Oh, look, an update :D I'm sorry I'm so late u_ù
Thanks to Aerle and The Red Harlequin On The Luna for their help with this :)
Edit: I have modified a little thing because I needed it for chapter 5. It was nothing plot-relevant in this chapter, so nothing has really been altered past a little detail.
Chapter 3
Ace secures the last piece of clothing to the rope that serves as a drying rack every time he needs one and sighs. He hates doing chores like that, it is just boring and, contrary to what some people seem to think about them, not relaxing at all. At least he has managed to do it in solitude as, after a good ten minutes of gesturing and repeated words, he has made the blond man understand he should stay inside the cave. Not because he wants the man to stay in there, but because he would rather not have the man staring fixedly at everything he does. It becomes kind of far too unnerving after the first couple of hours.
It takes him a little while, more time than he is willing to admit, to realize the annoying background noise is his phone ringing, and he darts to the entrance of the cave. There he stands, glued to the ground by the sight that greets him: many of his things are strewn across the ground, and the blond man is kneeling —on all fours, really— over Ace's phone, a finger poking curiously at the device.
For a dumb moment Ace thinks he would have expected the man to jump in fright at the scandalous noise, seeing how he seems to know so little about certain things, and is impressed by how brave he must be to stay so close to the obviously unknown item. Then he remembers his phone is ringing, that Sabo and Luffy are the only ones who would call him. Sabo would murder him if he didn't answer and Luffy would whine that he ignored him. Ace lunges at the phone.
It turns out, that wasn't such a smart course of action.
Next thing he knows, Ace has his back flat on the ground, caught completely off-guard by the man that now hovers over him, a confused yet wary expression on the blond's face. It's an expression far too alert, Ace thinks. Not something that is seen often.
"O-Oi…" he complains, barely refraining from yelling because his brain manages to intercept his mouth just in time and convinces him that such an action will probably not work well to relax the blond.
A blond that's far too strong. Even for his appearance. And he isn't really hurting Ace, despite the fact that he's holding tightly both of his arms. The guy knows what he is doing.
"I need to get that," Ace says, raising a hand as much as his trapped upper arm allows to point at the phone that has just stopped ringing. He grimaces, that's going to cost him.
The man doesn't turn his head, and instead looks at the phone out of the corner of his eye. Ace feels uncomfortable by this action, as most of the attention of his strange guest is still focused on him. And the man is straddling him. In a decidedly non-sexual way. Which makes the young man feel even more uneasy than he would have likely felt if it had been sexual.
A blond eyebrow goes up, and Ace takes the gesture as an inquiry.
"That," he insists. The thought that the man might think a phone is called 'that' crosses his mind, but right now angry brothers take priority over communication misunderstandings. He points at the phone, repeats the word and then points at himself. "Me. That. Me."
The grip on his arms loosens a little, but Ace doesn't delude himself into thinking he can get free by force. The guy has proven he's too fast —and strong— for that to work. He would just end up pinned to the ground again and, if the blond takes it as an offensive action, this time he might actually be injured in the process.
"It's not dangerous," he says though the man won't understand, and tries to smile a mix of his most friendly smile and a reassuring one. "Please," he adds for good measure, and his tactic must have worked because the man stands, pulling Ace up with him.
He doesn't let go of his arms immediately, instead moving behind Ace and pushing him softly in the back and in the direction where the phone is before letting go.
Ace is aware of the blue eyes glued to him as he walks slowly to the phone that starts to ring again —he isn't going to make any sudden movements and risk setting the man off again— and wonders distractedly if this is how prisoners feel, their every move watched closely. He shakes the thought off, because this is his camp and if there should be a prisoner here it wouldn't be him.
The boy bends down, picks the phone and turns around to look at the silent man, who has moved to sit against one of the cave's walls. Ace drags his thumb across the screen of the phone to answer the call and drops to a sitting position on the ground. He brings the phone up to his ear, eyes glued to the blond's blue ones.
"Yeah?"
Ace sees the confusion flicker across the man's face. He is probably thinking why Ace is talking to a thing held against his head.
"You forgot your phone again?"
Blue eyes open like saucers, and that is enough for the boy to know the man is able to hear Sabo at the other side of the line, even if his brother isn't yelling or anything. He holds back a smirk.
Ace stares at the man sitting in front of him. In a moment Ace was distracted, the blond disappeared and now has come back with lunch —and Ace is not complaining, though he wonders at the ease with which the man is able to hunt without any tools to help him— that is now being cooked on the same stone where breakfast had been. It had taken a moment for Ace to understand the gesture when, right after coming back, the man extended an expectant hand to him. He almost didn't hand his knife over, but then realized the guy had already taken it earlier and hadn't tried to murder him with it.
He has taught the blond how to get water from the container, and now the man is cleaning the utensil and his hands himself, though he is also looking curiously at the other tools the item has, no doubt trying to figure them out.
Ace, meanwhile, is trying to figure the man out. He can no longer cling to his theory that he has some mental deficiency, not after what happened earlier. He is far too alert, far too perceptive and fast to grasp any concept Ace has tried to explain him. The guy doesn't know the language —he has proven to have the capacity of speech with the few words he has learned— and lacks a lot of common knowledge to a level not even Luffy can reach, but he is far from stupid. He is smart, and that takes down most of the theories the boy can come up with to explain what is wrong with the man.
A flash of blue fire appears in Ace's mind and a part of his brain decides he should try to discover if that fire even exists. He pushes the idea back. He doesn't even know where he would begin with that, and the part of his brain claiming that such a thing can't exist still has some power in his decision making. If he can't find any logical explanation for what is going on here, then he will consider the illogical, but for now he will stick to common sense.
The man finally closes the blade and hands it to him, his eyes shining in a way oddly reminiscent of a five year old with a new toy. Ace puts it back in place and grins at him. Maybe he could show the guy what some of the other tools do, just to see if he would react with as much fascination as he has to most things Ace has done so far.
And, speaking of the man.
"What's your name?"
The blond blinks and tilts his head to the side.
Ace really needs to stop forgetting the guy can't understand him.
"Name," he repeats, slower this time, and then points at himself. "Ace." He points at the man and asks; "name?" The other, of course, doesn't understand, so Ace points at himself again. "Name, Ace." And again at the man. "Name?"
After the fifth repeat, the man nods and then, much to Ace's confusion, shakes his head.
"What?" the boy asks, and his expression must have compelled his confusion, because the man seems to understand what he means. He shakes his head in a very clear negative.
"Name," the blond says then, and it takes Ace a moment to understand what he is saying. His eyes widen, and he feels his mouth fall open. What?
"No name?" he asks to clarify, and emphasizes the 'no' with the same slow, clear shaking of the head the man has used to convey the meaning of the word.
The blond nods, and then imitates Ace's actions as if to reaffirm that is what he means, shaking his head and repeating the words 'no name'. He says it with such ease that Ace is sure the man doesn't think it is a big deal. For him, on the other hand, it is such an alien concept that it takes him the remainder of the meal to understand that the man before him not only has no knowledge of the world, but that by not having a name is as if he has never had anyone for him, no parents, relatives or friends who would acknowledge he is someone.
By not having a name, it is as if the man doesn't exist.
It is strange how at ease Ace feels now next to the blond man.
Oh, he was confused when he went out to do some warm-up and the guy not only followed, but after looking at him for a minute started to imitate him. Ace worried the man would misunderstand anything, or mess things up and either hurt himself or Ace, but the guy learns fast, and when he can learn just by observing, no words involved, he doesn't seem to have any trouble.
Half an hour into the now workout session, Ace was surprised when the blond stopped him and, much to the boy's surprise, showed him an exercise Ace doesn't know. He grinned at him and tried, and now they've settled into a routine of Ace teaching the man a move, and the man teaching him a move afterwards.
His previous observations about the blond's physical skills stand, and the boy notices he seems to favor kicks, while Ace himself bases his fighting style more on punches.
It is an interesting experience, and he decides he wouldn't mind repeating it.
Had Ace been alone here, he would be cursing himself right now for having refused to take any of the books Sabo had tried to stuff in his luggage aside from the one about the local flora and fauna. There in only so much one can do without any real means of entertainment —and he has very few games in his phone, too— but luckily, he now has a companion that can help him get rid of the boredom that would otherwise be smothering him.
Unfortunately, his companion is unable to keep even the simplest of conversations, and Ace has decided to take it upon himself to solve that problem. The man's vocabulary right now includes 'Ace', 'name', 'eat', 'water', 'sit', 'hand', 'stand up', 'come here' and 'lie down'. It's not much —a little depressing, if he's honest— but it's a start and those words allow to function on a surprising amount of daily situations.
Right now, Ace has the ground outside the cave littered with cans, packs of crackers, cookies and a little of everything edible he has brought with him and is pointing at each of them stating the word 'food'. It's not a great plan, but Ace has never claimed to be a good teacher, and he's counting on the man's brain —which has proven to be far quicker than Ace anticipated— to grasp what he means. He figures they should start with the more general concepts, he is sure he has at least the right idea there.
The man picks one of the cans —sausage, like the one they ate last night for dinner— and points at it.
"Food?"
Ace grins and nods.
"Yeah."
Then the man points where the fire was earlier that day —there's nothing left from the rabbit they ate for lunch, Ace cleaned everything before it could attract any animals— and asks again. Ace nods enthusiastically, because the guy has understood the concept, proving that his improvised method might work.
His stomach growls, because it's mid afternoon and they've been working out for almost two hours before. He chooses a bag of chocolate chip cookies and opens it.
"Let's eat," he says, and the man must have understood the last word, because he takes one when Ace offers the bag to him first —he has manners, even if he is going to eat three quarters of the bag. He notices the man doesn't eat until he sees the boy take a bite himself, and is tempted to scoff at what could be either paranoia or mistrust, but when the man does eat, he is too fascinated to be annoyed.
Because whenever Ace has heard about the amazement of someone who eats chocolate for the first time, he had never truly understood the concept. But the almost awed expression on the man's face is everything he needs to know he has never before eaten chocolate.
The man takes another bite, and he looks so pleased that Ace realizes the guy had had his guard up to some extent all the time until now. In an unusual gesture of good will, and only because it is obvious the man really likes chocolate, Ace decides he will eat just two thirds of the bag.
Taking another one, he pointed at it.
"Cookie."
The next morning, Ace isn't surprised when both the man and his Swiss army knife are missing, and this time he notices the delicious smell coming from outside. As he puts everything in place, he catches sight of his shoulder bag, and how it has obviously been searched through. He growls, but doesn't bother to check what is missing, knowing he will see it by himself once he goes outside.
Ace is surprised at what greets him. The tripod he uses to cook —one the man hasn't seen him use, he must add— is positioned above the fire, the smaller of the two pots he has brought suspended from it. The tripod's box is lying to one side, the sheet with the instructions —that includes pictures— spread on top of it and under an empty can of peas.
To one side of the tripod, on top of the now dubbed cooking stone, is some sliced meat. Not too much, which makes Ace think whatever the man has caught today isn't big.
Next to the blond is the tin cup and on top of it, open so it will stay balanced there instead of falling inside, is Ace's knife.
Despite himself, and the mess inside, Ace is impressed, the man has not only figured out how to cook with what the boy had in his bag, but he has managed to open the can. Not following the correct process, if the way the lid seems to have been somehow forced open is any indicator. Ace thinks he will have to address that, but as the man looks uninjured he decides to let it be for now.
"Morning," he says, grinning at the confused look he receives. He is about to walk over there when he realizes something and goes back inside. Ignoring most of his strewn possessions, he finds the spoon still inside the bag, takes it and goes back inside. He only has one spoon, which means they will have to share, but Ace doesn't believe the man will mind. And what is an indirect kiss through it after a real one two nights ago?
Ace is surprised that he isn't annoyed anymore, but he guesses that with everything being so surreal, that incident seems almost normal in comparison, and normal —even annoying normal— is welcome right now.
Looking at his companion, who smiles at him in greeting, the boy makes a decision. He can't risk the other tools of the Swiss knife to be broken —you never know what you might need— but he doesn't want to forbid the man from doing something as nice as bringing and cooking food for him, so he pulls out his pocket knife.
"Hey." The man looks up and Ace extends his hand to offer it to him. The blond blinks. "Take it." He knows the other hasn't understood the words, but does as the boy has said all the same.
Ace takes the other knife —that has already dried— and points to the one in the man's hands.
"Yours," he says, then he raises the other, "mine," and he brings it closer to himself to emphasize. He repeats it for good measure and the man nods. Ace isn't sure he has understood him, but guesses he will know the next morning. If the knife disappears again, it means he will have to find another way to explain.
But for now his attention is drawn to the already cooked breakfast.
Ace has made his mind and, after a short warm-up session later that morning, he approaches the man. His mind is alert in case he will need to dodge —he can't know how the blond will react, it's not as if he knows of any precedents of this situation, but this is something he feels has to be done.
"Hey," the man turns his head to look at him, already having associated that word with a way to get someone's attention.
Ace stops a foot away from him.
"Name," he says, and the man begins to shake his head, but Ace cuts him by raising a hand and shaking his own head. "No, no. You, name." That sounds stupid even to his ears, but he has said 'you' enough times to hope the man might have an inkling as to what the word means.
The man tilts his head in obvious question, and Ace swallows. He looks around, seeing that he could roll to the right without risking to crash into a tree. Raising a hand, he points to himself.
"Ace." Then he points to the man."Marco."
He has been thinking since yesterday, and that name sounds good for the man. He can't keep calling him 'man' all the time, after all.
The blond blinks, and Ace waits to see if another reaction will appear on his face or if he will have to repeat himself. He doesn't move, eyes fixed on the other's expression, searching for any sign of anger or annoyance that will signal he should retreat. After all, he doesn't know how the man will react to Ace trying to name him.
Understanding slowly blooms on the blond's face, and Ace tenses as he waits to see the next emotion there. When, instead of anger, a small smile stretches the man's lips, Ace almost sighs in relief. He really wasn't looking forward to a fight.
"Marco?" The blond asks, pointing a finger at himself. Ace nods and smiles too.
The other steps closer, and when he begins to slowly lean forward, Ace half expects another kiss and isn't sure how to react —should he stop it? Return it? He has already admitted his companion is attractive, and he hasn't had much of anything in a while— but instead of his mouth, Marco's lips come to rest against his forehead.
To be continued