Yees. Progress. You all proud of me?
Thank you for all the reviews and follows and favorites; believe that I'm overly excited every time someone gives me a review, I just don't know how to reply...I'm a meek, sad little child like that.
Do you guys think my writing is fine enough to start a different story, one without an OC? I don't know if my characterization is up to par, so tips are most welcomed.
Thank you for your support and patience!
Don't own One Piece.
Normally Marco wouldn't spare a second glance to anything that posed no harm to Oyaji or his brothers, but this was different. He didn't know why, but their 'guest' reminded him of too many people. People that did both harm and good and psychotic activities, and then other questionable things that shouldn't be named in the presence of children. Or weak willed pirates.
Ace officially (and Eleison unofficially) joined the crew, and the Moby Dick has never been livelier. To his dismay, he was right about his brothers wrecking havoc; Thatch along with Ace proved to be an unstoppable pranking force, and not even he could avoid them anymore. The only one who got away from the idiots was Oyaji and sometimes Izo, not very surprising.
What was more surprising was that the only other person that got away was Eleison, their mysterious self-invited guest.
They don't even dare pranking her after the first attempt which ended with a mast, a naked Thatch and Ace, a lot of rope in a lot of interesting places and a few scarred memories. He doesn't blame them, he's pretty sure at least half the crew had nightmares about her retaliation if the nightly screaming was any kind of indication. He gives her points for creativity, that's for sure; he didn't think the human body could actually bend like that….
For some reason Ace wouldn't say anything about his mysterious friend, much to the crew's eternal disappointment. Anything other than to not piss her off under any circumstances, especially the special circumstance that women particularly have. Izo took particular glee at the lack of information and setted up a betting pool, getting almost all of them (including their allies) to participate. Those poor suckers, they never learn.
"Hey Marco! " An arm was slung over his shoulder, pulling him away from his very needed peace. He silently bidded his small window of relaxation good bye before looking at the cause. Thatch grinned like a mad man as Ace appeared on his other side, a similar grin on his face.
"What, yoi," he sighed. He folded his arms over the railing and leaned against it, staring out into the sea in favor of paying attention to his friends.
"Oyaji said we're docking on an unknown island tomorrow, and Ace and I were planning on exploring, you wanna come with?" Thatch asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Ace is going to convince Sion, too! It'll be fun!"
Marco thought about the stack of papers waiting for him back at his own cabin and sighed. "I have watch duty tonight, and a bunch of reports to do for both First and Second Division," he replied, already thinking of the long night ahead of him. Thatch immediately looked like a kicked puppy. "I'll let you know tomorrow, yoi."
Thatch shrugged, momentarily pleased with his answer, and skipped off to grab them a couple of beers. Ace remained by his side in silence, a rare miracle from the fire man. If Marco learned anything about the fire brat (other than his obvious trust issues) is that Ace is only silent when narcolepsy slaps him in the face. Any other time could lead to the apocalypse.
"I know Sion seems suspicious," he began, and Marco raised a questioning glance. It was an unspoken rule that no one raised attention about how much Marco felt uncomfortable around Ace's friend. No one but Izo, that is. For some reason, Izo took it on as his sacred duty for the two of them to become friends, but both sides were also ignoring his attempts, much to his brother's annoyance and his relief. "But she's a good person, really. She's just... really insecure about being on a pirate ship. Especially Oyaji's. Because...of stuff. Yeah. Stuff."
"If she's uncomfortable, she doesn't have to stay, yoi," Marco countered. It didn't seem like a problem when she was on Ace's ship, so that obviously wasn't the reason. She also didn't have any problems with the rest of the crewThatch came back with three beers and handed one to him and Ace. "We're not forcing her to stay. She's free to leave."
"Maybe she wants to join us, but is too shy to ask!" Thatch laughed, taking a swig from the bottle. Marco silently doubted that; Oyaji would've asked long ago if that was the case. "Think of the pranks we could pull if she's on our side!" Thatch had a dreamy look on his face, imagining the horrors he could bring down on his brothers like he hasn't done enough last week with Ace. The two of them managed to dye all of Ninth Division's hair bright neon pink and then simultaneously put flash bombs in all of their beds. The result was devastating for the eyes.
Marco sighed again and drank, casually ignoring his friend's need to prank the ship until it's reduced to kindling.
"H-Haha... yeah, maybe! " Ace said hastily, drowning his words in alcohol and coughing out into the ocean below. If Oyaji saw one of his sons wasting good booze, he might actually have a heart attack. Instead he and Thatch just watched him splutter and fumble with the bottle, sprouting something about loyalty and friends before chucking the mostly empty bottle into the ocean.
Ace suddenly looked a thousand times more uncomfortable and stopped rambling. "A-Anyway! I'm going to turn in early so I can ask Sion about tomorrow, later!"
Ace ran off, waving over his shoulder as he sprinted to wherever Eleison was.
"Man, Oyaji made a good call bringing Ace into the family," Thatch sighed, propping his arm up on the railing as he stared where Ace disappeared. "Things are always exciting now!" Marco turned back to the ocean, sipping his beer and listening to his brother's laughters in the background, feeling oddly peaceful for once.
"Yeah..." Maybe he'll join them tomorrow, after all.
Marco punched the floor.
Every life choice, every single decision that led up to this one very moment, he regrets all of them. Every single last one. He can't believe he actually for this stupid trap; it should've been obvious as Thatch's sexuality, but he let his guard down just enough for those two idiots to pull him into this situation.
"...You wouldn't mind if I do that thing with the mast to them again, right?"
At least he wasn't the only one. Small victories.
"...Only if you let me help, yoi."
"Deal."
There were many things he'd rather do than be handcuffed to Eleison in the middle of a lake, and based off her dark look of revenge, she could probably name even more. If he wasn't playing victim to this prank, he would have felt sorry for whatever she had planned for them.
But now? He just wants to see them suffer.
He chuckled darkly to himself, already thinking of ways to punish the idiots who thought it was a good idea to mess with him. Just because he's normally too tired to put up with their bullshit doesn't mean he's just going to let them get away with it every time. He would've thought Thatch learned the last time a prank went too far.
What cruel, sadistic asshole would invent disappearing ink in the first place?
"How long do you think they'll leave us here?" He pulled himself out of his dark musings and glanced over at his companion. He gave the handcuffs an annoyed glare before shrugging.
"Could be hours. These are seastone cuffs too, so I can't just fly us out of here, yoi," he replied, sighing in defeat.
He, along with Eleison, Thatch and Ace, headed out onto the island after docking, the latter two suspiciously excited for the adventure. That should've been a fucking warning beacon that something was about to go terribly wrong, but he was too distracted by the awkwardness hovering between Eleison and himself to realize their intent. But she must've been just as distracted, because she got caught, too, and that sadly made him feel a bit better about himself.
Somehow, they managed to handcuffed them together and pushed them down a pit and into an underground cave, coincidentally landed on the one small rocky island in the middle of a massive lake. There was a trickle of sunlight that washed over them, but the only way out is either across the lake or back up the hole. There was no way Eleison could swim with their combined weight, and the seastone cuffs prevented Marco just flying them out of there. So they were stuck. Ah, yes. So much luck. It's overflowing.
Once Thatch and Ace made sure they weren't about to die anytime soon, they left them there. Got up and walked away (with cackling laughter and shouts of triumphs) and most likely back to the ship (to brag about their apparently victory). There's a rule against nakama killing, but shit, does Marco want to tear out their organs and feast on them.
"You okay?" Eleison asked softly, slightly jostling him with her hand. He lifted his head off her shoulder and groaned. He hated seastone, and adding on the exhaustion from watch duty and the paperwork, he felt like he was a second away from keeling over. It was a kind pity that Eleison didn't question it when he accidentally dropped his head on her shoulder an hour after of silence, going as far as adjusting their position so they're more comfortable.
"Yeah. Sorry about this, yoi," he replied, slumping back against her. He's going to rip them into shreds when they get out of this, but for now, catching up on loss sleep sounds like a good plan. Will give him energy later to peck out some eyes later, too.
What felt like hours later, Marco was still bored out of his mind. There was absolutely nothing to do, and he took a small nap to make up for the lost time. It still felt too tense to talk, but he was slightly thankful that they were both pretending that it didn't exist.
"Do you hate me?" she suddenly asked. He glanced over, but she was resolutely turned away, staring hard at the water as if it was much more interesting than looking at him. There was a high blush on her cheeks, and it kind of looked like she regretted mustering up the courage to break the silence.
"I don't hate you," he said careful in his words, "I just don't know you, yoi. You walk around the ship like you're uninvited, and it's uncomfortable for you as it for us." Or for me he didn't say. She didn't turn to face him, choosing instead to continue tracing nonsense patterns on the water's surface.
"I don't hate you," he repeated, this time his voice firm in conviction.
He felt like an asshole. He knew they didn't know each other very well (or at all), but he didn't think she thought he hated her. She hasn't done anything to warrant that kind of anger, but she always looks like it was well deserved. At least the one saving grace about this whole incident is that he can clear up the misunderstandings.
"So…does that I'm allowed to wreak havoc like the rest of you?" He laughed at her mischievous smile and nodded.
"You sure you don't want to join us? You'd fit right in," he asked. It felt like the normally pressuring tension that swam between them evaporated, leaving them relaxed in each other's presence. Maybe Izo was right; she might not be his sister, but he wouldn't turn down a potential friend, either. She already got along with most of the other commanders (especially Jozu for some reason, girl's best friend indeed) and the only thing was missing was actually the pledge of loyalty.
She gave him a sad smile before looking away again. "My loyalties lie elsewhere. Ace is...he's my friend, and I treasure him. When he asked me to stay on the Moby Dick with him for a little while longer, I didn't see the harm. So I stayed."
She doesn't seem to be the type to be a backstabber, but then again, there were many people in the world that wouldn't hesitate to prove him otherwise. It was extremely unlikely that Oyaji would allow anyone who would do his family harm to walk free around his ship, but it has happened before.
"It's not like I'm going to get anything from pissing any of you off, so don't worry about me backstabbing your father," she said as if answering his thoughts. He smiled and stared back up at the hole, wondering how long it's been since they first fell down here. There was absolutely nothing to do until they decided to come back and drop them the key to the cuffs. For all he knows, they might've forgotten about them. Considering the idiots who got them into this situation, that wasn't very far fetched.
Marco glanced over at the girl again, who was staring out into the lake in thought. He focused on one of her more striking traits: her piercing yellow eyes. He's seen that somewhere before, no doubt about it, but where and who was lost to him.
"Hey E-"
"Did you hear that?" Eleison asked softly, cutting off his words. Marco blinked but slowly scanned his surroundings. He had to really focus to feel it, but it was there. A murderous aura lurking under the waters.
"Yeah…." he finally replied, getting a bit more anxious. If someone really did attack them, Eleison would have to defend them both, the cuffs prevented him from doing anything other than being burden. Fucking hooray. First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and he's useless in the face of the enemy. Thatch and Ace had the worse timing known to all of piracy, and he's fought against Gold fucking Roger.
Eleison turned to face him and was about to say something, but her jaw went slack as she stare over his shoulder. Marco felt his blood run cold when he heard a squelching noise, as if there was something right behind him.
This can't be happening.
He slowly turned around, careful not to make any sudden movements, and came face to face with a tentacle. Maybe he's hallucinating. He blinked. Nope, still a tentacle.
"That's, uh. That's a tentacle, yoi," he said intelligently staring at the orange limb. He's clearly at his best right now, with all these outstanding conclusions he's reaching.
"Yes, um. I think. I think that's a Kraken?" Eleison added on, a bit meek in her tone. At least she made a better observation than he did. That's a tentacle, no fucking shit, Marco. How he was voted 'most calm in times of crisis' would forever be lost to him. "M-Maybe it's a nice- oh shit!"
Marco was yanked to the side as a tentacle came crashing down where he was seconds before, a narrow crater forming from the impact. If Eleison didn't pull him out of the way, that attack could've given him a concussion. Fucking seastone cuffs. There was only so much land to run around, they couldn't jump into the water, they couldn't fly to safety; there was practically nothing they could do.
"I knew I should've brought my sword," Eleison groaned, fumbling to stand up with Marco at her side. He glanced over at her hip, and true enough, there was no sword. At most, she had a few daggers and her rope dart, but that was it. He himself only had his dagger, and he wasn't sure how useful that would be with this seastone cuffs on. Plus, they're fighting against a Kraken: the fucking legendary creature of the sea. The ocean is it's domain; there was no way Marco could get into the water without dropping like an anchor, which means Eleison couldn't jump in unless she wanted to drown, too.
Well, there were worst ways to go, but fuck is Oyaji going to be pissed.
Another tentacle slammed down, and the two of them jumped out of the way. They were slowly getting pushed to the edge, and then when his foot almost slipped off, he knew they were trapped.
"On a scale of Marines to Whitebeard, how much do you trust me right now?" Marco stopped, turned, and stared at Eleison, who looked determined for an answer. Despite knowing that this was not the time to ask about trust issues, he answered.
"I'd say about an Izo, yoi," he replied, shrugging to himself. Izo was his dear brother, but damn if that asshole had it out for everyone on the ship. Thatch thought he was the pranking master? He had nothing on Izo; that psychopath could traumatize the entirety of the Whitebeard Pirates without lifting a finger.
He would know; he was on the end of one of his 'pranks' before. He seriously thought he was going to die that day.
"That's good enough for me." Eleison suddenly looked like she had plan. A dangerous, stupid, possibly life threatening plan. A lot like Izo. "So I never did this with another person before, but first time for everything."
Marco knew he could potentially die from whatever idea she had, but the only thing he could think was 'is she talking about sex?'
Eleison suddenly whirled around, wrapping her arms around his waist and hands clasping against his back. Before he could utter out his disbelief there was this jarring sensation that felt like someone whacked him across the face with a velvet wrapped brick.
"H-Holy shit you're really heavy," Eleison rushed out, and he blinked back into his surroundings. He vaguely registered her scrambling to find a better hold around him, hands scrabbling against his back. It would probably be easier if he didn't act like a corpse, but he was too busy being shocked at the lack of land beneath his feet.
"You can fly, yoi!?" he shouted, which wasn't the best idea, but he was a bit too shocked to think otherwise. Especially now he alerted the Kraken of their new location. Five more tentacles rose from the water, and he could just barely make out the creature's massive head beneath the lake, and shit, it looked pissed.
"T-This will be much easier if you stop playing dead, Marco!" Eleison gritted out. That finally snapped him back out of his shock, and he looped his arms around Eleison's neck for a better hold. She gave him a small glare before that was blurred out, the same feeling from before whipping through his body. But this time, he watched. Watched her kick off the air and propelled the two of them higher into the air right before a tentacle closed around where they were half a second ago.
Eleison jumped once more, and Marco felt like he was going to throw up. He was used to flying (in his phoenix form, yeah) but this was not flying. This was, at best, a torture technique to pull your bones out of your body.
Eleison did one last jump and they finally made it through the hole and away from the hostile Kraken, dropping him on the dirt before sprawling down next to him. Normally Marco would thank whatever forsaken miracle that just saved his fiery ass, but his mind was reeling about Eleison.
That was a Marine's technique: Soru. Why did Eleison know a Marine's technique?
"You weigh a lot." Marco looked over at Eleison. She was lying on her stomach with her head cushioned by her arm, shielding her cheek from the mossy dirt underneath them. She had a triumphant, but tired smile, understandable since she did save them from being octopus food.
He snorted and rolled onto his back. "I assure you, it's all muscle." She giggled and sat up, shaking her hair from the grass and flowers that managed to cling to her hair. When he saw a loose flower barely hanging on, he instinctively raised his hand and plucked out a daisy that managed to hide itself at the tips of her hair. He had no idea what possessed him to do that and was about to drop the evidence down to the floor, but Eleison already turned to see the guilty flower in his hand.
She smiled. "Thank you." She gently pulled the daisy out from his fingers (and he marveled at how smooth they felt; you'd think a swordsman would have rough calluses, like Vista), fiddling with the petals before setting it on the ground. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her arms over them, almost curling up in on herself. It looked painfully natural, her trying to hide from the rest of the world in her own little ball. He felt the itch of curiosity rise, but brutally trampled them down into the dirt again.
Eleison suddenly sat up straight, her eyes wide in shock. He glanced up at her before sitting up himself, curious as to what caught her attention. His eyes fell on a small glittering object in the grass, and he could feel his own eyes grow wide in similar shock.
"No way." She pushed herself to her hands and knees and crawled forward until she was an arms reach away from the object. He kept his eyes trained on the object, afraid it was just a trick of the light. She carefully picked it up and held it in the air so they could both see it. "They can't be that stupid...right?"
"You overestimate Thatch," Marco replied in awe before breaking out in a grin.
Those idiots dropped the key. The key to the cuffs.
Eleison quickly turned around and shoved it into the lock and they held their breath as if to hold their hope in. If this key turned out to be a fake, Marco will bash his head in with a tree.
She twisted the key, and the cuffs fell off.
His head gets to see another day.
"I've never been so thankful that Ace is a natural idiot," Eleison groaned out in relief, throwing her hands up in the air and stretching. Marco had to agree. They wouldn't be able to do anything without the cuffs gone, and then that key was just a silver lining in the grass.
The day was finally looking up. Eleison must've thought so too, because her joyous laughter was practically overflowing with mirth. Infectious too, because he broke out in laughter alongside her. He felt oddly pleased about his new relationship with Eleison. It only took getting shoved down a hole and nearly getting eaten by a Kraken, but the outcome was worth it.
"So...I know I said I wanted to do the mast thing, but I think, with the two of us, we can do one even better." She sounded so gleeful, you would think she was handed his bounty worth of Beli instead of planning sadistic revenge against Thatch and Ace, his brothers and friends.
They should've been friends the moment she stepped foot on the Moby Dick.
Thatch went to grab another beer. He's been giddy all morning and afternoon, almost bouncing off walls with a permanent grin on his face. After pulling off the extremely successful prank on both Marco and Eleison, he felt he deserved a gold star for his awesomeness. Or another beer. Definitely another beer.
He couldn't get the memory of Marco's and Eleison's horrified expressions when he slapped on the cuffs, or when Ace shoved them down the hole, or when they were falling down the same hole. It was glorious. He wished he brought a camera to take a picture to commemorate the moment. Then print it out and fucking frame it.
Honestly, he didn't think the plan would go that well. He figured he'd have to go with Plan B, which was run like fuck for his life and hide under Oyaji's chair until they forgave them (which could've been years, but he could wait them out); Ace could take care of himself, he's a big boy. And made of fire.
But lady luck was on his side today, and he made sure all of his brothers knew that he bested the old timer who sucked the fun and joy out of life (ironically enough) AND had his revenge on Eleison, the one witch who was scarier than their own doctor. Which is a pretty amazing feat, because Teresa was one hell of a scary woman.
He should've known better than to ever question one of (or any of) Izo's plans, they always work out. Of course, finding that underground cave was all his doing. It was the perfect place to trap them, and he was proud of himself for finding it.
He whirled around with a bounce in his step. His grin didn't falter as he skipped out the door and back onto the deck, but when he nearly ran into Eleison, he thought hell just erupted from the ocean.
He smashed himself into the wall, his eyes widening in horror. "S-S-S-Sion!?" An illusion. It's an illusion. There's no way she could be here, right in front of him, on the ship, not on the island. The cook blinked another five times, but the 'illusion' didn't disappear. Clearly had one too many beer bottles, because there is no possible way that is Ele-
"Thatch! There you are." Fuck shit, she's real. REAL.
Eleison moved closer, reaching out and yanking on his arm. "Let's go explore now, I'm dying of boredom." What.
What?!
WHAT.
"WHAT." Eleison turned around with a confused glance.
"Ace told me that we're going to explore the island today? Right?" She tilted her head to the side, subtly asking what was wrong with him and boy if he had a week he couldn't even finish. "I thought...explore?" Thatch had absolutely no clue what was going on. Was that successful prank a dream? It would make sense; how else would he get away with pranking Marco and Eleison? But it felt so real, like it only happened a few hours ago, not just in his head. Heck, he's pretty sure Ace was being just as excited as he was. Did he have the same dream, too? They were pretty excited about the prank….
"What." Because now his entire vocabulary is roughly one word and a bunch of flailing.
"Marco went to go get Ace, so I went to go get you," she continued, more focused on dragging him across the ship than bringing attention to his lack of intelligence. That earned a bunch of stares and snickers and Thatch feared for the worst. He did run around the ship screaming about his victory...if it turns out to be a dream, he's never going to live it down. "There they are! Marco! Ace!"
Eleison yanked them around the corner, and he saw Marco and Ace, the latter as pale as a ghost. Thatch couldn't tease, he probably looks even worse than him, he's sure his hair is actually wilting under the stress. Marco turned around when he heard Eleison and smiled.
"You guys took your sweet time, yoi," Marco said and held his hand out. Thatch was completely confused (but mostly horrified) when Eleison took his hand, and was moving suspiciously closer to the phoenix like they were. Like they were more than friends. Last he remembered, those two had the whole 'this is totally awkward why am I here' thing going on, and was about a second away from joining Ace in combusting out of anxiety.
"Sorry, it took me a while to find Thatch," Eleison replied, She moved closer to Marco's side and his friend and brother of years and years (and Thatch thought he was going to start hyperventilating) leaned down to give Eleison a kiss on the cheek.
"WHAAT?!" Thatch couldn't help the shout (it was a shout, not a shriek) that alerted everyone and their mother about his growing insanity. Ace went from white as Oyaji's moustache to just deathly pale as the fire man flew backwards and pinned himself to the railing. He whimpered something out like 'oh god I died and went to hell I'm so sorry Luffy' before falling on the floor, his newest brother keeling over and passing out from the shock. Thatch would be concerned about him falling off the ship and into the ocean below like an anchor Devil Fruit users are, but he scrambled back until his back slammed against the railing.
"Huh? What's wrong, Thatch? Ace?" Eleison turned around and Marco wrapped his arms around her waist, his head resting on the crook of her neck. They both looked so...cute together. It physically hurt him to think that.
And that was enough. He can't take anymore of this. He yelled (very manly, and if anyone says otherwise they're a lying liar who's pants he's going to set on fire) and climbed over the railing.
"This is a dream," he chanted and laughed hysterically.. "Just a dream. Gotta wake up. Just a dream, oh my god just a dream." He babbled and jumped out into the ocean, feeling free from all insanities in his mind.
Yes. Just a dream.
Marco watched the hysteric cook pitch himself over the railing, screaming something about his dying sanity as he plummeted down onto the shore below. His dear friend looked a bit suicidal before he did jump to his doom, but Marco couldn't help the satisfied grin that crept onto his face. He supposed it was a good thing they were docked at the shore, or Thatch really could've drowned. As it is now, he's perfectly content with leaving Thatch floating in the ocean below. He was in no danger of drowning, since he was facing up.
"Well. That went better than expected," Eleison said, voice lit with mirth and amusement. Of course, he was just as amused as she was if his following laughter was any clue. Their plan went off with a hitch with Eleison predicting exactly how the entire thing would play out, but had to admit that Thatch throwing himself overboard was an unexpected bonus. He certainly underestimated her ability to prank and had to admit it was almost on par with Izo. Not that the crossdresser would be pleased to hear that. Or anyone on the ship, actually; god forbid if those two actually start a pranking war on the Moby Dick.
The result would've been catastrophic. He'd rather face down an Admiral than get caught in the crossfire.
After the two freed themselves from the cuffs and thank whatever unseen force caused the small miracle, the two hatched the plan. Or Eleison did and Marco listened with interest, sometimes adding in his own ideas. It was extremely simple, but couldn't deny it's effectiveness.
The plan was to pretend that they didn't go explore the island yet and find Ace and Thatch again. Except they would act like lovers. It was the perfect mind flip; before the (now dubbed) Kraken incident, the two of them couldn't even stand in the same vicinity without one of them feeling uncomfortable and leaving. So if they suddenly acted sickeningly cute, those two idiots would probably faint.
Which they did. Or in Thatch's case, threw himself overboard. Close enough.
"Remind me to never get on your bad side, yoi." He pulled himself away from her side and leaned over the railing. "Someone should fish him out."
She gave him a look. "I'm wearing a dress. You're going to make me go after your dear brother like this?" He gave her an exaggerated look from toe to head before shrugging.
"My brothers would be thrilled, yoi." From what he's seen from her short time on the Moby Dick, her wardrobe was mostly dresses of various colors and styles, varying from simple summer dresses to dresses that resemble combat uniforms than actual dresses, but all of them managed to have his brothers run into walls with drool painting the wood.
He laughed when she shoved him, more playful than threatening. "You heathen." She walked closer to railing and leaned over to look at Thatch's near dead body. "He'll be fine. He's the Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, I'm sure he can take a little splash every now and then. Especially since he's friends with Ace, who probably narcolepsy his way into the ocean some way some how."
Marco snorted and glanced down at Ace, who was sprawled on the floor like a swooning maiden with swirled eyes. He gave the fire brat a little nudge with his foot, causing him to roll over on his back. He stared at Ace, then at Thatch, then at Eleison, then back at Ace.
"What?" Eleison asked. She jumped up and sat on the railing. He turned around and leaned against the railing and crossed his arms. He stared hard at Ace immobile body, gears turning in his head as he came up with part two of the 'revenge prank plan'.
"You know, they did pushed us down that hole, yoi," he started, letting his words sink in and catch her interest. He shot her his trademark relaxed grin and turned his head to stare out back at the island where there was a Kraken just waiting to scare his brothers into never pranking him again. "And I'm sure that the Kraken is lonely."
Eleison's expression slowly morphed from confusion to undeniable glee and she jumped off the railing.
"I'll get the rope."
He smiled. "I'll go find a pipe."
An hour later, the Whitebeard Pirates studiously ignored the screams and wails that shook the entire island.
Izo did his best not to preen under the results of his subtle, but undoubtedly impressive plan. It would go completely to waste if anyone managed to trace the whole fiasco back to him, but it was hard not to take credit when it was so rightly due. Not only did he managed accomplishing step one of the Marco/Eleison relationship, there was absolutely no blame that fell on his shoulders, Thatch and Ace making good sacrifices for the cause and he felt pleased with how everything turned out.
The first time he saw Eleison glare at Marco, he knew they were just made for each other, almost a perfect match made on the untamed seas. Izo could practically the potential sparks flying up between them, even if those two did get off on the worst start. He had a small hope that fate would take care of them personally, but after a month of stilted tensions, Izo felt that he had to intervene. No, it was his duty to intervene. For the happiness of his brother and his friend.
When he overheard the subsequent plan to go exploring the unmarked island, Izo took it as the perfect opportunity to start 'Operation Get Marco A Girl Named Eleison', which was previously the cause of a lot of frustration; those two stubborn idiots couldn't even stand in the same room, let alone the same side of the ship without one leaving immediately. After planting some not-so-subtle ideas into Thatch, who eagerly relayed the plan to Ace, all he had to do was sit back and watch it unfold. They wouldn't even know what hit them.
He wanted to run back to his room and start phase two of the operation but held himself back for a minute longer to watch the two truly interact for the first time. It gave him a surge of satisfaction, knowing he was right. Again. Izo was never wrong about potential love, and he's certainly not wrong about this. All they needed was a well intentioned shove in the right direction.
When Eleison ran off to find some rope, he rounded the corner and revealed himself as casually as possible like he wasn't spying on them seconds ago. Marco looked surprised for about half second before schooling his face back to the calm, sleepy expression he was known for.
"I should've realized you were behind this," Marco sighed, sounding resigned and defeated at the same time.
Izo smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied in feigned innocence, but he sounded too smug to sound sincere. Marco immediately noticed and shook his head, leaving his accusation behind as he went to go find a pipe.
"Ace has one in his room," Izo called after him. Marco raised a lazy hand over his head, waving his thanks as he continued to walk away until disappearing around the corner. Izo glanced down at Ace's immobile form before walking over to the side of the ship to glance down at Thatch's unconscious body. He snorted and turned away, deciding to not interfere with their fun; it wasn't his fault those idiots messed up nor is he willing to defend them.
Besides, he had a plan to finish.
Tell me what you think!
