Phoenix's Light
Chapter 2 Live With Me
Marco woke up to his phone ringing sometime around noon the next day. Luffy was still fast asleep and didn't seem to want to move. A small snore was emitting from her throat. Marco smiled and moved carefully so that he didn't wake her up.
"Hello?" he asked quietly though he knew that he wasn't going to be able to wake up the girl for a while.
"Hey Marco, it's Thatch." The voice one the other side said.
"Hey, what's up?" Marco asked glancing down at the sleeping girl in his arms. He ran a finger up and down the girl's spine making a little purr come from the girl.
"Did you find Luffy? You never called." The man asked and Marco mentally kicked himself for forgetting it.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I found her and she was a mess. She's asleep right now. I don't think she slept at all since the funeral." Marco said continuing to run his finger up and down the red fabric on the girl's back.
"Damn, it hit her harder than we thought. Need any help?" Thatch asked.
"Nah, I got it. I'm probably going to have to take the day off." Marco said as Luffy moved a little bit. Her face was facing Marco's neck now.
"Okay but call us when she gets back on her feet a bit. Everyone's worried about her." Thatch said and Marco could hear the sound of the other guys in the background. He agreed and hung up the phone and looked down at Luffy who was still clinging onto him.
"What am I going to do now?" he asked himself and looked at the girl. The cut under her eye had left a small scar that was the only thing tainting her face. That and tear stains.
"I probably shouldn't have done that…" Marco's thoughts went to the kiss he had given the girl. Why the hell had he even done that? There was no reason for him to kiss her. He had pretty much taken advantage of the situation to satisfy himself. Ah, he felt sick.
"Marco…"
The blonde haired man looked down at Luffy who was looking up at him half out of it. Marco stood still as Luffy sat up and looked at him. She was still partially asleep and not aware of her surroundings. Marco sat up a bit as well and moved Luffy next to him. The girl continued to watch him.
Marco stood up and stretched a bit. The position he had been sleeping in had been pretty uncomfortable. He looked at Luffy who was watching him as if to see if he was going to leave her. Marco brought his hands to the girl's cheeks and placed them one her face, a few locks of her black hair in his fingers. Luffy closed her eyes at the warmth that came to her cheeks.
"Get changed, I'll start making breakfast." He said with a small smile, slowly removing his hands from her face. Luffy nodded and watched as Marco left, closing the door behind him.
The feeling of being alone over came Luffy again at realization that he wasn't in the room anymore. The sound of Marco tripping over something came to her ears and Luffy realized that he wasn't gone. The girl stood up and did as she was told.
Marco went through the kitchen cupboard and looked at all the food that was in the house. The D siblings were known as big eaters so they usually had a lot of food in the house but all Marco could find was rice and eggs. Marco sighed and began to cook the rice and looked for some soy sauce to put on it with the eggs. Luffy hadn't eaten in days so this was probably a good idea to go light.
He turned around when he heard the light footsteps that entered the kitchen. When Marco looked at Luffy, he had to try not to laugh. The girl had put on a pair of Ace's black shorts which were probably kept on by one of his belts. She had also taken one of his sweater shirts that were buttoned up in the front. This was too big on her and went past her hands and slid a bit on her shoulders. The girl still wore Ace's necklace around her neck. The beads hadn't broken but were still covered in blood that stood out on the red beads.
Marco walked over to the girl who was just standing and staring at her bare feet that were pointed in. He bent down slightly and gently placed his hand on the girl's head. Luffy looked up at him through the black locks of her hair that were pressed in her face by the large hand. Her eyes were hazy and Marco knew that she hadn't recovered even a bit with him being with her.
"Food will be ready soon so why don't you sit down. I'll clean the necklace." Marco suggested and pulled out one of the chairs at the dining room table. Luffy sat at it and looked up at Marco who smiled softly as he helped her remove the beaded necklace.
Luffy watched Marco's back without showing any emotion as he cleaned the necklace in the sink. The smell of rice came to her nose and she glanced at the rice cooker which was steaming feeling of hunger came to her but she wouldn't say it. "Hungry?"
Luffy looked up at Marco who was smiling at her. He had noticed her watching the food. Luffy nodded slightly just to answer as Marco helped her put the necklace back on her. His hand lingered on her cheek slightly and Luffy was almost upset when he moved it away completely. "I tried but some of the blood wouldn't come out." Marco said going over to the rice and looking at it.
"S'okay." Luffy mumbled slightly grasping the necklace and running her hands over it. Marco looked at Luffy and brought food over for both of them. The bowl of rice had two fried eggs on it and had a bit of soy sauce on top. Luffy looked up at him and then at the food.
"Go ahead, it's better warm." Marco said grabbing his chopsticks and beginning to eat. Luffy nodded and slowly picked up at the wooden sticks and poked at the yoke.
Marco cleaned the dishes after they were done since the concept of a dishwasher was impossible for the apartment. Luffy stayed sitting at the table in her brother's over sized clothes and just watched the man. Marco knew that Luffy was watching him but did nothing but continue to go on as if everything was normal.
Marco moved over to the seat next to the girl and watched as Luffy rolled one of the beads in her hand. The usual grin and light atmosphere around the girl was gone. She was dull and inactive. To sum it up, Luffy was a doll. One of those glass porcelain dolls. And she had been pushed off of a high shelf onto a wooden floor. Marco knew that he could find all the pieces but even if he put them all back together; Luffy would never be the same. She would always have those cracks.
"Staying here by yourself isn't a good idea." Marco said and Luffy looked at him instead of the necklace in her hands. "My apartment has an extra room, you can move in there." Luffy looked at him with her emotionless mask. It was impossible for the man to understand what she was thinking.
"It's better if you're with people you know and aren't alone right now. This way you have someone to come to if you need someone." Marco scratched the back of his head as he tried to make this sound better.
"Mnh." Luffy said not exactly looking at anything. Marco understood it as a yes and put his hand on her head the same way that Ace had done to the girl so many times before. That was one thing he was glad for.
The man had read through some psychiatric and psychology books before. When someone loss someone important to them, things like physical contact that was something that the loss one did a lot would make them panic. With Luffy, it seemed to affect her very little. She just let him do as he pleased.
Marco stood up and went over to the phone that was on the wall near the fridge. "I'm going to make some calls to make sure nothing is messed up. If you want, you can go ahead and get some things that you want to bring with you. Later we'll move everything." He said before pressing some numbers that were on the phone. He heard the chair run against the floor and heard Luffy walk down the hall. The man sighed and began to make the calls that he knew were going to take a while to get done.
Luffy stared at the apartment in front of her. It was similar to the she and Ace had shared, just a little neater and had a bit more decoration and was more modernized. It was almost dojo like style and held a lot of traditional stuff. Luffy had a bag on her shoulder and stepped on the cold wood floor that filled the place.
"Go ahead and walk around if you like." Marco said before going to the living room. Luffy put her bag down by the door and lifted the hat that Ace always wore and put it on her head. The orange cowboy hat was somewhat big on the girl but she didn't care.
Luffy had never been to Marco's house before so everything was new to her. She wondered the halls absently but always made sure that Marco was in ear shot. She could hear him talking on the phone and the sound of his voice told her that she wasn't alone. The girl trailed her hand on the white walls and closed her eyes, taking in the scent of the place.
It was so similar to Ace's scent, cigarettes and booze, the smell of the warehouse and Marco's own scent. She felt more comfortable smelling this as she did smelling her brother's scent. She went back to the door where she left her bag and grabbed the pillow she had taken from Ace's room.
Marco looked up at Luffy as the girl walked into the room with a pillow in her hand. He was sitting on the couch and just got off the phone with Thatch. He had called the man to tell him that Luffy was living with him. Luffy placed the black pillow on his leg and lied down next to him with her head on the pillow.
Marco had other things to do but Luffy was asleep almost instantly and he sighed thinking that they could wait. Luffy was the most important thing right now. She was messed up on the inside and needed help. The girl never really relied on anybody at all. Sure she would ask for help and was somewhat dependent, but the girl was mostly independent. She never really needed anybody to take care of her.
Marco put his hand on her hair and began to stroke the black stuff. Luffy curled up and the man picked up a blanket that was on the ground and covered her as a shiver ran down her spine. He smiled slightly as the girl reflexively wrapped the blanket around her more. He put his head back and looked at the plastered ceiling.
Luffy was never really clingy to anybody but Ace and that was only when she was scared of something which wasn't often. Right now the girl was scared and Marco was the one she decided to cling to. Marco continued to unconsciously run a hand through Luffy's hair. The girl was in a dead sleep and Marco couldn't blame her. If she hadn't slept during that whole time then her body was probably at its limit.
Marco turned his attention to his door which flung open revealing Thatch. The man noticed Marco who was sitting at the couch and walked over. The door had swung shut. "So, she going to be staying her with you forever?" Thatch asked sitting down on Luffy's other side. Marco glanced at him tiredly and shrugged.
"Till she wants to move out." he said simply closing his eyes hoping to stop the stinging that was vibrating through them. Thatch looked at him for a minute before realizing that the man had fallen asleep. A small chuckle formed in his throat and he placed his hand on Luffy's back. The man could feel the slight rise of the girl as she breathed in.
"Might as well leave them alone." The man said standing up. He glanced at Marco one last time before lazily dropping a blanket on him and moving to the door. The man turned off the lights in the house and closed the door.
Once again ending with the two of them being asleep. I'm liking this one even though it is really serious and not as funny as the actual series but I still like it. Luffy is really OOC but you probably picked up why so it should be all good. I hope you like this chapter and I will update others later. I am off to watch the Little Mermaid and you will learn why later.
