Birdie finally woke up and found out more about his mysterious saviour while Luffy enjoy himself, teasing birdie, who's also Marco.
Hello, another chapter and finally some MaLu interactions. I hope it isn't too fast and easy but I am just impatient and generally suck at slow burns. Anyway, I tend to make Luffy a pretty boy so if you don't like that, oops~
Enjoy~
Chapter 2 ~ Getting to know Birdie (After 3 days)
Three days later
The next time Marco woke up he was on a bed and his wounds were wrapped in bandages. He noticed it wasn't professionally done. It was slightly messy but it was doing it's work. He raised his head and realised how dizzy he felt, looking around he noticed that it looks like it's starting to get dark and outside the window he saw a person sitting near a campfire alone with his arm crossed behind his head staring at the sky. Said person turned around and smiled when he saw him, he stood up and Marco could've sworn he saw the fire absorbed into the person's hand.
Luffy was sitting by the bonfire, watching the sky darken and sun set when he thought he heard something since he had heightened senses and he was right, birdie was awake and peering out the window. So he decided to go back to the cabin and feed it some food. It's been sleeping for almost 3 days after all. By now, Luffy's small cuts and scrapes from the dive were already fully healed.
'Why won't my flames work and heal me yoi?!' Marco thought as he observed the person walking over calmly. He didn't know what to think but it's not like he could do anything, he's still wounded and weak and besides the person took care of him.
The guy, now he noticed since there was a lack of breast and his shoulders were too broad to be a female. Though, while the body stature indicated a male, the teen, because he looked young to Marco, was still quite slender with lean muscles and was shorter than himself by about a foot. The teen was wearing a tight black shirt with turtlenecks, 'why wear that on an island yoi?!' he wondered distractedly, with knee length black khaki shorts which looked like it might drop off at any moment and was barefoot. The closer the teen got, the more visible the scars and burns that littered his legs are. It looked almost painful and some were really old, 'when did he get those if it's old and he's still young now yoi,' he thought again and couldn't help frowning when he saw the obvious marks left from shackles on his ankles, like he grew up with it. The guy was out of sight for a moment and the bird could hear him entering the cabin.
"Hey birdie you're finally awake, how are you?" He said walking towards him, "you were running a high fever for about 2 days, you know."
'2 days yoi,' Marco thought, surprised. The teen was already in front of him by the time he finished talking, the bird could now see his face clearly unlike the first time.
He was cute and pretty, he probably could compete with beautiful women and no, he wasn't exaggerating. He had big round onyx eyes that seemed to glow even if it looked slightly old and tired. Eyelids lazily blinking, fluttering his lashes and a gentle smile showing some of his teeth that seemed to just radiate warmth. There was also a roughly stitched crescent scar below his left eye that somehow fits into his face. His face was round yet has defined jaws with plump pink lips, decorated with neck length raven locks that are layered and messy. Marco blinked and he was right in front of his face.
'WHAT The hell yoi!' He squawked in surprise.
"Shishishi, I surprised you eh, sorry~ sorry~," he apologised, not sounding sorry at all. The raven gently lifted him up and bumped his forehead on the bird's and it looked surprised, blinking stupidly.
"I'm just checking your temperature...It seems you still have a mild fever," he said chuckling, seemingly amused at his confusion.
The bird huffed a breath, 'are you doing this on purpose yoi?'
Luffy picked up the bird gently as it squawked in protest but he ignored it and cradled it like a cat on his arms while gently grooming the feathers with skilled hands, making the bird croon this time.
'How's he so good at this yoi?' he wondered. Marco finally noticed the cabin was small yet comfortable, it had just enough space for 2 people to live in. He was placed gently on the dining table along with the blanket, forming a sort of nest and was wrapped in it.
"Here drink some water before eating," Luffy said as he placed a bowl of water and some bread beside while he set a bowl of beef broth for himself. Marco drank some water and eyed the bread and soup, realising he was indeed quite hungry.
"Do you want this instead?" Luffy asked, smiling nodding towards the soup. The bird just stared at him so he smiled and offered it anyway. The bird drank it slowly and seemed to enjoy it which made him smirk proudly, proving something he's been suspecting.
"Are you a devil fruit user perhaps, birdie?" The raven asked with a lazy smile, leaning on his elbow.
Marco turned his head so fast he might've gotten whiplash, 'how'd he figure it out so fast yoi? He's quite smart,'. The raven must've noticed his shocked and confused look since he proceeded to explain helpfully.
"You were stabbed at the back which was odd for anyone trying to kill a bird but that just gave me slight suspicion, and then you're reaction to being touched plus you actually ate beef broth, shishishi. I don't think birds would eat beef broth. So are you?" He explained calmly with a small smirk but Marco could see he was slightly cautious and tense.
'So, he's cautious of a stranger yoi but still helped me,' Marco thought and saw no reason to lie since he was found out anyway so he nodded slowly while keeping eye contact. The teen stared at him for several seconds, expressionless and not blinking giving him that feeling that he was exposed again. It made him tense up but then suddenly, the teen blinked and smiled like nothing happened.
"Mmhm.. you seem okay for now, I'm Luffy, nice to meetcha," he introduced, nodding.
'Eh? How did he even judge me to be okay yoi,' he thought, dumbfounded but continued eating anyway. After they finished eating, the person, Luffy, washed the dishes while Marco observed the area when he noticed a bookshelf filled with tons of books, his eyes widened slightly. 'He reads a lot yoi, unless those are decorations.'
"Do you like books, birdie-san? I can lend you some if you're bored," Luffy said as he wiped his hand and lifted him up again. The bird didn't complain this time he seemed tired as it leaned into him more, 'he needs to rest again,' Luffy thought. He brought him to the bed and sat down, the sky was dark by now, it was late already.
Marco was feeling really tired again, his head felt heavy. He noticed he was on Luffy's lap on the bed and he could hear humming and looked up to see Luffy smiling at him and stroking him gently.
"Get some rest birdie-san, it's late and you're still sick. I promise again, I won't hurt you alright," Luffy promised. It seemed genuine enough, so he let himself drift to sleep again.
Luffy shifted the bird onto the bed and sighed as he watched him sleep, 'I should find out his name, the next time he wakes up,' he thought. The raven sighed again when he realised he was running out of meat and food provisions, he needed to make a trip to a nearby island with town again. But with the bird here, he's not sure if he should bring him along or leave him alone. Luffy went to work on some paintings he thought up, blue and orange, inspired by the bird he found when the sun was setting. Once it was getting late, he cleaned himself up and changed to go to bed.
That night, Marco was woken up by the sound of rustling beside him, he turned to see the raven sweating and whimpering in his sleep.
'Must be a nightmare yoi,' he thought.
He could hear the raven mumbling something, he was now crying and Marco crooned to wake him up, but there was no response. The raven was now begging someone to stop and the bird was worried. He nudged the teen several times before he suddenly jerked up, breathing heavily, trembling and crying.
Marco released a soft croon to inform the raven that he was there. Luffy seemed to finally notice the bird next to him, Marco was still wounded and couldn't move as freely as he wanted so he nudged the teen's hand with his head. The raven gave him an appreciative wet smile and laid back down to pull him closer and place an arm over his body lightly, Marco let him. Marco thought he heard a small, mumbled, 'thank you…,' before he fell back asleep.
The next day, Marco woke up and noticed Luffy was right next to him, he blinked away sleep for a while and just watched. 'He's pretty yoi,' he mused. Feeling better today, he strained his neck to look outside the window but when he tried to stand up he winced, his wounds still hurting, and tripped onto the teen who grunted and woke up from the sudden weight.
Luffy woke up and saw birdie sprawled on top of him blinking almost sheepishly, making him chuckle. "Good morning~, what are you doing?" He asked with an amused smile.
Marco cursed inwardly, thank god he was a bird or he would be blushing as he stared at the teen's half-lidded eyes who seemed to find him amusing right now. He squawked as he tried to get up and failed, then he was lifted up gently and placed on the teen's lap again. Finally allowing him to look outside and notice the sun rising, it was truly a beautiful sight.
"It's pretty isn't it…" he said while Marco crooned an agreement. "Ne, I'm going to go to the forest later to pick some fruits since I'm running out of food and you're not well enough for me to bring you to a town yet, want to come along? I'll show you something prettier," Luffy offered, grinning at the bird.
'So there's a town yoi?' He wanted to know what and where this island is since he was unconscious the last time he was brought here. So he nodded and was rewarded an enthusiastic 'okay'.
Breakfast was normal with bread, crackers, and some milk. Marco's bandages had been changed, he still needed help getting around and was starting to not mind the teen's touches, it was actually quite nice, he admitted in his head because the raven was always so careful and gentle.
Luffy lifted the bird again cradling him while it pecked him seemingly unimpressed at being cradled like a cat but it only made Luffy grin. He sat down on his desk with the bird on his lap and wrote on a piece of paper.
"Want to tell me your name?" He asked as he brought down the paper and Marco realised it was the alphabet A-Z. Marco looked at him and he gave him an encouraging smile.
'Should I tell him yoi? Would he find out who I am…?' he sighed.
"You don't have to if you don't want to...I just don't want to keep calling you birdie now that I know you're a person," the raven quickly added, he must've heard him sigh. So he pointed out his name on the paper.
'Thank god my name's not too long yoi,' he thought as he pointed 1 alphabet to the next.
"M..A..Ma..R..CO.. MARCO!" Recited Luffy quite excitedly, "nice name, shishishi. Marco it is."
Honestly, Marco had so many questions he would love to ask the teen right now but pointing out alphabets to form sentences would be exhausting. Luffy stood up again and placed him on the bean bag which made him sink into it leaving only head out, he squawked and the teen had the audacity to sputter in amusement and laugh out loud at him. But his laughter sounded so nice and he just couldn't stay mad, the bird huffed through his beak, annoyed.
"Sorry...hah... but I got to change for a while so we can leave and go to the forest," he said while catching his breath.
Suddenly, Marco remembered last night, he was growing fond of the teen already and it's only been 2 days since he woke up, what the hell. He wondered what the teen went through and was glad he could still laugh and smile as often as he does. Marco couldn't help but feel slightly protective of the teen already; though he's the protected one right now. Luffy came back wearing the same black shirt he saw yesterday, only this time he was wearing black shorts that looked like swimming trunks, it would make him blush if he could. It was tight, showing his body shape, ass, and leg and damn that body was hot.
'What Am I Thinking Yoi! Control yourself Marco!' He talked to himself in his mind. He's going crazy, staying with this weird guy that he can't seem to figure out. He misses his family's weirdness that he was a lot more used to and he was sure they're worried. He was thinking of how and when he could go back to the Moby Dick, his home, that he didn't realise he was already carried by Luffy, who was ready and went out barefoot.
"Can you stand? Does it hurt?" Luffy asked while he placed the bird on his shoulder to perch on, birdie seemed to lean on his head for support and he didn't mind when the bird placed his head on his hair. Though, he blinked, slightly surprised when the bird started nuzzling it, which made him smile softly and chuckle.
Luffy asked him if he could stand so he tried and he could, but he needed support so he leaned on the teen's head and god was that hair soft! He didn't even realise he was nuzzling it with his head till he heard the raven chuckle.
'Why do I keep losing myself yoi?!' He groaned inwardly but continued, it was irresistible and he was a bird anyway. They, as in Luffy, hiked a bit before reaching the forest. Marco realised the island was small but there were sufficient edible fruits around. After walking around more, he realised there was no town here, it was a small uninhabited island… 'he's living alone yoi…' he frowned slightly inwardly, getting more curious of his mysterious saviour. Marco was lost in his thought when he heard a loud growl, he turned around and noticed a huge tiger, okay this island was not inhabited. He started panicking slightly, could this petite teen even fight? But he seemed calm, 'does he not realise the danger right now yoi?' He thought and would groan if he could. Then the tiger charged, making him squawk and he was ready to transform and fight even though he didn't know if he could transform.
"STOP! Stripey, not now I have an injured bird on me, SEEEE!'' Luffy pointed at him. What? The tiger actually stopped and whined a little before it came closer, sniffing and nudging said teen.
'How?why?what?! Yoi!' He's so damn confused he started pecking the raven's head, 'you made me worry, yoi!' He squawked, angrily.
"Aahhh...ite ite, sorry but I didn't mean to worry you! He just loves to jump on me sometimes, shishishi."
He definitely was not sorry, Marco thought as he sighed then he realised, 'he could understand me yoi? Was that a coincidence?' But then he watched as Luffy just talked to the tiger as if it was responding to him and soon a bunch of other animals came and just sat around him, seeking attention. 'Am I drunk yoi? This looks like it came straight out of a fairytale," at the end, he decided it was not worth getting a headache over and just observed. Maybe this boy is crazy…
"What's wrong?" asked Luffy as a deer came to the clearing.
"Eh, you need help?" The deer just huffed.
"By the river? Alright, let's go."
"The rest of you can go, I'll see you all next time, bye byeee~!" he waved while following the deer.
When they reached the river there was a fawn holding on to a branch with his mouth while the river current dragged it. Marco was shocked, it was real, he could actually understand those animals. He was gently placed on a flat rock by Luffy while he took off his clothes, not caring now that his marks could be seen and dived into the river. Marco's eyes widened at the glimpse of a mark he could recognise anywhere, on the teen's back before he dived.
'He was a slave yoi…' he realised and was even more glad that the teen could laugh and smile. After gathering his thoughts, Marco was worried, wasn't the teen a devil fruit user? What with the fire absorbing scene. 'Was that a trick of my mind yoi?' He wondered as he watched Luffy climb out of the river bank holding the fawn then walking towards him after setting the fawn down.
Marco could only stare as he walked towards him. The raven was dripping wet, brushing his hair out of his face with a hand, his body was lean and slender just perfect and the scars littering around only made him look sexier.
"Ehhhh! Why are you getting a nosebleed!" Luffy said as he quickly wore his shirt and wiped the bird's nose. Luffy wasn't stupid of course he knew why Marco has a nosebleed, he was told over and over about how pretty he was by those sick bastards after all, but for some reason he didn't mind right now and Marco looked apologetic? and embarrassed?
Luffy picked him up but this time he held him in his arms since the bird might be tired, he's still wounded after all and continued picking fruits then watered his plants. They went to the waterfall to rest, it was peaceful and cool as water sprayed from the waterfall. Marco lay down sprawled on the grass looking pretty comfortable and lost in thought while Luffy cut some of the fruits he got for snacks, it was nice and quiet.
"...you saw my mark didn't you..?" He glanced at said bird which looked at him and nodded. "Do you think any differently of me now? I usually don't care what people think of it, but…" his voice grew quieter as he continued and sighed at the end. The bird squawked, 'I don't care yoi.' Hopped beside him and nuzzled his sides to deliver the message. Luffy smiled, tears threatening to fall but he quickly blinked them away.
"Thank you… Neh.. would you transform into a human for me?" Luffy asked.
'Should I? He might not like pirates or be scared of them. Would he even recognise me?' Marco thought quickly, for some reason he didn't want to be disliked by the raven. But he thought he could try anyway, hiding it would just be pointless and he would be found out later on. So Marco stood up and tried but he couldn't get it to activate other than some blue flames here and there, he sighed for the nth time wondering why it was not working, slightly worried it was permanent… He was starting to panic at the thought that this was permanent but was thankfully distracted.
"That was… pretty! The blue flames I mean and don't worry you'll be fine it'll work one day," Luffy said excitedly and encouraged him.
'How would you know yoi,' he thought but appreciated how well the younger one could read him sometimes. He was spot on and eased his worries almost instantly even though he's a bird. It was around afternoon, after eating some food Luffy packed this morning when Luffy picked him up again and continued hiking up the mountain beside the waterfall where they ended up at this cliff. It was surrounded with trees at the side and flowers littering the area, yellow, white, and red. However, what was most breathtaking was the edge of the cliff which was facing the open seas. There, he was set down beside Luffy and they watched the sunset together while the raven hummed some tune that he thought sounded beautiful.
"This is my favourite place, it's where I can feel the sea breeze and watch the sunset. It reminds me that I am free, though… still not as free as I would love to be but free nonetheless," Luffy told him with a small smile that looked somewhat sad but relieved.
Marco was staring at him thinking that he's as pretty as the sunset right now, he knew he shouldn't get attached, yet he couldn't help it. The teen was just lovely and he wanted to know more about him, protect him. 'What did he mean by not as free as he would've liked yoi? Was he still trapped?'
That's another chapter, did you like the development or was it too fast? I'm not very good at story writing but I think I did pretty well. Sometimes I write stuff and when I reread it again, I cringe at myself :'). Was it cringy? I couldn't change it anymore since I honestly have no ideas.
I have written about 40 000 words and I'm going to post as much as I could and maybe continue where I left off.
(~!~) Hi, If there's a difference when you reread, it's because I edited the chapter a little. To make the sentences sound better with much more sense. I also adjusted the paragraph so it's not bunched together. Not much is changed and the story is the same.
(3555 words)
