Chapter Nine
Long after the commotion outside their door has died, Ace sternly called a stop to their game of cards ignoring Ashley's begging for another round. The girl has started with a hefty sum of money 'generously' giving to her by Ace only to ended up losing it and owning him triple the amount since out of thirty-five games, she only won twice. By sheer dumb luck. "C'mon Ace!"
"Nuh-uh." He gathered the cards, shuffled them one last time before putting the deck inside his blue holster bag. "It's past dinner time." When it came to food, there was no arguing his decisions and Ashley pouted with aggrieved eyes. Seeing her on verge of crying, Ace paused. "Look here," he said, looking straight into her teary eyes and as serious as a dying man importing his trade secrets to his next kin, he continued : "A wise man once said that lady luck favor those with nimble fingers." Then with a flick of his wrist, an Ace of spades card popped up right between his fingers.
Impressed with his magic-less magic trick, Ashley applauded his performance before reality hit her square in the face. "You were cheating?!"
"Um, Maybe?" Ace said with black eyes looking sideways in false contemplation. "You see, it's cheating when you get caught, otherwise who knows? Ah! Don't worry about your debt, sugar," he added with a shrug which made her sigh in a rather short-lived relief, "you can pay it off at your leisure." He patted her shoulder with a sympathetic smile before setting forth to the galley.
Ace walked hurriedly, keen to soothe his stomach's woes and so he missed the sight of Ashley's lips curving into a sadistic cruel smile. Her anger turned to cold resentment and she vowed to destroy anyone who dared to, as much as, mention a game of cards in front of her. She'd render them beggars in the street! Stark naked! Hiding her devious plans, Ashley chased after the whistles of the one young man who keep teaching her his crooked ways.
When she caught up to him, Ace had already turned on the lights of the galley and was seated on one of the many wooden benches inside the room. "Where did you get those?" She pointed at the two trays in front of him. One has a small mountain of meat, bones and grease, which made her frown. The other looked like an elaborated piece of art, the colors of the salad were perfectly blended with cucumber in bunny and cat shapes, which made Ace frown.
"Dinner leftover," he said while sliding the second tray her way as she took a seat across from him.
"Doesn't look like it," she retorted while eyeing the perfectly rounded chocolate cake decorated with a fresh red flower on the side.
With a huff, Ace snatched the flower and shoved it in his mouth. Not a second later, he spitted it with a frown. "Ew, disgusting! Who put inedible shit on food?" Then he mumbled : "definitely leftover!" Before he start devouring meat with commendable speed.
Horrified and amazed in equal measures, Ashley stared at him with half opened mouth. Poor thing went to great lengths just to stay in denial, who was she to burst his bubble? Her lips twitched. "Whatever floats your boat," she whispered at last.
They ate in silence and only argued after Ace finished his food and stole some of hers. The idiot had the gal to snatch a piece of her dessert with his bare hand, squashing it into a chocolate mash in the process. Stabbing his hand with a fork didn't deter him, instead she yelped when the fork heat up. Ace cackling stopped only when the rest of the cake was flung at his him.
After licking as much chocolate as he could, Ace sat slouched at his seat, lovingly patting his protruded stomach. "Let's go digest, hum?" He suggested, face smeared with cream. Ashley shrugged. In their way out, Ace wiped his face and hands on some cook's uniform before he washed them in the sink. Ashley bit her tongue to keep from commenting.
They sauntered through the hallways and by the time they reached up deck, Ace's stomach was no more than a flat plan. Ashley doubted he burned the food instead of digesting it, which would explain a lot actually. With a destination in mind Ace hurried past the mizzenmast and the mainmast, Ashley trailing after him like a duckling would her mother. The young man stopped in front of the foremast and hummed. "The nest looks empty," he said, "So, let's climb this one."
"We are-" she stepped back and looked skyward in hopes of catching sight of the foremast's end, which only made her choke on her own spite. "-doing what?" When she turned to the grinning pirate, her neck ached and her vision spun twice before it settled.
"Going up," Ace laughed at her gobsmacked expression before skipping to the net of ropes by the ship's rail. Totally in his elements, he jumped with the nimbleness of a gymnast and crawled up with the speed of a monkey. "Come on, sugar," he said when he noticed the lack of a certain tail, "this will be worth it, I promise."
She couldn't say no. How could she? When, even in the dark, his eyes sparked like black gemstones. When even bitting his lower lip couldn't stop his smile from shining through. When he stretched his hand and move it up and down, silently asking her to hurry up.
"Urgh!" She whisper-screamed as she latched into his extended arm. If she couldn't feel magic on others, she would have believed him to be a wizard who had bewitched her to do his bidding.
"Excellent choice!" He commented as he hurled her up to his side and violently ruffled her hair in reward. "Here, let me show you how to go about this," he said with a blinding grin before her took hold of a rope two rows higher then slowly heaved himself up. When the net wobbled, Ashley clutched Ace's leg like a kraken, hugging it for dear life. Ace barked a laugh before encouraging her to let go and try. "No. No magic," he said in a disapproving tone when he heard her whispering.
"Why?!" Cross and on verge of exploding at his face, she glared daggers at him. "Jealousy?" She said while wiggling your eyebrows. "Or afraid I'll make it up there before you?" Ace dramatically rolled his eyes.
"Everyone knows witches suck at close combat." He wasn't pulling any punches and Ashley winced. "You need to exercise," he said with one hand propping him up on the ropes and the other on his hip. A gesture of reproach, if ever she'd seen one. "Now move your ass."
With a sigh, Ashley trailed after him. Contrary to how easy Ace made it look like, her forearms and legs strained under the pressure of lifting her body up. If Ace was a monkey in the jungle then Ashley could only be a sloth…or worse, since she lacked their steadiness. She had to take breaks several times and Ace had the compassion to descend each time and pull her up with a single hand like a rag doll. Passing from the net to the yards - the horizontal wooden spars on the mast - and from the yards to the net could be only described as pure muscle torture.
Reaching the top yard, where the crew's nest is located, took almost an agonizing forty minutes and Ace had to rub it in her face, boastfully declaring that he normally make it to the top in less than ten minutes.
Ashley gasped for breath, heat coloring her cheeks red as she curled on the crew's nest floor while Ace stood, arms crossed over the rail, gazing at the dark horizon. He took his hat off to let the breeze ruffle his hair. "This is my favorite view," he said with a relaxed smile.
Forcing herself to her feet, Ashley leaned on him for support. "Ah," she sighed as a knot of tension inside of her slowly, but surely, come undone.. The way the sky meet the ocean in a never ending vastness, made her feel so small and her concerns even smaller.
Ashley didn't think the view could possibly get any more captivating until Ace whispered, "Firefly Light." hundreds of Green Will-o'-the-wisp lookalikes appeared from his wide opened palm. Some cast their ethereal lights on them, instantly driving the cold and the darkness away like a blessing of sorts. Others floated just above the ocean's surface, like lanterns paying homage to Poseidon and Amphitrite.
"Wow," her hands cupped one tiny ball of light, caging it inside her fingers.
"Careful," Ace whispered, "they may be small but they sting as hell."
No more words were exchanged, as they both sink into reveries of the past and hopes of the future. The crew's nest of the Moby Dick, high as a mountain's peak, was the only place on board that can make one feel free as a flying bird and humble as an ant.
Even after the last fire ball extinguished and the sky lightened to a dark blue, Ashley wasn't psychologically ready for the climb down and a single glimpse down the abyss confirmed that she would never be.
"We can take a shortcut," Ace suggested, "We'll make it down there in the blink of an eye."
"Really?! Why haven't you told me earlier," Ashley said, a pout on her lips. "Let's use this shortcut of yours."
"You sure?" At her persistent nod, he held her by the waist and placed her on the rail of the crew's nest then swiftly handed her a rope as if fearing she may change her mind. "Hold on tight," he said ignoring her questioning eyes. "Oh! And enjoy the rid while it lasts," he grinned before shoving her off the rail.
The combination of her haunting cries and his blasting laughter had no doubt woke up the whole crew, some even yelled for them to shut the fuck up. Taking the same road downward, Ace doubled over once again when he saw Ashley curled in a fetal position, whispering about skinning someone alive. "Up! Up!" He said while helping her stand on her feet, effortlessly ignoring her glares. "You don't wanna miss the sunrise."
They didn't miss it.
They had the best view of the sunrise as they had huddled together on top of the whale's head of the Moby Dick. Once the first sunlight of the day shone, they closed their eyes reflexively but didn't get to open them as planned since they both passed out cold. They didn't wake up when Haruta took a picture of them in their weird sleeping positions, when Marco put a blanket over them, nor when Thatch tried to join them and got venomously chased out by Izou.
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