamed at him. "I'll introduce you!"
Before Marco could object, Ace had called both his brothers. Luffy picked up first, though it wasn't Luffy's face that came into view in the hologram.
"Hello?"
"Yo, Franky," Ace grinned at him. He didn't know Franky as well as some of the other Strawhats – as his brother's crew was called – but he knew Franky was a fun, laid back guy. "It's been a while."
"It sure has, Ace-bro." Franky squinted. "Who's that? Finally starting your own crew, are we?"
Ace looked over his shoulder and laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, no. This is Marco. I'm staying with him for a while."
Franky shrugged. "Whatever you say. Super to meet you, Marco-bro."
"Nice to meet you too."
Ace noticed that the smile Marco wore was tense, as was his body. He took Marco's wrist in his hand, outside of Franky's view, and squeezed reassuringly.
"I'll get Luffy for you. I think he's trying to raid the kitchen. Not that Sanji-bro will allow that," Franky said snickering, as some yelling and noise sounded in the background. The hologram disappeared when Franky put him on hold.
In the meantime, Sabo had picked up with a sleepy looking face. When he saw Ace, however, he was immediately awake. "Ace! How are you? We've been worried!"
"Ace!" Luffy yelled when his hologram came into view. "You're back!"
"Sorry about not calling earlier. I'm in a place without electricity," Ace explained.
Sabo wrinkled his nose. "Then how do you live?"
Ace laughed. "I'm actually doing fine without. But I missed you guys."
"Who's the weird guy behind you?" Luffy asked, rude as ever, as he produced some meat from somewhere and started chewing.
"This is Marco." Ace pulled him by his wrist so he came into better view. "I'm staying with him for a few days."
"Eh, hi," Marco said nervously. Obviously, he wasn't very good with strangers.
"How do you do?" Sabo said as he tipped his hat.
"Your hair is funny," Luffy said at the same time.
Marco reached up. "Is it?"
"Don't listen to him," Ace said soothingly. "Come, sit. Marco wanted to get to know you guys," he said to his brothers.
Sabo crossed his arms before his chest. "How did you two meet anyway?"
Ace sighed. He should have expected an inquiry from Sabo. He was always the worrier. "I'll explain later, okay? Marco wants to know about you."
Luffy and Sabo both looked expectantly at Marco, who seemed at loss what to do.
"So, you are pirates?" he eventually asked.
"I am!" Luffy called out. "I'm gonna be the King of Space! Shishishi!"
Marco smiled. "You have quite some ambition."
They talked for a while, and during the conversation, Ace could see Marco visibly relax. He smiled as Marco was engaged in a heated discussion with Sabo about Earth animals, while Luffy only wanted to know how they tasted.
They talked for a bit longer, until Marco had to excuse himself, because he had some things to attend to. Sabo barely waited before he had left the room before a mischievous smirk appeared on his face.
"What?" Ace asked.
"You're so smitten," Sabo said, the grin growing if possible.
"With whom?"
Sabo rolled his eyes. "With Marco, obviously."
"What?" Ace would later deny that his voice sounded higher than usual. "I've barely known him two days!"
Sabo shrugged. "You obviously like him."
"Shishishi, you're so red, Ace!" Luffy chimed in.
"Shut up! Am not!" Ace snapped, his cheeks growing an even darker shade of red. "He's just… he's not as bad as he appears. Or wants to appear. He doesn't even like me."
"Didn't you say that he wanted to know about us?" Sabo countered. "Why would he take an interest in your life if he didn't like you?"
"Maybe he's just being polite. How the hell should I know?" Ace crossed his arms before his chest and pouted a little. "He won't even let me stay."
Sabo smirked again. "So you want to stay with him? I told you you were smitten!"
"Shishishi, you so are!"
Ace huffed. Luffy and Sabo now had teamed up, even though Luffy had no idea what he was talking about. Neither did Sabo, but Luffy didn't know anything about love in the first place.
That was a wrong turn of phrase.
"Sabo? Are you up?" a female voice suddenly said from Sabo's side of the line.
"Who's that?" Ace asked curiously.
"No one. Yeah, I'll be right there," Sabo called to the female speaker.
"Then why do you tell her that you'll be there?" On Ace's face grew a grin that was similar to Sabo's when he had talked about Marco. "Is she your girlfriend?"
"I bet she is!" Luffy chimed in, and Ace was glad that the little deserter had chosen his side now.
"She's not and shut up," Sabo muttered. "I have to go." He ended the call before either Ace or Luffy could protest.
Ace snickered and shook his head. "We should give him a surprise visit soon."
"We should!" Luffy said laughing. "I wanna see you soon too, Ace! And Marco. And I wanna eat an Earth bird!"
Ace laughed, but soon Luffy's cook, Sanji, called that dinner was ready, and Luffy hung up so quickly he almost forgot to say goodbye. Ace didn't mind, he was used to it.
That night, he waited up to see the bird again, but he must have fallen asleep, because he woke up when Marco knocked on his door to say breakfast was ready.
Over the next few days, Sabo's words kept haunting him, however. Did he like Marco?
He did, of course he liked his company. Marco was smart and witty and nice too once you got to know him. Ace hung on his every word when Marco spoke about Earth birds, because Marco knew a lot about them, and when he talked, he sounded so passionate, it was contagious, and in some ways even addicting. And maybe Ace liked Marco's voice just a bit too.
But despite the fact that Marco made Ace do the shitty chores (sometimes literally), Ace loved the planet he lived on. He loved the birds, all of them, and he seemed to spot a new species every day. He would nag Marco until he told Ace everything he knew about that particular bird, or gave Ace a book about it. Marco had even started teaching Ace some other languages, starting with English, so he could read books on his own eventually.
While Marco seemed to relax around Ace more and more, he still went into his room at sundown every night and told Ace not to disturb him. It was too bad, because during the day, they were busy with the birds and after that Marco taught Ace, so that didn't leave much time to hang out and get to know each other.
Marco didn't like to talk about himself, that much Ace had deduced. When he did talk, though, it was usually about his family – whenever it wasn't about birds. Ace discovered Marco was as fond about his family as Ace was about his brothers. However, Ace had never caught Marco calling them.
Ace hadn't spotted the mysterious bird again, either because he slept through the night, or just didn't see it when he went outside. He hadn't dared to ask Marco about it again, and had resorted into flipping through Marco's books with pictures in them and searching the internet. He couldn't find anything that resembled the bird he had seen, however.
That didn't mean he was giving up, though. Marco turned out to have a lot of books, stacked away in a backroom, with bookcases reaching up to the ceiling and movable ladders to get them. Ace loved the library, as Marco called it, which apparently had been a thing on Earth once upon a time. It struck Ace how old fashioned Marco was, but he guessed one would have to fall back on old methods if modern technology didn't work.
Tonight, Ace came back exhausted again. He had been cleaning all day, mostly the poop deck, as he had dubbed the platform with the telescope, much to Marco's amusement. It was amazing how well these birds aimed. Even within a few days, it looked almost as bad as the first time Ace came there.
Marco had waited with dinner until he had arrived, and they ate in silence. After dinner, Marco went to the bookcase to fetch the book he had been teaching Ace from, but Ace shook his head.
"Do you mind if we skip tonight? I'm beat."
"Alright then." Marco placed the book back and fetched another. After that, he sat down next to Ace on the couch.
Ace lay lazily next to him as Marco flipped a page from time to time. Ace could watch a movie or go read for himself, but he didn't feel like doing anything. He tilted his head a little and tried to decipher the title of Marco's book.
"Whatcha reading?" he asked after giving up.
Marco looked up. "It's a book about mythological creatures. Dragons, centaurs, phoenixes…"
Ace blinked. He had never heard any of those words before.
Marco seemed to realise and showed his book to him. It contained many pictures of animals Ace had never seen before, and apparently, they hadn't been indigenous to Earth either. Marco explained that people had made them up once upon a time when the Earth hadn't been discovered entirely.
Ace gaped at him. The Earth was such a tiny planet! How could people not have known what lived on there, when people could now travel the entire universe. Ace shook his head. He couldn't imagine staying on one planet his entire life. Of course there were people who preferred not to travel, but at least they had the opportunity. Apparently, the people of Earth hadn't been able to leave the planet for a long time.
Marco explained all the mythological creatures patiently, and there were a lot of them. Earth people sure had had imagination.
After a while, Marco asked if he wanted to drink something.
"Do you have something else from Earth to drink, besides tea?" Ace asked.
Marco thought for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face. "I think I have something interesting."
He went into the kitchen and came back with a bottle made of a see-through material, but it didn't feel like anything Ace knew.
"It's made of glass," Marco explained. "And it's called rum. It was quite popular on Earth, especially during the age of pirates."
"Space pirates?" Ace asked but immediately realised this had to be an Earth thing again.
Marco smiled and started to tell about how pirates roamed the seas of Earth while he poured them both a glass.
Ace took a sip and made a face.
Marco laughed. "It'll get better."
He was right. After the first few sips, it did taste better. And, Ace noted, when he drank more of it, a lot of things got better. His ideas, for example. One of them, sprawling out on top of Marco, was his best, if he said so himself.
Ace realised that it had been a long time since he had physical contact with anyone, not counting the cops when he was arrested. Calling with his brothers was nice, but he couldn't hug a hologram. They should really fix that.
Marco smelled nice, and he was warm. Ace could hear his heart beat steady in his chest. It was nice, soothing.
Marco didn't push him off either, so Ace took that as an invitation to make himself comfortable. He could feel rather than hear Marco chuckle, and soon after Marco started playing with his hair.
"You enjoying yourself then?" Marco asked.
Ace hummed, too content to answer. Suddenly, Sabo's words didn't sound so confusing anymore. Of course he liked Marco! He had to smile.
"You know, Ace," Marco said softly, "tomorrow, a delivery ship arrives."
The smile fell from Ace's face and he sat up a little so he was sitting in Marco's lap. "You mean, this is our last night together? Is that why you fed me that?" He gestured to the now half empty bottle and almost fell off Marco's lap.
Marco held him steady by placing his hands on Ace's hips, however. "No, Ace. I… I've been thinking, and maybe you do belong here. I mean, you've worked really hard. So I think you should stay, if you still want to, of course. For the birds. Because they like you," he hastily added.
"For the birds," Ace repeated, the smile back on his face. "So you want me to stay?"
"You've been very helpful," Marco said evasively.
Ace smiled. "I'd like to stay. And you know what," he added teasingly, "I think that you might be a little bit like a bird too."
Marco stiffened for a moment. "Why would you say that?"
Ace grinned. "Because I think you like me too."
Marco smiled back at him and caressed a lock of hair behind Ace's ear.
Ace's gaze flicked down to Marco's lips, and the last thing he remembered was thinking how nice it would be to kiss Marco.
1 I've based it on the Like Like, an enemy from Zelda, which is a wormlike creature that eats your shield/rupees etc (it doesn't jump though). I've taken the Japanese name.
2 Taken from the series Firefly
