He was thankful she wasn't so loud. Marco repaired parts of materials in his workshop, completely absorbed in his work and not caring about the girl reading through his seemingly endless collection. He could tell by the look on her face that although she was interested, she was a little unnerved by the reality of his projects.
"They look like monster-people," she told him once.
"But no way, huh?"
"If that's what you'd like to think." She nodded and continued to gawk at the rest of her materials without further questions. He stopped paying much attention after that and failed to see her trip over a painting in the far corner of the room. It was dark there as that part of the workshop was kept obscured by the red cloth that Marco would use to wear his medicine suit.
A large canvas was stuck to the wall with meticulous brushstrokes of a deep, subtle blue. The top was dotted with yellowish white, stars perhaps. In the midst of all the calm beauty there was a silhouette of a boy in the far corner, looking up.
Vive Tibi, said the gold plaque beneath the painting. (Name)'s face crumpled as she wandered back to Marco's desk and lightly tugged at his shirt.
"What?" he asked, without looking up from his work.
"Those who painted, what do they say?"
"What painting?" She tugged at her shirt again and pointed to the far right of the room. Exasperated eyes trailed his finger before they froze and took on a glow of emptiness.
"Live for yourself."
"Marco-san...?"
"Vive Tibi means live, for yourself." Putting on a blank expression didn't always mean being able to successfully hide the feelings beneath her, so she took his cold hand in hers and tried to warm them.
"Why do you want to live just for yourself, Marco-san? You have Oden-san, Vista-san and Jozu-san who live with you too. That's a lot of people, look!" She raised three fingers and waved them above her head.
"Because is bad?. . ." His eyebrows furrowed.
That would be kind of complicated. How could he come to tell her that her circumstance had come from staying almost all day on the ship and only going out for necessary missions? Without wanting to get closer to other members due to lack of desire? And your courage doesn't seem to show when it's time to talk to a member of the new crew? ⁽ᴹᵃʸᵇᵉ ⁱᵗ'ˢ ᵃ ᵖᵘᵇᵉʳᵗʸ ᵖʰᵃˢᵉ⁻⁾
He would never tell you any of that. Isolating herself wasn't anything she would learn until she was older and he certainly wouldn't be the one to tell her about it.
Marco put down his tools and swiveled his chair to face her fully, his hand still in her childish grip.
"Having people around you means nothing. If you're among a sea of strangers, you're merely an isolated body surrounded by countless isolated bodies. You know that none of them and none of them will ever know you." She blinked.
"I'd say hi and try to make friends!"
"These people could also be barbarians without morals, humans without hearts." His lip jutted out in frustration before he reached out and smacked his chest.
"You see that? See?!" she exclaimed. She knocked again, though it sounded more like a weak bat than anything.
"You seem to be all stone, but you have a heart too!" He stared at her angry face, angry on his behalf, and scoffed as he went back to working on his project. (Name) pulled a stool from the corner of the room and sat down next to him to talk about her day, the good and the bad and what she wanted to play with later.
And against his better judgment, he listened.
YOU ARE READING
Pink Carnations (Whitebeard Pirates x F!Child!Reader)
Fiksi Penggemar(Name), a tiny little girl who carries a very big meaning, she was always smiling and happy and was never afraid of anything, she always likes to play and look at flowers. Your affection made flowers bloom in their hearts, forming deep roots like me...
