Captivity

04 - Good... and bad news

Marco felt like shit. He was tired, cranky, irritated and... confused.

Two nights had passed since the marine had boarded and strange things had begun happening around the ship.

First of all, he couldn't sleep. Every time he tried to reach his usual aware sleep, he woke up with a start, with a feeling something was wrong. He quickly checked for the presence of the marine and found him soundlessly sleeping on the spare bed Namur had brought for him. He was sprawled with the sheets haphazardly scattered on his body. His almost naked body. As much as he found strange for one that he found because of his snoring to be soundless when he sleeps, the strangeness of one that slept in his underwear in a pirate's cabin was even stranger and unbelievable. Considering he was a marine... Almost impossible.

So, imagine his surprise when, the morning after, several pirates were whining about pranks all over the ship. Dyed clothes, missing sheets, hung on the ceiling furniture, overturned doors. Now, Marco was not stupid, he knew that, with Thatch in a comatose state, no one would have felt in tune to do pranks. Literally, no one. So, his suspicions fell on the prankster marine. The question, however, was how on earth and when the hell had he been able to do all that shit around?! He almost hadn't closed his eyes during all the night!

Plus, Luffy grinning at the whines like a Cheshire cat was proof enough. For him, at least. Pops, instead, had smirked down at Marco for bringing up the subject and brushed it off with a waving hand. Pretty frustrating. Not counting the marine unending grins.

But that... was only the tip of the iceberg.

During the first day, Luffy followed him around. Well, that was appreciated, because, in the other case, Marco would have followed him around, and that would have been a waste of time. No, the irritating thing was... Luffy kept whining about being bored. Making use of his endless experience gained from having a master prankster on the ship, the pirate knew what that meant. The strangeness came when Marco... didn't want to stop him. In other circumstances, as in the cook safe and sound, the First Mate would have immediately found a way to busy the man. But, in that moment, he didn't feel like it. And Luffy noticed.

"If you wish for the lively atmosphere to stay, then sleep and rest." He had said with an evil smirk.

The marine had practically sold himself out. Almost admitted his crimes... well, pranks... In Marco's mind, they were comparable. But, instead of cornering the culprit, what had he done?

"I can't sleep if I don't trust you."

Luffy's grin had lost some of its playfulness. "I fear you won't ever trust me. But... I have a way of gaining some of it."

And the conversation had fallen into silence, with Marco working on his paperwork, his mind in a whirl of thoughts, and the marine idly reading a book. Courtesy of Namur.

The First Division Commander made sure that meals were eaten far from the crew, so he had to eat in his office with the marine. Izo walking past his door twenty times a day was not helping with the irritation.

The day passed by like that and Marco found it endlessly surprising that a happy-go-lucky marine like Luffy could read for so much time without rest. And his mates did not whine about new pranks. Until the day after, anyway.

He stirred, crankier than the day before and more tired than ever. Looking at the other bed, on the opposite side of the room, he found the marine stretching like a cat with a wide grin. His hands were even clenching and unclenching the sheets. Marco swiftly looked another way and stood, massaging his left shoulder with his right hand. He entered the bathroom and took a quick shower before dressing in clean clothes, always aware of the marine's presence in the other room. The night has been exactly like the one before.