So I wrote this months ago and just now realised that I apparently never posted it... oops
Characters: Marco, Ace, Thatch
Imagination
He was looking out over the water, leaning his weight onto the rail as his eyes skirted over the roiling waves, the Moby slicing through ocean as it sailed. He smiled, allowing his lids to flutter closed as a sudden breeze rushed past, the faint spray of ocean mist cool against his skin, just as it always was, just as it always had been. The crew was silent, most still below deck so early in the morning, the first beams of sunlight just now breaking the horizon. It was a small grace, knowing that he'd be left to his thoughts until the cooks woke and readied breakfast for the rest of his men. It gave him time to think.
Marco felt the way the air heated, a wave of warmth surging towards him and making him feel secure. He recognised that warmth, his smile broadening as he heard the creak of weight being pressed down against the rail, the air around him shifting. He could remember it like yesterday.
"What're you doing, out here all alone?" Ace asked, the grin ever-prominent in the tone of his voice.
"The same thing I do every morning, yoi," he answered simply, taking in a deep breath and scenting the salt from the ocean.
He never missed the snicker he earned, or the way the wood creaked as the other shifted to look at him. "I don't get you sometimes. Is it really that fun, standing out here all by your lonesome?"
"No," he admitted with a smile, "but I'm not alone now, am I?"
"...This is a good point."
"I make a lot of those, yoi."
"Oh shut up, old man."
He laughed, hearing the other snort, and at the same time the approach of footsteps caught his ear, a weighted gait behind them as they stopped right at his back. This he knew well, too. "Marco, buddy! Thought you'd keep me company in the kitchens." Thatch's voice was always the most nostalgic, taking back to a time when he was far from being Oyaji's first mate, back when they had both first joined the crew. Sometimes he missed those days…
"I don't remember saying that, yoi."
"You did, Pineapple-man," he stated with a pout. "What about you? Care to join me?"
He heard Ace's snort as he turned to face the redhead. "Got nothing better to do, since the flaming chicken's hell bent on watching the sunrise."
Ace pushed off the rail and joined the cook, his brothers disappearing into the cabin towards the back of the ship, and he heaved a sigh as he opened his eyes. Gone again, were they? Well… it was nice, while it lasted.
He missed the company.
"Cap'n," one of the men called, and Marco turned around to see one of his newer brothers standing stiffly in front of him.
He smiled. "What is it, yoi?"
The man seemed to relax at that, his shoulders slumping in relief, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I… you were talking to yourself, so I just wanted to make sure you were okay…"
The smile stretched and he strode over, stretching as he started towards the cabin. "It's nothing, yoi. Just enjoying the morning with some old friends."
Adieu~