Chapter Text
BANG
Opening my eyes slowly I groan out into the pillow burying my face into it trying to block the sun that was shining through the small window from reaching my eyes. If that noise was something actually important I'm sure Marco will come get me.
I adjust myself under the blanket trying to get more comfortable so I can try to fall back to sleep, hopefully I can get back to that dream.
BANG
Alright what the hell was that noise?
Sighing I sit up slowly and reach up to rub the sleep from my eyes. I hear some noise from outside the door that I can't quite make out so with a loud groan I move the blanket off myself and get off the bed.
I stumble slightly as I stand a little thrown off from the rocking of the ship but I'm quickly able to balance myself and stretch. I felt less sour than I have in a long time but I guess that's what actually sleeping in a bed will do.
Sluggishly I move over to the dresser grabbing my jacket and throwing it on before grabbing my boots from the ground and clumsily putting them on.
BANG
“I swear if we’re getting attacked I'm going to lose it” I mumble as I make my way to the door and open it only enough for me to be able to see out of it. Peaking out the small opening I glance around I don't see anything different from last night but the sounds get louder.
It sounds like talking, so hopefully that means we aren't getting attacked.
Opening the door fully, I glance around just to be sure there isn't anything out of place or anyone down here. Thankfully everything is the same as it was last night so I walk out and up the short set of stairs. When I reach the top of the stairs after a few short steps I press myself against it so I can hear whatever is going on more clearly.
“Oh come on birdy just a few drinks! It's been forever since we last saw each other!" a man's voice that I don't recognize said, sounding carefree and cheerful.
Alright good we aren't getting attacked then.
“How many times am I going to have to say no? I have shit I need to do yoi” Marco says irritation with whoever he was talking to extremely clear in his voice and I can't help but snicker quietly at that fact. He deserves to be annoyed like that after last night's shit show.
“I'm sure that can wait a little while” a different voice says, sounding a lot more casual than the other man.
How many people are on the deck? Four counting Marco maybe? That would explain the three bangs, it could have been them jumping onto the deck but those bangs were really loud so im not sure.
“It really can't,” Marco grumbles as he sighs.
“Just give it up boss you know he wont give in” and there's the third, he sounds almost as done with this entire thing as Marco is.
“You don’t know that!” the first guy says in a whiney tone.
“What's so important that you can't stop for a few minutes to have a drink or two with us?” the first man asks, focusing back on Marco.
“That's none of your concern”
Well going out now would be perfect comedic timing!
God, I'm so funny.
Opening the door, the first thing I see is a very irritated Marco and I have to hold in a laugh at the look on his face. Looking past him I see exactly who Marco was talking to.
Holy shit.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!
Sitting on a barrel near the railing of the ship is Red Hair fucking Shanks and to the left of him is his first mate and sniper of his crew.
I thought the only Yonko I was going to meet was going to be Whitebeard, at least for a while. But low and behold there he is. I usually never paid any mind to the pirates in the newspaper but Shanks and his crew were the exception due to Suminari’s obsession with them.
He would be so jealous of me right now!
Suminari had an entire collection of newspaper clippings, wanted posters, and other things dedicated to the Red Hair Pirates that he kept secret from our Mother. He would spend hours telling me everything he knew about them and how he wants to be just like Shanks when he is older. I never cared that much about Shanks but talking about him was a way to spend time with Suminari so I was fine listening to him go on for however long he wanted. Juniper never understood his fixation on them and she didn’t care to listen to him rant most of the time but she would still give him any newspapers that had anything to do with the Red Hair Pirates.
“Finch, go back to your room please” Marco says exasperatedly, snapping me out of my stunned state.
I open my mouth to tell him he can go fuck himself and there is no way im going to do that when a crew so cool is right here but Shanks interrupts me.
“Hey now wait a second birdy! Aren't you going to introduce us to the kid?” Shanks says as he quickly moves over to me so Marco can’t stop him “so Finch right? You one of Newgate's brats?” he asks as he wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me away from the door.
I don’t know if I should be worried or excited that someone so strong and feared is being so nice to me right now. I know Suminari’s portrayal of him wasn't one hundred percent accurate due to his idolization of him but how he is portrayed by the world government is definitely inaccurate as well since they love to demonize anyone who they don’t like. So im really not sure how to feel but he is a Yanko, there is no way he got that title from being this happy unintimidating guy all the time.
“Uh yeah I guess so” I can’t help but sound awkward and unsure when answering him since im not really sure of the answer myself.
Shanks doesn't seem to notice or just doesn't care as he unhooks himself from my shoulder and plops back down onto the barrel he was sitting on moments before.
“You want a drink, kid? Marco’s obviously not going to have it” the sniper, Yasopp I think, says, picking up the mug of bear that was sitting next to him and holding it out in my direction.
“He’s fourteen he doesn't need to be drinking" Marco introduces before I can even think of an answer.
“I started drinking when I was fourteen, it's fine!” Shanks said matter of factly with a wave of his hand.
“And look how you turned out” Marco mumbles under his breath just loud enough that we can hear. I couldn't help but laugh at that and I muffled it behind my hand.
“Wha- what’s that supposed to mean?!” he says with an offended scoff as he points an accusatory finger at Marco.
“How about you both let him answer for himself” Beckman (I remember that's his name because Suminari was even more obsessed with him then he was Shanks) interrupts flatly stopping that before it could turn into any type of argument.
“Id rather not, thanks for the offer though” I definitely wouldn't mind drinking but i haven't had anything else to drink or eat today so that really isn't a good idea besides Marco would never let me even if i did say yes.
“Suit yourself” Yasopp says with a shrug.
“Now that that's sorted we really need to be on our way” Marco says so passive aggressively that it catches me off guard but with the red force quite literally blocking the way of our ship moving forward I get why he is so irritated about this whole thing.
Completely ignoring Marco, Shanks turns to me “You know why Birdy here in such a rush to get back to the old man's ship?” he asks, a sly grin spreading on his face.
“You don’t need to tell him anything Finch yoi” Marco says walking up to us.
“Yeah i know Marco you don't need to tell me that” I roll my eyes with a huff “I don’t have all my vaccinations up to date so Marco’s being paranoid and trying to get us there as quick as possible so I can get them" I omit the part of me having never gotten any of my vaccinations since they really don’t need to know that.
“I’m not being paranoid Finch if anything I’m under reacting to this situation”
Shanks blinks at me and Marco for a few moments with a bit of a dumbfounded look on his face before turning to look over at his two crew mates “I'm sure we have that stuff on board, right Ben?” It's more so a statement than a question.
“Maybe, you’ll have to ask Hugo if he has the ones the kid needs,” the first mate answers as he takes a long drag from his cigar.
“He needs all of them” Marco states flatly while rubbing his hand over his face.
That makes all three of the men stare at us in silence. The few moments that they sit there not speaking just staring the more a pit forms in my stomach just like it did when I first told Marco about this.
“All… of them?” Shanks questions looking between the two of us with raised eyebrows.
“Yes all of them, now either call Hugo over or let us leave” Marco says giving Shanks an impatient look.
From the railing of the Red Force a man leans over the side and looks down at us
“Someone say my name?” he questions with raised eyebrows.
“Do we have all of the basic vaccinations on the ship?” Beckman asks before Marco can.
“Sure do” Hugo replies as he looks directly at me with an odd look that makes me shrink back closer to Marco. Its like he has some weird doctor sense that there is something wrong with me, or well he knows everyone else here so it's kinda obvious that I'm the one that would need them.
“Great, can you bring one of each here?”
He doesn't lift his gaze from me as he nods his head and pushes off the railing to go retrieve the necessary things.
“There now you can relax and drink with us while Hugo is giving the kid his vaccinations or whatever!” Shanks says excitedly as a massive grin spreads across his face.
“No, I'm going to be giving them to Finch.” I feel a small sense of relief when Marcos says that. I may not like him very much but I sure as hell trust him more than I trust any of these guys despite the mountains of praise Suminari gave them and them being nothing but kind to me so far.
“Oh come on! Can’t you-”
“Shanks drop it” Beckman says, stopping his Captain before he can start.
“Fine…” Shanks mumbles as he pouts dramatically and lets out a loud sigh that makes me scoff.
Makes sense why he's the First mate Shanks seems to listen to him why he tells him to stop.
Now that that is dealt with Marco turns towards me and I quickly take a few steps back trying to play it off like I wasn't just standing so close to him.
“Finch you go down into the bedroom alright? I'll be down there in a minute” I can tell that it was more of an order than a question as he gives me a look that reminds me of the ones Juniper would give me and Suminari when she wanted us to do chores around the house.
“Ok whatever” I say with a roll of my eyes as I go do exactly what I was told to do.
space
My arms are hurting so bad. What the fuck is wrong with these things i thought they were ment to keep you from hurting and getting sick not make you hurt. Marco under-exaggerated when he said these would only hurt a bit, it feels like my arms are burning.
And I didn't even get all of the one I needed apparently since some I have to wait a while so the other vaccines can kick in. I think that's a lie so Marco can see me suffer more.
“See that wasn't so bad” Marco says giving me a soft smile as he walks back into the room after going back up to the deck to hand the used supplies back over to Hugo.
“Go fuck yourself” i grumble while floping onto my back and whincing when a spike of pain shoots through my arms.
Marco laughs as he moves over to me and sits down on the bed. I stare at the ceiling purposefully ignoring the fact he is staring at my aching arms.
“Here give me one of your arms” he says suddenly catching me a little off guard as he holds out his hand.
I hesitate only for a moment before sitting back up and placing my arm in his hand. As much as I would love to deny this prick's help right now the pain in my arms are too much for me to be petty. It only takes a split second for blue fire to erupt from his palm making me flinch back slightly before instantly relaxing moments later as a warm comforting feeling spreads through my arm. The feeling is so intense yet gentle at the same time as he runs his hand up and down my arm a few times until he is sure there isn't any leftover pain in it and he repeats the process again with my other arm. I feel disappointed when he does finally pull away from my arms and extinguishes the flames from his hand, missing the warm feeling already.
“Thanks…” I murmured quietly as embarrassment from how much I enjoyed the feeling creeps up me and makes my cheeks redden.
“No problem” he replies with the same soft smile from when he entered on his face.
We sit in a nice silence as I beat my embarrassment back down so hopefully he doesn't see the red tint to my cheeks.
“Finch, can I ask you a question about your mother?”
And there it is. I was wondering how long it would take him to ask that, it was my fault for mentioning her in the first place. I really need to learn how to keep my mouth shut. But I might as well answer his question now so I don't have to do it later. Hopefully talking about her doesn't make me spiral like it did before.
“Go for it” I say as I lay back onto the bed.
“Do you know why she was so against doctors?” he asks and I can’t help but sigh.
Don’t know why I thought he would ask anything other than that. I hate talking about the bad parts of my mother, it feels like I’m disrespecting her in some way. That's why I reacted like I did yesterday. At least I think it is I don’t understand my mind most of the time.
But it might be nice to actually talk about it even if it is with Marco.
“She was scared. She was convinced that they would take me and my siblings away from her so she kept us as far away from the village as she could. I'm not sure why she thought that she never really told us her reasoning for anything, she just wanted us to do exactly what she told us to do with no argument” I don’t think I've ever said that out loud before.
Juniper and Suminari talked about our mother with each other all the time but they never let me join the conversation, always saying I was too young to be worrying about that stuff. I think they just thought I was too young to understand anything they were talking about but I wasn’t. I heard and saw all the same things they did. I just didn’t process it the same way as them.
“You have siblings?”
…
Fuck.
I didn’t even realize I mentioned them. Now he's going to have questions about them like where they are and why they aren't with me and I really am not ready to unpack all that.
“I don’t wanna talk about them” I say so quickly that my words come out jumbled.
“Alright you don’t have to”
What.
I- I didn’t think it would be so easy to get him to drop it, I thought I would have to argue with him or something.
I can’t help but give him a bewildered look, this guy make zero fucking sense to me. It would make sense if he wanted me to tell him everything he asked as repayment for all the things he is helping me with but no, he doesn't seem to want anything and that confuses me so badly. Almost everyone I have met since I was forced to leave home has wanted something in return for helping me so why doesn't he? I just can’t make sense of him.
“Have you eaten anything yet?” Marco asks, breaking my train of thought.
“No” I mumble, looking away from him and reaching up and grabbing my necklace.
Marco nods and stands from the bed walking to the door.
“I’ll go get you something to eat, you can stay here or go back on the deck if you want” he says looking back and giving me a soft smile before turning back and leaving the room before I could answer him.
As soon as he closes the door behind him I let out a deep long sigh.
I can’t seem to have one day without something negative happening. At least I don’t feel the need to start crying because I just mentioned my family, that's a good thing I guess.
Sitting up, I reach beside me and grab my jacket and put it back on. I really don’t feel like being alone right now and on top of that I don’t want to miss the opportunity to ask Shanks about the stories I remember Suminari telling me about.