"How long have you been a part of the crew now?" Thatch asked as he continued to drag a brush through your hair.

You hadn't asked him for help with your hair and honestly you didn't need anything to be done with it. But he took a seat behind you and insisted it needed to be done. You figured it was some nonsense bonding thing he felt he needed to do so you let him. Your pineapple themed bandana was bunched up in your hands as you waited for him to finish, ready to pull your hair out of the way.

"Ummm I think it'll be three months soon." You answered.

"And look how quickly you've grown on all of us." He chuckled. "Even Ace couldn't win everyone over as fast or to the extent you have."

"He's not a girl."

"Hm, good point."

"I can hear you!" Ace leaned his head over the crate he was laying across, watching you two with a heavy scowl.

"Jealous are we?" Thatch moved to look over your shoulder and make faces at Ace, or so you assumed.

"So having boobs makes someone instantly more likeable?"

"He's jealous for sure." You giggled and Thatch laughed along with you before snapping back at his friend.

"Not when it comes to (Y/n)."

"So is it the tail?" Ace rolled over onto his stomach and propped his head up on an arm he rested on the edge of the crate.

"It's my winning personality." You answered with a smile.

"Nah," Ace snickered. "It's those fangs of yours."

"All the better to bite you with."

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

"Don't be gross." You could practically hear Thatch wrinkling his nose up in disgust as he put the brush down. "You're all good girlie."

"Thanks." You chirped, adjusting the bandana into a makeshift hair tie. "Though that wasn't all that necessary, it'll just get messy again when I go to bed in a bit."

"Yeah, but it looks nice now." Thatch shrugged as he stood. "Oh, and you know what? I forgot about it but Izo was wanting to see you about something, you should find him before he turns in for the night."

"Thatch!" You scowled. "You got all distracted and now he's going to be angry with me."

"Not if you hurry~"

You left in a huff, not interested in dealing with a grouchy Izo.

Ace raised an eyebrow at Thatch questioningly as soon as you were out of hearing range. "Think you bought him enough time to find someone willing to do it?"

"Plenty."

"This is probably the dumbest idea Izo has ever had."

"You know what's even more stupid?"

"What?"

"I betcha it'll work."

"...That's somehow really annoying."

"Yep."

You didn't ask where Izo was but you were pretty sure he was on the other end of the deck. When it was this late in the evening, with the sun down and the air much cooler than it was during the day, everyone was out for a bit. After some searching, you found the man you were looking for. He was near the front of the ship with a few others between you and him. The area was dark enough that you couldn't make out exactly who but when you called for him, they all turned to see you.

"Hey Izo!" You waved and he waved back.

Things were fine and you figured he wouldn't get grumpy with you. But then one moment you were passing a group of crewmates, and the next you were stumbling over something. You were too caught off guard to react fast enough and before you knew it, the deck was racing forward to meet you.

You let out a yelp as you hit it face first and felt the pain of the not so graceful fall right on your nose.

"Whoops, didn't see you there (Y/n)!" Teach chuckled as you sat up, wincing and holding your face.

"I, uh, I think I'm good." You said that but felt blood drip into your palm at the same time. You'd busted up your nose.

"You weren't supposed to really hurt her!" Someone hissed to Teach, smacking him upside the head.

Izo knelt beside you, trying to assess the damage through your fingers.

"Hey Marco!" He yelled, eyes widening a bit when he saw the blood beginning to fall from your hands. "(Y/n)'s hurt!"

There were a few loud curses coming from somewhere else on deck and you could only assume they came from Marco. His quick reaction would've made you laugh if it wasn't for how much your face hurt right now.

"You were supposed to make her scuff her knees or something." Izo chewed Teach out just barely loud enough for you to hear. "Not mess up her face!"

"I thought she'd catch herself!"

"She did, with her face!"

They stopped arguing when Marco showed up, nudging Izo to the side so he could get a better look.

"What happened-yoi?" He immediately took your hands in his, gently moving them so he could see everything.

He was panting slightly, letting you know he'd rushed over as soon as he heard you'd hurt yourself. It was actually cute that he responded so fast. You weren't sure if anyone else would've gotten the same treatment. He released your hands to tilt your head around, looking at the mess that was your face from every angle.

"She fell." Izo answered a little too quickly.

You glared at him, not in the mood for whatever antics they had planned for you. "I was tripped."

The group surrounding you dispersed in record time when they realized the gig was up. Apparently they were all in on it.

"What a bunch of assholes." Marco growled before returning his attention to you. "I need to see if it's broken, this may hurt a bit."

You nodded and he tried his best to delicately touch around your nose. It hurt like a bitch. Enough so that your tail thrashed around of its own accord, occasionally thumping down onto the deck noisily. Marco winced each time that happened and you assumed it was out of sympathy. You knew that for sure when he started talking.

"Ouch, okay, I see that hurts-yoi."

The tiniest of whines escaped you, much to your dismay as you gave him a slight nod. Having it manhandled did not make it feel any better.

"Good news is it isn't broken, just really beat up. Better news is I can fix it right now."

His hand lit up with blue flames and he carefully felt along your nose again, getting a bit of blood on himself in the process. This time, the flames' warmth soothed the area while they healed it. The tension slowly left your body as the pain melted away and soon enough, you were as good as new. Minus the blood still running down your face of course.

"How's it feel now?" Marco pressed along your nose, visibly relaxing since you weren't flinching.

"Good." You let out a sigh of relief and looked down at your hands, smeared with an alarming amount of blood. That was one helluva nose bleed. "I really need to clean up though."

"We'll take you in and take care of that, I think we've had enough of their bullshit for the night."

You couldn't agree more. Marco helped you to your feet and led to back towards his room while you continued to cup a hand around your face, keeping too much blood from staining the deck. As you passed Pops, he stood and watched you, frowning deeply.

"Another one of their pranks." Marco explained.

"It seems they need a proper punishment then." The captain grunted.

"That'd be terrific-yoi." He grinned, satisfied with the idea of them getting chewed out and probably worse.

Pops waved you two away as he headed for where you assumed the rest of the crew hid away to, awaiting his wrath.

"I hope he's not too rough with them." You said when you'd reached Marco's room and taken a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Really? They've been messing with you for a while now. They had this coming."

Marco disappeared into the bathroom and you listened to the running water as you puzzled over what he meant by that. The crew had been off lately, definitely up to some strange shenanigans that you didn't understand, but you didn't think it had anything to do with you. When he came back into the room, carrying a wet cloth, you had to ask.

"What do you mean they've been messing with me for a while? They've been weird lately but I figured that was just them."

He pulled up the stool from under his desk and pursed his lips. His eyes shifted around and you could see the wheels turning in his head, like he was deciding whether or not to say something. After some consideration, he scooted closer and gently held your chin as he started cleaning up your face.

"Some of the guys have got this idea in their head and they've decided to act on it when I think they should be minding their own business instead."

"That really tells me nothing."

He was starting to look frustrated as his grip moved from your chin to the side of your jaw and he tilted your head back a bit. The cloth was quickly turning red and it felt like you were pretty well cleaned up.

"If I told you details, things wouldn't be the same."

"So you're suggesting whatever they're thinking is true?"

"Yes." He shook his head suddenly. "I mean no. Quit prying for answers-yoi."

His sudden bite of anger made you pull back and scowl at him. "Well I'm sorry for wanting to figure out why everyone's being such a pain around me lately. Way to jump on the bandwagon."

You'd had enough of this nonsense for one evening. With a huff, you pushed his hand away and got up, brushing past him as you headed for the door. It hurt to have him actually get annoyed with you over something out of your control and it hurt to have no clue about what was going on. You thought you were past feeling left in the dark and confused when you had control over your inner beast again. Turns out that doesn't end.

"(Y/n), stop."

Marco snagged your arm as you went to open the door, dragging you back to him.

"Why? If you're going to be a jerk about it, I'm leaving."

"You're literally the most frustrating woman I've ever known."

"Good!"

You tried to leave again only for him to tighten his grip on your arm and pull you back again. You were ready to start calling him every name under the sun as you twisted around to face him. Except you were cut off when he pressed his lips to yours.

You were in shock. One second you were angry, the next you were suspended in disbelief. You'd been hoping to get his attention for all this time and were afraid you were failing, and now he was tangling his hand in your hair with another around your waist as he tried so desperately to get closer.

When you were sure you weren't dreaming, you responded by grabbing fistfuls of his jacket and pressing yourself into him. He let out a growl as his tongue flicked across your lips and you immediately gave him entrance. You both stumbled back and fell to the bed, breathless.

Marco hovered over you, watching like he was waiting for a reaction. You licked your lips, still practically feeling his tongue in your mouth.

"That was great, but it doesn't tell me what all the weird shit is about." You panted.

"They've been trying to play matchmaker with us."

"Please tell me it worked." You blurted out, your mouth moving faster than your mind. A blush quickly rose up your face as his eyes widened in surprise.

"I didn't think you'd have any real interest in me-yoi."

"Well I didn't push you away." You mumbled. "I really like you...."

"I guess this goes to show you can never be too old to miss all the signs."

Marco lowered himself, brushing his lips along your jaw and down your neck slowly before letting out a content sigh and meeting your lips once again.

You worked your hands up along his chest, to his collar, and moved to pull him closer into a hug. While you were normally touchy with everyone else on the ship, you'd neglected Marco, afraid of what the friendly touches could lead to if he didn't feel the same way about you. All those nights you shared a bed and never touched, those days when Ace would spend hours cuddled up to you while you read and Marco kept his distance, the times when Izo would play with your hair, saying how jealous he was of it, the days spent with Thatch showing you his cooking tricks. Not once had you allowed yourself to get so close to Marco.

Now you couldn't get close enough. He'd always been just out of reach and you wanted to make up for all that lost time.

He had to be thinking the same thing. You could feel it in how he kissed you, his lips moving along yours demandingly, his tongue exploring your mouth without pause. And when you pulled away for air, he still couldn't stop. His mouth moved down your throat, littering it in wet kisses. He slowed down at your collar but still moved down further, only hesitating when he reached the swell of your breasts.

He gripped the sheets around your head tightly as he stared up at you, the question burning away in his eyes.

Who were you to tell him no when you wanted the same thing easily just as much?