For the one who loves to eat his heart out,

Another prepares a feast their first time,

While a professional gloats in the back,

The sparks of something alight between men.

Ace grinned as he walked with Haruta and Thatch to lunch. As usual, they were up to a devious plot. One which involved a vast majority of the Whitebeard Pirates ending up with dyed hair. They were in the middle of this fantastic touch when Haruta brought a question that had been at the back of her mind. "Hey Ace, whatever happened to the bet between you and Marco?"

"Bet?"

"Yeah, you know, the one about whether or not you could keep Thatch from saying something that Marco qualified as dumb for a whole hour? I heard you somehow won that one."

"Oh, yeah! I had to cover Thatch's mouth with duct tape though! It was super funny!" Ace laughed at the memory while Thatch only groaned in the background.

"That wasn't funny at all! Marco ripped it off really hard after he lost! It hurt really bad!" The chef whined, rubbing his cheek as if to lesson some imagined pain.

Ace ignored the fourth division commander. "He was suppose to get me food, cause that was my victory request, but he never did…" Ace puffed out his cheeks. "Aww man, and I was really looking forward to some meat or something!"

Thatch stopped whining and looked at Ace with a confused expression. "Have you asked him about it or anything? Cause…"

"He usually repays debts immediately." Haruta butted in. "That's not like him."

"Well… I haven't really seen him since the bet yesterday."

Thatch stopped walking, realization seeping onto his face as the other two gave him questioning eyebrows. He belted out a laugh. "He-he..ehe..he!" The pompadour haired man gave up in talking and fell to the floor in a fit of laughter.

Haruta gave him a concerned look and crouched down next to the incapacitated commander. "What wrong giggle box?"

The laughing man steered himself and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I know exactly where to find our little feather-brained friend and it happens to be our current destination. C'mon, let's go to the galley." With a new found determination, the trickster led his fellow crewmates towards where they would find Marco.

They reached their destination just as pirates started to run from inside, screaming about the kitchen being on fire. Thatch immediately ran inside to put out the flames. Haruta and Ace stood outside while the flames were being extinguished, and Thatch eventually reappeared. "Okay folks! Looks like the fire is all taken care of! Nothing to be worried about, just a small dish that was left unattended on the stove! Don't worry about it!" The fourth division commander seemed to cheery, to eager to admit the cause of the fire, to ready to laugh his ass off. "Ace, Marco's in here by the way!"

The fire user suddenly felt hesitant to enter the building and almost ran away when Thatch dragged him inside, chuckling. The damage wasn't that bad. Ace could see the pan that probably held the forgotten dish being thrown away and some of the kitchenware had soot on it, but it was nothing major.

Another thing he noticed was Marco, who was sitting at a table looking absolutely livid. "Thatch, maybe this isn't the best time to as-"

"No, nonsense! The timing is perfect!"

"I think you're the one speaking nonsense-Hey Marco!" Ace gulped as the death stare Marco had been giving the food on the table was turned on him. "Hey so wha-" The dish sitting on the table was shoved into his hands. Ace raised an eyebrow and looked at Marco, who wouldn't meet his eye.

"Take it."

"Huh?" Ace was befuddled. "What's this for exactly?"

"For your guy's bet, of course!" Thatch filled in, wrapping an arm around the first division commander that looked like he really wanted to run away right now. "Marco stayed up all night tryin-"

A hand was shoved in his face, courtesy of the previously mentioned pirate. "Shut up Thatch!" Marco, first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and right hand man of the world's strongest man, was blushing. Sure, it was hidden under a scowl, but it was still there.

"Wait, you made this?" Ace asked, looking at the dish again. He could see the uneven, differently sized chopped carrots, how the noodles had a little too much juice, and how the strips of pork were just the slightest overcooked.

"There was suppose to be shrimp, but…" He looked away, and Ace could swear the blush came back. "I might have had too many dishes cooking at once and forgot about it." The short glance he sent the soot ridden stove was enough to answer what had happened. "In sorry about the pan, by the way, Thatch. I'll but you a new one when we reach land."

The chef waved it off. "Naw man, we're good! The teasing rights that I get from this are enough! But you should have seen him. After the game ended, Marco came up to me. Imagine my surprise when he asked me to help him cook something! I dare say it, but it was adorable watching him try to cook all buy himself!" Thatch burst out laughing. "He had to keep restarting cause he would burn it or make a mistake. Oh and he even messed up with the noodles, cause-"

"That's enough out of you, Thatch!" Marco interrupted, tackling the red head to the ground.

"He kept messing up so much, I had to go to bed and leave him on his own-" He was cut off by the embarrassed, blushing phoenix once again.

Ace looked down at the food with a new appreciation. Marco stayed up all night to make this, just to pay back a debt. He smile and took a bite. He flashed the first division commander a smile. "Thanks Marco!"

Marco stopped what he was doing, releasing Thatch from a headlock and gaped at the former pirate captain. Ace laughed. "It's really good!" If anyone noticed the blush that invaded Marco's face, then they didn't say anything.

Except Thatch, that is.

"Aww, is the pineapple head turning into a cherry?!" He was subsequently punched in the face.

I just wanted to say that all the reviews that you guys have given me are amazing! The sweet comments you made towards my stories really inspired me to write more! Also, I had this little headcannon that Marco is perfect at almost everything he does, but sucks at cooking and other normal people stuff. Comments are appreciated!