Pairing: Ace/Marco
Notes: Written for lollesblog and tumblr prompts. The theme for this one was New Neighbours!AU, I hope you enjoy!
This is also un-betaed so I'd appreciate any mistakes to be pointed out!
.
The bloody dog wouldn't stop barking. Ace turned in bed and groaned, covering his head with a pillow, but it did nothing to block out the deep, booming bark. And, to make matters worse, it was accompanied by a high pitched squeak. Someone in an apartment near him had two dogs that seemed to hate each other and bark all the time.
Ace hated it, but there wasn't a thing he could do. He'd been at this apartment for less than a week and hadn't been around to meet all of the neighbours. In fact, the only neighbour he had introduced himself to was an old gentleman across the hall who had welcomed him merrily and piled Ace with food.
Ace liked him.
Whitebeard aside, Ace didn't know anyone else, in particular the owner of the two hell dogs. He'd had enough now though, and he was pretty sure that he knew where the noise was coming from. Every apartment had a balcony and while Ace hadn't seen the dogs, one balcony to his left had what looked like a bag of pet food out.
That was the house Ace had to go to.
It as his day off and Ace had planned to sleep in late and relax. Instead, he found himself outside his neighbour's door at 9:05am, knocking with a forced smile on his face.
The door opened and a sleepy looking man looked out. He had blond hair, thick on the very top of his head, and was still in pyjamas. Ace wished he'd tried to fall back asleep again.
"Hi," he said, voice higher than it usually was, trying to appeal to his neighbours' good side. "I'm Ace, I moved in next door last week and thought I'd pop round to say hello."
Ace glanced behind the man, trying to see the dogs in question. Nothing so far, but the man could have shut them in a room.
"Oyaji told me about you," the man said, leaning against the doorframe. He smiled and Ace suddenly wished that this man wasn't the dog owner. He sincerely hoped he'd been wrong.
A bark sounded from inside and Ace's stomach dropped.
"It's early, do you want to come in for something to eat?" the man asked and Ace paused in his attempts to try and see past him.
"Um," he replied eloquently, and the man pushed off the doorframe.
"My name's Marco," he said as he moved back into the house. Ace followed, food and the dog mystery luring him in. "A fry-up okay?"
Ace nodded, distracted. He was searching the apartment for any signs of dog, yet he couldn't find any.
Another bark sounded from the room and Ace looked around quickly, raising his eyebrows when he saw the dog. Or well, what was pretending to be a dog.
A parrot sat on a perch, head cocked as it looked at Ace. It whistled, then barked. I was a great imitation, though lacked the bone juddering of the actual dog's bark. The parrot stretched its wings out and Marco called for Ace from the kitchen.
"You're here about the dogs, aren't you," Marco said as he piled Ace's plate with eggs, bacon, toast and beans.
Ace nodded, eyes wide at the pile of food Marco set in front of him. If he could, Ace wanted to keep this one.
"Everyone ends up here," Marco said, stacking his own plate and sitting down. He poured coffee and juice, tucking in immediately, unconcerned when the other occupant of the house swooped in, landing on a perch that stood by the kitchen window.
"Akainu's the one you want," Marco said, cutting into bacon as Ace dipped bread in his egg yolk. "He's below me and the one with the dogs. They're nice enough when they're alone, but they really fucking hate each other and that's why they bark."
Ace nodded, leaning closer towards Marco.
"How can you stand it?" he said and Marco smirked.
"When he's out, I send Pirate down there. He pisses the little dog off enough that they cause a bit of trouble for Akainu to clear up when he gets home." Ace laughed at that. "It's not unwarranted – Akainu's not a nice person. Stay clear of him if you can."
Collecting the last of his beans onto his fork, Ace shoved them in his mouth, lay his fork down and grinned, patting his stomach in satisfaction.
"You get used to the dogs though. It's not their fault." Marco tapped the table with his knuckles and the parrot – Pirate – flew over, large eyes peering at Ace as it let out a bark. "He loves them."
The parrot made the rounds of the table, investigating Ace. It pulled Ace's hair before hopping off, whistling happily as Marco tickled its head.
"You'll want to invest in some ear plus if you're planning on staying a while," Marco advised. "I have some, if you don't mind foam ones." He left to fetch them and Ace wondered why he hadn't come to see Marco sooner. Free food, a conspirator against their problematic neighbour and a parrot; Marco was perfect.
Marco returned with a pack of earplugs and set them on the table. Ace watched him clear the plates and they talked about their jobs, and how Ace was finding the area.
"I was supposed to move into the new complex down the road," Ace said, fingers reaching out to stroke a wing as the parrot passed. "There's been an issue with the pipes though and I had to look for somewhere else."
He glanced up at Marco, smiling as they met eye contact.
"I understand why I was able to get such a good deal on this place. I figured the water ran cold or something, not a war between dogs." Ace chuckled, and Marco tilted his head, humming in agreement.
"This floor's good. Oyaji already likes you. He's planning on inviting you to the next family party we hold." Marco took a sip of his juice and they sat in silence.
Eventually, the time came when Ace had to leave, and they decided they would meet later that night, for a casual dinner in front of the tv. He closed the door to his home, ignoring the yapping of the small dog and the boom of the large one as he put the ear plugs on his bedside table.
He had a lot to be happy about, now he'd met Marco.
.
Reviews are appreciated, thank you for reading.