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Marco had a strange boyfriend, who did strange things. He walked around all day, no shirt on and instead, walked around in just a pair of cargo shorts and an obnoxiously orange cowboy hat.
But when it came time for bed, he always stole one of Marco’s shirts, not like he needed the damned thing nor that Marco was complaining. His boyfriend always looked stupidly cute in his stuff.
It just confused the shit out of him.
⸻
Marco sighed as he took his shirt off and hung it on the back of his chair. The rest of his family was above deck, playing around and partying, but he got tired of the festivities two hours prior and had gone to look over reports instead. Now, he was preparing to shower and go to bed, his family will be fine for a bit without him. Absentmindedly, he placed his nightshirt over the back of his chair with his pants and made his way to the showers, cracking his back along the way, feeling ready for the hot water (before his brothers used it all) and then a long nights rest because in the morning the rest of his family would be unbearable.
He knew from experience that they’d be horrible. Every single last one of those fools.
As he started the shower, he felt his mind drift along hazily and he was dimly aware of someone walking into his room, due to his observation haki, and was pleasantly surprised to see it was Ace. Their newest and youngest brother, along with his boyfriend, was strange. He liked parties, but hardly participated, preferring to watch everyone else have fun as he stayed with Marco and Pops. He seemed like he enjoyed the ruckus usually, but would disappear back to the cabins for the night relatively early, unless Thatch roped him into something.
Marco’s shower finished without a hitch and he quickly hid away in his room, clad only in his towel. Listen, he may not be ashamed of his body, but if his family caught him like that his reputation and life was as good as dead and gone. Once safely within the recesses of his room, he smiled at the sight of his boyfriend curled up under his comforter, looking very much like a pig in a blanket, just a small tuft of black waves peeking over the top. Swiping his own pajamas up and deciding to join him, he began to dress quickly, only to pause as he touched wood one piece of clothing too quickly.
He glanced at the chair and his brows furrowed. Where the hell did his shirt go? He pursed his lips briefly before shrugging. When you sleep next to a living furnace, you don't really need too many clothes on. “Ace, I’m going to turn the light off, yoi.” He received a grunt of confirmation and chuckled softly. His adorable boyfriend was already half asleep, it seemed.
Blowing out the candles, he made his way to the bed and sighed in relief as he was finally able to lay down and grabbed at the roll of blanket that was Ace. Gently, he rolled the other his way and wrapped his arms around him as sleepy gray eyes peeked out from the bundle of blankets. “You wanna come in?” Marco held back a croon from how adorable his boyfriend was, only nodding slightly as an answer.
With a slight grumble, Ace began to unravel the comforter and Marco choked as he saw the fire logia emerge. The brat had snagged his nightshirt. “I think that’s mine, yoi.”
“Hm?” Ace blinked for a moment, before glancing down at his torso. “Oh, yeah. Saw it and wanted to wear it.” He yawned before throwing the blanket across both of them, slotting himself into the space of Marco’s arms. “Gotta problem?”
The threat was quietly in the air of his boyfriend getting embarrassed and trying to burn him, and their room, if he said anything. So Marco wisely kept quiet. “Nope, wasn’t going to use it anyway, yoi. Goodnight, love.” With a peck, he pulled Ace closer, the heat a welcomed feeling.
It always started like that, of course. The heat was always welcomed when Marco went to bed, then he woke up the next morning, needing another shower due to his boyfriend suffocating him with heat.
Why did he need a shirt to do this, Marco would never know.
⸺
Waking up in a burning room wasn’t ideal to Marco, but it was well worth when he’d wake up earlier than Ace and see his boyfriend somehow cocooned with all the blankets and some of the fabric of his shirt showing through, pooled around his basically purring lover and it made him feel…things.
Many things, in fact. He felt warm that his partner was happy with his clothes and content to be wrapped up in the smell of him, he felt soft on the inside because of the thought that only he could see that side of Ace and it even made his more…base instincts act up. His inner Phoenix loved how soft the younger looked in their clothes, thought he looked both adorable and ravishable, which they sadly couldn’t fit in their morning routine, felt pride and possessiveness fill them because this was theirs, no one would ever see this cute and soft version of Ace, but them.
So, yes, Marco felt many things, some important, some not so important at that moment.
But one of his favorite things in the morning was always watching Ace wake up, it was always a sight and one of Marco’s favorites, not counting his not PG favorite sights of Ace.
“Mmph…” Ace shuffled under his pile of blankets, eyes scrunching up slightly and lips curling into a pout. “’arco…”
“It’s morning, darling.” He whispered, Ace grunted, already attempting to pull the blankets back over himself, but Marco was just a bit faster, tugging them back down earning a tired whine. “No way, it’s time to get up, yoi.” The blond leaned forward and tugged Ace into a semi sitting position and felt his face flush and a soft croon escape as the younger pirate slumped forward slightly, the oversized shirt slipping down one shoulder and exposing that tanned, freckled skin, unmarked and his jet black wavy hair a cute mess from being shoved into a pillow and Marco’s chest overnight.
Well, not unmarked for long.
“Come on, love.” When Ace grunted at him, Marco laughed, leaning forward and pecking Ace’s forehead, gathering the other into his arms and melting when Ace relaxed into his bare chest, a small sigh escaping the shorter. “We have commander things to do.”
A grunt and Marco grinned to himself. “Fine, yoi. You asked for this.” With that he leaned down and began to nip teasingly at Ace’s neck, earning a shiver from the other. He paused at certain parts, nipping and sucking a bit harder to leave new marks as Ace’s breath began to pick up speed, face flushing slightly as Marco’s shirt slid from the other, pooling around him almost fully now and urging Marco on more.
Eventually, it became too much for the younger’s sleep-addled brain as he finally pulled away, face and shoulders steaming as he glared at Marco. “Cheater.”
Marco laughed loudly as Ace stormed out and the sound of chuckles from the other Whitebeard pirates awake came through the closed door.
Yes, mornings with his lover wearing his shirts was always worth it in the end.
⸻
There were times where Marco would run out of shirts and had to wash them late at night, since the laundry rooms were full a majority of the day and as he sat there, hanging his pants to dry and collecting his-now clean-shirts, he found one reason he continued to let Ace steal his shirts.
The room was dark when he entered, but when he flicked on his light, his heart dropped at the sight of Ace curled up on the bed, hands tangled into messy black locks, freckles stark against pale skin, yet slightly blending with the white bandages and eyes wide, unseeing. “Ace, yoi?” The other jolted, head jerking up to see the older blond. “Hey, it’s okay, it was just another nightmare.”
And with that, Marco could agree.
Marineford had been a shitshow and a living, waking nightmare for both of them. They’d almost lost Pops and Ace in the process, hell, Ace had barely survived the surgeries, but somehow pulled through.
Thankfully, Thatch had managed to pick Marco’s seastone cuff fast enough for him to begin healing Ace the moment after Akainu’s fist pulled back, regenerating the burned and gone organs as Izou and Rakuyo defended them in the heat of battle. Pops had realized that as long as they stayed there, they wouldn’t be able to truly protect Ace, so he grabbed his eldest and youngest, quickly retreating. Blackbeard, the damned traitor and coward, had tried to attack Pops from behind, but Ace’s little brother managed to deflect him. Barely.
It was a terrible thing and it haunted them now. Ace, more than others.
“M-Marco…” His boyfriend whimpered and Marco cooed gently, letting him know that he was there, his inner Phoenix wailing to comfort their mate and make a nest for them, which he couldn’t do at the moment. So he settled for giving one of his newly washed shirts to the younger, wrapping him in it and making sure the other knew that he wasn’t alone.
He wasn’t in Impel Down anymore, he wasn’t locked up at the Scaffold and forced to watch them fight for him, he was right where he belonged, with them and safe. Most importantly, with him and safe.
As Ace finally fell into a fitful sleep, held tightly to Marco’s chest with the blond’s shirt hanging around his frame, Marco could only sigh and hope things got easier and better over time.
⸺
There were some…downsides to Ace wearing his shirt at times. Recently, those times have been while they’re with the others on the ship’s deck, just relaxing or doing their own things.
Ace could hardly look at his chest, the painful scar on it reminding him of the situation they all barely escaped from and Marco understood that, what he couldn’t fathom was why his inner Phoenix was obsessively watching their lover throughout the day.
It made Marco unintentionally stare at Ace, longer than socially acceptable, even by pirate standards. People were noticing, specifically others who were less than forgiving about what could’ve happened at Marineford. The older blond knew Thatch had noticed his hungry, blank look towards Ace, mostly because the brunette barely let their youngest stray too far when they anchored, always cheerful and doting, covering up the hidden worry, anxiety and panic.
He should understand, so why was he acting like Marco was doing something strange?
“Marco, we need to talk.” The fourth division commander grunted as he sat next to the blond, the other humming with his eyes trained on Ace. “Seriously, this is important.”
“What, yoi?” snapped Marco, fiery feathers flaring along his neck briefly as his eyes widened into avian-like pupils for a moment.
“Stop staring at the kid,” Thatch frowned, dark eyes both concerned and stern. “You’re freaking him out, but he doesn’t want to say it.”
“I haven’t been staring,” defended the Phoenix, even if he knew he was lying, more feathers coming to life along his skin. “And besides, I’m just trying to make sure he stays safe.”
“Safe from what? Us, his family?” Thatch looked both offended and horrified at the thoughts running through Marco’s head, but he couldn’t help it. His inner Phoenix was right, for once. They’d all known something was off with Teach originally, he never slept and was constantly looking for something and it took them almost losing their precious family members for them to realize it. Thatch was stabbed and left for dead, Ace went off to find the traitor and ended up being almost executed and they’d almost lost Pops too…
“Maybe so, yoi.” He finished, thoughts mingling together with the Phoenix’s. “I mean, we almost lost him and yet, we’re all pretending it didn’t happen, so excuse me for letting my bird instincts get a little protective.”
Thatch’s face twisted slightly, grief and anger apparent, before he heaved a sigh. “Fine, but I’ll have you know, there’s a fine line between protective and obsessive, birdbrain.”
The subject was dropped as Marco went back to watching Ace, who was talking with Pops, though he seemed a little more nervous and yet, Marco didn’t pay it any mind. Nor did he pay Thatch’s words any mind. It was only due to the Marineford incident, it would pass and everything would go back to normal. Thatch didn’t like it, but he couldn’t do anything about it, even if he hated the look Marco gave Ace nowadays.
At least, that’s what Marco told himself.
⸻
Marco would sometimes find himself watching Ace as he slept, he couldn’t help himself at times. His boyfriend just looked so adorable when he slept and his Phoenix loved it as well, since when Ace slept, his fire seemed to have a mind of its own and would make him glow in certain areas.
Specifically, his chest over his heart, a constant reminder that Ace was alive and Marineford happened, but he survived, the blond often found himself watching the warm flames, a need of his own to see more of them.
And Marco would find himself coaxing more of that comforting warmth out, towards himself, his own flames intertwining together and making a beautiful purple light as they danced in the darkness of the room. At some point in time, Marco would find himself looming over Ace, mind muddled as he stared down at his lover, burrowed deeply in blankets and his shirt, their flames dancing beautifully around them and he would just… watch.
He knew that logically, the Phoenix didn’t see why his human half would constantly deny him the chance to watch over their mate, to try and comfort their mate, make him a lovely nest to feel safe in, but at night, it didn’t matter what his human side wanted. The Phoenix was almost considered a deity among humans, so when he managed to infiltrate his thoughts enough, he simply…got closer to their little mate. After all, even though Marco tried to deny him this opportunity, Ace was just as much the Phoenix’s as he was Marco’s.
In fact, they both belonged to the Phoenix and his human half should know that as well as their lover, so he had every right to this. But he refrained from transforming as his eyes turned a shining gold with his mythical energy, fingers clenching into the sheets, tearing them slightly as the nails tried to turn into talons and phantom visions of his feathers and chains billowed around and behind him.
If Ace woke up, he wouldn’t appreciate his boyfriend’s zoan form looming over him, pressing as close as he could to the fire in his pretty, defenseless, mate, even if the Phoenix didn’t understand why. Human’s should be glad that a creature as legendary as himself would love beings as…fragile as them.
But it didn’t matter, not as long as he continued to have this beautiful, magnificent fire all to himself.
He gave a small trill as he leaned down to nuzzle under Ace’s neck, the freckled fire user easily giving him more space in his sleep. Not as gentle as Marco would usually be, the Phoenix nipped at the warm skin, almost grinning at the feeling of his human shivering at the feel of his blunt human teeth. The Phoenix almost wanted to bite down harder, shift the teeth into his pointed tiny fangs hidden in his beak, but knew that it would make his human half upset and then, the Phoenix would be even more restricted and have even less time with his precious mate.
So he made do. He left as many marks as he could, listening to each little whimper or whine that Ace released, soaked in the little tired moans and breathy sighs, never knowing when it would have the chance to do this again, since his human so rarely let him play with their mate.
It wasn’t fair really, but the Phoenix would have his fun at this moment. Nothing mattered to him more than his cute little fire and the shared heat between the two of them.
⸺
Ace had a strange boyfriend. Normally, Marco was calm and collected, if a bit of a smartass, but there were times where he just…changed. The older pirate would do little things that would confuse him like bring him some shiny object he thought Ace would love, which he did end up loving and even starting a ‘what other weird thing will Marco bring me’ collection, or he’d rearrange their room four or five times a month, some of the blankets ending up on their bed in the form of a nest, which Ace also loved.
But then, there would be times Marco would just stare at Ace like he was the latest piece of meat to be served for dinner and at times, it unnerved the fire user, but he’d come to realize a few things, even if it was a bit late in the game to come to these standard conclusions.
While Ace was simply a logia type, which made him his element, Marco was a zoan and the zoan for a Phoenix at that. He’d asked around, mostly the other commanders and pops, and gotten some answers before doing the solid research himself.
Marco and his Phoenix were like two sides of the same coin. While Marco was the human side, the side most seen daily, his zoan side was used to being considered a deity, revered and worshiped by humans, due to his mythical background and story.
The little trinkets he’d bring Ace back whenever they visited islands were considered courting gifts to the one the Phoenix wanted, the nest making and rearrangement of their room was to show him that the Phoenix could provide a good home of sorts to the human.
He also realized that the Phoenix did not like being denied. Anything.
Ace had been sleeping, but woke up due to something above him, almost beckoning to him. When he’d opened his sleepy gray eyes, he’d come face to face with Marco’s zoan form, staring at him intently with wide, gold eyes, their fires intermingling in the air. The black haired young man hadn’t meant to, but a startled gasp and quick reflex had him calling his flames back to himself, worried about the damage it could cause to their room and the ship they were on.
Marco’s Phoenix didn’t like that. His large and wide gold and blue wings flared out and a hiss escaped from behind the long beak as it glowered at the other, Ace staring back with astonishment at the new side to Marco. “Listen, I know you’re not Marco, but I don’t think he’d appreciate me burning our room.” Gold eyes narrowed at him and Ace gulped slowly, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of his neck. “I’m not trying to deny you, but it’s not safe if I let my flames out and get scared by something, is it?” The giant flaming bird tilted his head, seemingly thinking the words over, before the wings finally pressed back to his sides, the zoan seated on Ace’s legs, large enough to reach his lap easily.
Shakily, Ace held his hand out, wanting to touch the mythical creature, but unsure after the previous reaction to him. When the other continued to stare at him, he pressed his warm hand against the beautiful feathers and gently ran his fingers through, letting his fire spark at the tips, to let the bird know that Ace would still let him have a touch. “See, I don’t mind letting them out, but I don’t like being woken up that way.”
Many considered Ace dumb, due to his home island being pretty secluded, but that only helped out more in the wild life department, due to fighting other animals and either killing them for his next meal or beating them to assert his dominance with his brothers.
The Phoenix was different, though.
The Phoenix was another part of his boyfriend, one of the few people in this world that Ace was one hundred percent sure loved him more than his own life. He knew the Phoenix wanted respect, demanded it really and wouldn’t hesitate to assert his dominance over Ace if he ever stepped out of line.
But as he laid there, the Phoenix moving to press against his side possessively, the room filled with the faint glow of the bird’s fiery feathers, Ace didn’t see a problem with it at all.
After all, he loved both sides of the two, no matter how twisted they could get.