high_seas | All fun and games

"Hm," he hummed thoughtfully and glanced from the soup and then back to Selphie before giving her another grin, "Mind if I stay awhile then? I could use the company and I should probably stop smothering my little brothers sooner or later."

"Of course not. You stay as much as you like. It's nice to have visitors." She smiled back, then glanced towards the entrance to the room. "Is everyone else okay? I just - I haven't been able to check up on anyone." She hung her head, apparently not impressed with herself about this.

A brief hesitation and Marco pulled the chair up to the side of her bed and leaned over it's back to ruffle her head.

"They're fine. Ace is sleeping happily for the first time in a long time I think, yoi. And thanks to the Doctor and everyone else there weren't too many injuries this time. As a pirate, you have to take that kind of risk, but it's always better to avoid it entirely if you can, eh?"

That had been quite unexpected, and she lets out a noise that is almost a giggle.

"Oh, well, that's good. He needs his rest. And - he's not badly hurt, is he?" Selphie frowned with her question, because she couldn't stand the thought of Ace being hurt, especially not if it was her fault. She sighed and pulled her blanket tight around her, pulling her knees up to her chin. "Maybe..."

The grin tightened. Marco's general desire to smack Ace upside the head to knock sense into him only grew stronger the more Ace recklessly let himself get hurt, but he was still alive and that was important. "He's done a lot worse to himself before," Marco answered simply with a distant look.

Impel Down.

The worst pirate prison in the world, made up to be hell itself and they hadn't been there to save him from it until it was too late. "He's always been like that, eh," he glanced back to Selphie. "If anything, I think he was trying so hard to get to you as quickly as he could because he's been there before. So I'm sorry we didn't get to you sooner. Are you all right?"

"Oh..." She bowed her head and wriggled her toes as she stared at them. Of course Ace hadn't left without an injury, but this sounded bad. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders heavily. "No. I'm sorry I was such a bother in the first place." It wasn't just her, but she still felt somewhat responsible. She ignored the question about herself and looked to Marco with eyes full of concern, "He's not mad at me, is he? I can stay on the ship, can't I?"

A few blinks and Marco gently poked Selphie's forehead. "Oi," he shook his head, "You've got it all wrong. He's mad at himself. That's how he always is. He's mad that he let you get hurt, and mad that he didn't get there sooner, and happy now that you're safe and back."

Selphie frowned at that and shook her head, turning a hand into a fist and beating it against her bed, "But that's not right! That doesn't make sense! I'd be dead if it wasn't for Ace. No word of a lie! I'd be dead. All...just...gone and dead..." Her breathing quickened as she spoke the words, like it was something that she finally realised - how close to her own death she had been.

"Why do you think that's different for us without you?" Marco tilted his head to the side. "Do you think we should be held responsible for not protecting you your better? Did you not give it your best?"

"I did give it my best! I really did. It just...wasn't good enough." And she certainly sounded rather bitter about that. So she attempted to lighten the mood and she gave him a smile, "But when he's awake I'll go find him and thank him. I owe him. Big time."

"Hey," Marco ruffled her hair again, "Sometimes that's the way things are. I've given it my best and had it fail more times than I like to admit. You know what we do when those things happen? After bawling our eyes out and getting as drunk as possible I mean."

Selphie smiled and closed her eyes for a moment, looking like a kitten enjoying being petted. "Uh... you bawl your eyes out some more and get even more drunk?" Though it does occur to her that she hadn't tried the drinking tactic. Maybe later she'd have to see if that would work for her.

A laugh, "Aye, but we do it in the company of everyone else who did their best too. And then we get revenge. Sometimes we're late, but so long as we keep kicking ass we'll do better next time." He lightly cuffs her cheek with a light fist. "If you gave it your best, no regrets then, eh?"

"Oh and if you want, you should come bother Ace now. He likes waking up to having people leaning on him, I think it reminds him of his little brother."

"Right! So next time, I just gotta make sure I'm strong enough to kick their Navy butts even harder, right?" She smiles at him, managing a soft giggle when his hand taps her cheek like that. "Hm. Okay...no regrets." Though that still didn't seem to make all that horrible feeling go away.

"Just now? I dunno, I don't really wanna disturb him. Oh - does it really? Is that how he wound up in my bed that time?"

"And you gotta make sure to look after everyone else. It helps to remember that even if you lose someone or some pride, you have to protect the things you do have that much more, eh?" Marco explained the best he could. To him, it was something people either got or they didn't, but he still wanted to use enough words to help her figure it out.

He gave a grin about Ace though. "Aye. He won't ever admit it, but he does a lot better having someone nearby when he's asleep. Besides, when Ace is asleep, you can't disturb him. He's a rock solid sleeper." But don't mind Marco shipping you two in his head, okay?

"You don't have to worry about that, Marco! I want more than anything to make sure everyone is safe! I don't want anyone to have to go through anything like what I did!" She sat up straight, looking at him with quite and intensity of feeling, though she looks a little flushed with the effort of it all.

"Hmm... I dunno if that would work. I mean, he'd notice something isn't right. I probably feel quite different to his brother." Totally oblivious to any shipping thoughts, or how weird what ahe said might sound.

Marco nodded softly, and then grinned, completely chuckling. "Probably, but trust me he'd only appreciate it," the pirate grinned slyly.

"Really? I dunno... I mean, that time he came into my bed I got pretty freaked out. What if he suddenly wakes up and punches me in the face?!" The way she looked at Marco made it quite obvious that she definitely thought he was capable of that.

Selphie you don't even know how hard you're making it for the pirate here. His shipper feelings are only multiplying by the second.

He grins in spite of himself and his best efforts not to, "He probably only freaked out because he thought you'd be mad. If you go out there now, I guarantee it will only make him really happy."

The grin spread and Marco crossed his heart in an X formation. "Cross my heart, eh?"

Yes, she can have a habit of allowing that to happen without even realising it. She still doesn't look very convinced, but then he crosses his heart and assured her that it would be okay. Marco and Ace are really close, so he should know his sleeping habits well, after all. And Selphie only wants to please, and she does owe her captain a lot for saving her. She shuffled onto the edge of the bed, feet on the floor. "Should I go see him now?"

He nods, "Absolutely."

And then gives a birdie head tilt. "Want me to bring you hot chocolate while you're out there? And you might want some extra blankets, he just wanted to sleep on the deck this time. He used to do that a lot too, eh."

"Okay then." And she slid herself off the bed and stretched, still feeling a little rusty with moving.

"Yes, please. I might take a book up to read too. You don't wanna hang out up there too?" The promise of blankets and hot chocolate makes it sound fun after all.

"Aye, I'll come join in phoenix form, I was thinking of reading up there myself, eh," Marco grinned softly. "Head out ahead of me and I'll bring the hot chocolate soon enough. I'm glad you're feeling better." There might be something of a sparkle to his eyes.

"Awesome! It'll be like a super cosy sleepover." She moved over to her door, a bit more of a spring in her step. Before leaving, she turned to Marco with a happy smile on her face, "Thanks for coming to visit me, Marco. That was really kind of you."

"It's my pleasure cutie," Marco grinned, "After all, we're crewmates, aren't we?"

(no subject)

booyaka_boom - 2013-12-15 10:43 (UTC) - Expand