Work Text:
“ACE!” Sounds the screeching scream erupting from the store’s front. “HE’S BACK AGAIN, THAT DAMN PIGEON!”
The called man, Ace, sighs loudly. This probably marks the thirtieth time the sneaky bastard waddled his way inside their bakery. Ever since the beginning of this week the bird had been spotted. At first they didn’t care, the pigeon stayed outside just like the other pigeons surveying the store’s entrance, but after a day the feathered bastard continued to make his way inside and eat everything he could reach.
Yesterday alone marked nearly forty times that Ace had to go outside and shoo the cooing ball of colored feathers away. Not that it helped, no. Sjaak kept coming back. Ace isn’t sure if the bird has a name but they dubbed him as Sjaak, that way it’s easier to discern about which pigeon they are talking.
“Ace, come get him!” Sabo breathes as he walks to the back of the bakery, away from the customer’s eyes. The blonde’s head is turns backwards to keep a watchful eye on their feathered friend. “The bastard scared the shit out of me man, suddenly popping up near my feet and hissing at me when I almost hit him.” Sabo’s voice sounding incredulous as if he doesn’t believe it himself.
“There’s no way a damn pigeon hissed at you, I mean it’s a bird not a cat.” Ace barks a laugh. His brother is having a wild imagination today.
“I’m not making this up, I swear he did!” Sabo insists, expressing just how real this is. “Whatever, just get it out will ya.” His face set annoyed as Ace can’t stop laughing.
While still in the middle of his fit of laughter, Ace makes his way to the front of the store and immediately spots their culprit of the day. The pigeon isn’t the smallest nor is it very big, its feathers mainly grey while its back holds some sort of red hue. Not the average kind of pigeon that appears in their store on a daily basis, those are either very dark gray, gray or white.
Some of the customers had said that the pigeon might belong to someone as it appears to be very docile, but there is no way they can figure that out without capturing the damn bird.
Earlier today, both Ace and Sabo had complained to their gramps about the little ball of feathers that keeps pestering them to no end with his visits. They can’t have animals in the store, so persistent pigeons are a definite no-go, no matter how much Luffy begs them to let Sjaak stay. Their gramps had told them that they shouldn’t whine so much and just catch the bird if it proved to be such a bother.
“You’re men right, then prove it and catch that oversized nugget with wings. Stop complaining to me about it and just do something. Damn brats.”
Yes their gramps is a very motivational speaker.
And now, for the so many’d time today, Ace makes his way over to Sjaak. He had already grabbed the plastic blue crate that holds several holes, his aim is to capture the pigeon one way or another in this piece of hard plastic.
He sneaks closer, only one step away from his goal, Sjaak the pigeon. His arms raising in the air with the crate in between; waiting, calculating, to find the perfect moment to strike. Swiftly he moves down, trying to get the crate over the bird but he was too late. Sjaak had looked up and seen him, so they grey and red ball of feathers quickly scurried his way outside, all while bumping into the nearest wall in his haste to escape.
Luffy’s laughter fills the air as the boy is close to face-smacking the floor with how unstable he stands, his hands gripping to his sides as his entire body is hunched over. Sabo isn’t far behind, clutching the counter to keep himself stable and laughing loudly in Ace’s direction.
“He saw your ugly ass face and hopped the hell outta here.” The blond managed to wheeze out in a breathless voice.
“Sjaak is smarter than you, stupid Ace.” Luffy happily chimes in.
“As if you two do anything to catch that hot wing on legs!” Ace barks to his so-called ‘brothers’.
“I think the proper term is talons.” Sabo just had to smugly inject.
“Shut up!”
His words didn’t seem impending enough as Sabo starts laughing even louder. At Ace’s growled “what” did Sabo point to the store’s entrance again.
“You weren’t threatening enough, he’s coming back for more.” Sabo’s words dissolve into another fit of laughter as Ace runs to Sjaak with the crate in his hands.
Momentarily forgetting that there is only a very small opening between the glass window and the pastry display case that allows them the walk between the counter and the store’s front, along with the other opening on the other side of their long counter. And since he forgot, that turned into the crate loudly clinking against the glass of the display and the window and him nearly falling on his butt as the crate blocked his path.
Both his brothers are howling in laughter and it isn’t helping that the few customers that are inside the store, calmly enjoying their sandwich, indulge on some laughter at Ace’s behalf.
Heat is rising to his face as Ace roughly shoves the crate onto the ground. “Fucking dicks. You do it better then.” He grumbles the moment he is near his brothers, just loud enough for them to hear but not the customers.
Not even a full two minutes later did Sjaak re-appear, happily pecking at the ground in search for crumbs of bread and some seeds. This time it’s Sabo that stalks closer. Without making too much noise he reaches for the crate that Ace so gracefully ditched on the ground before, then he slowly turns to the culprit that’s been bothering them for the last few days.
With calculated moves Sabo inches closer, his feet shuffling over the slippery floor—thanks to the releasing oils hidden in the seeds. The blond is just about to throw the crate as Sjaak looks up, his beady black eyes staring at Sabo and in a mad dash the pigeon turns on his heels. His weak wings flailing around before Sjaak gotten enough air to lift himself off the ground for a short flight, roughly landing on their terrace.
“Who’s the idiot now?” Ace smugly jests, a mocking grin visible on his face as he looks at his brother.
“The damn chicken saw me coming, not like I could do anything about that.” Sabo groused, annoyance carrying in his voice.
Luffy on the other hand was still very much enjoying the show and laughing at his brothers. The boy didn’t want to capture Sjaak, he said it was cruel to lock him up only because he likes to eat. But the pigeon didn’t look as if he’s completely healthy, so it’s better to catch him and call the animal rescue patrol and have them pick the pigeon up.
Looking at the clock hanging in the back, Ace sighs tiredly. Around two hours left before closing time and they’re still behind on work, only because a damn bird keeps taunting them. The old geezer had already left, saying that he wasn’t needed anymore and went home. It’s not something new and both Ace and Sabo had to close up several times by now. But it always sucks if they are behind on schedule, because that means they need to work overtime to finish everything.
“Lu” Ace calls out to his youngest brother, effectively gaining his attention at the raven-haired boy stops laughing. “Please take out the trash, we’re running a little late.”
Luffy looks a little disgruntled at that but still continues to do what is asked of him. Now that that’s been dealt with, Ace can begin to clean the rest of the stuff they haven’t done yet. That damn chicken nugget is a problem for another time, right now they need to clean and have the store ready for closing time.
As Ace looks at all the chores that still need to be done, he spots Sabo taking care of their terrace, locking all chairs and tables together with a chain. The weather isn’t the best and almost nobody sat outside today, so closing it a little earlier than usual shouldn’t give much of a problem.
And since Sabo is busy with that, Ace makes a start on cleaning the trays that hold all the different ingredients for the multiple sandwiches they sell. Luckily they work together as a pretty well-oiled team, so that means they gotten most chores done in just a little over thirty minutes.
The exact moment that Sjaak decides to show his feathery butt once again.
Ace was just busy with cleaning the coffeemaker when he heard Luffy talking to no one in particular. It sounded a little too much like baby talk instead of how the boy would usually talk to customers, which is odd because there aren’t any customers inside that have children with them. A look to his left shows that it is indeed no child as Luffy is squatted down next to the window with a piece of bread in his hand, causally feeding the smug bastard of a bird.
“Luffy no feeding the bird. We need him out of here, not back in because he gets food here.” Ace tiredly says as he makes his way over to the two. He ignores Luffy’s pout in favor of sending Sjaak out.
“Now shoo, we’ve talked about this.” Sjaak looks at him slightly dumbfounded before he waddles closer to the entrance. He doesn’t go through it, just standing there before he decides to walk back behind the corner where Luffy is seated with his piece of bread. “No, no. Bad Sjaak.” Immediately the pigeon turns on his heels and makes a low flight out of the store. “Yes you better, there won’t be a next time!” Ace calls after the bird’s quick retreat.
“Talking to birds are we now?” Sabo had to use that moment to taunt Ace, the smug son of a bitch even having the audacity to laugh in his face.
“For your information it worked, so hah. And Lu, no more feeding that damn chicken nugget. Don’t sulk like that, we can’t have birds inside the store, you know that.”
“But Sjaak looks so hungry, why can’t we feed him?” Luffy whines, despite being told not to sulk he continues to jut his lip out in a pout.
“Like Ace said, we can’t have birds inside the store.” This time it’s Sabo that explains the reason. “Animals and food isn’t a good combination and if someone talks to the commodity inspection department, Garp is bound to be charged for this. So either we leave Sjaak outside in hunger or we try to capture him so animal welfare can pick him up.”
Those options don’t seem too appealing for Luffy, the boy looks outside with a disdaint face before sighing exaggeratedly. “Let’s help Sjaak to get back home then.”
“Good, because I have a plan.” Sabo begins explaining his idea that might end in a successful capture. One that probably looks really stupid to bystanders but that doesn’t matter, not like they haven’t made a fool of themselves by walking around with a crate and chasing a speedy pigeon.
Not even five minutes later the star player of their plan waddles back inside the store, once again happily pecking at everything he deemed food. The small gap between the glass window and the pastry display case is where he disappears in, sneakily making his way behind the counter where Sabo readily stood with his crate.
Ace swiftly makes his way over to the other side of the opening, trying to block the pigeon’s exit as he stands just before the gap. Sjaak quickly took notice of Sabo and his crate, immediately he turns on his heel to leave. The moment his beady eyes fall upon Ace is when he takes off in the air, with a smooth glide flying out of the store once again.
“Well that didn’t do anything.” Ace concludes, scratching the back of his head as he looks at the pigeon waddling outside.
“I think we need to be faster, maybe if you’re on the other side by the time I get closer he won’t be able to escape.” Sabo thoughtfully adds, hand holding his chin as the blond probably thinks on a better strategy.
“No I don’t think it’s going to work like this.” Ace states, just as his brother looking deep in thought. “Wait a minute I have an idea.” He jumps up before running to the back.
Both Luffy and Sabo follow after him, curious to see what Ace might have come up with. Proudly Ace meets them at the counter, showing his own crate that he quickly grabbed from the stack in the back. “Now we can go from two ways and lock him in. That way he can’t fly past the one without a crate and we don’t need to use our hands to capture him.” Ace explains.
Sabo nods along, saying that’s a good plan. They start discussing the best ways to lure the bird and capture him in at least one of the two crates without hurting the small animal too much. In the meantime Luffy keeps an eye out to the front and quickly informs his brothers the moment Sjaak is trying to walk inside again.
Both men look at each other before nodding, putting their plan in action. Without saying another word they slowly stalk closer to Sjaak, mindful of the distance and sounds as to not scare him off.
Sjaak is once again casually pecking the ground as he walks behind the counter, making his way to the last few moments of freedom. This time it’s Ace who is behind the counter and Sabo who goes to the front, both holding the crate in their hands and ready to attack.
Slowly Ace walks closer as he can see Sabo nearly reached the gap next to the display case. It doesn’t take long for Sjaak to spot Ace and he turns on his heel, first walking into a dead end that is a wall before turning into another dead end that is Sabo. The blond used his crate to block the pigeon’s exit, having placed it down on the ground as a barrier. Once Ace gets close enough he repeats the same actions, placing his crate on the ground too and slowly herding Sjaak in either one of them.
But Sjaak isn’t going to let that happen. While he might be a little panicked and wants to get away, he doesn’t fly up, probably not enough space and him being too tired for that right now. He does try to turn away however, walking to the window because there is a little extra space there where Sabo can’t reach him. There is a pillar that divides the store’s windows and that leaves not enough room for Sabo’s crate to go through while maintaining the blockage. And since Ace has more open space next to him, Sjaak seems to be betting on that as his only escape.
But what the bird didn’t think about is that Ace can be a lot faster than him. He slides the crate in the direction that forces Sjaak to turn back to Sabo, using both his crate and feet to steer the panicked bird in the right direction. Obviously Sjaak doesn’t comply with that and takes a stance before the pillar, not entirely having thought his actions through. Because that spot is perfect for Ace.
He slides the crate closer to the bird and successfully locks him between the pillar and his crate, all while Sjaak lets an annoyed growling hiss lose.
“I GOT HIM, I GOT HIM!” He excitedly exclaims, with wide eyes staring to Sabo who looks a little flabbergasted. He probably didn’t think they would succeed this easily.
The few customers that are still present in the store are cheering from them, applauding and telling them they did well. Along with some laughter on how giddy Ace sounds.
Luffy already stands behind Ace. The moment the boy heard his brother’s screeching voice on how he caught the bird, Luffy was there. Trying to look over Ace’s shoulder to see what is going on.
“Okay now what?” Sabo laughs, something that Ace mimics. They have been dealing with his all day long and finally came out successful.
Quickly Ace reaches out for Sabo’s crate, taking it from the blond and moving it next to his own. “We’ll lock him in like this, then he has more space.” His words slightly mumbled as all his attention is on placing both crates against each other without letting Sjaak escape.
The pigeon didn’t seem too bothered to try and escape however. It looks as if he’s accepting his fate of being caught in two crates. And with Sjaak captured, they decide to leave him where he is, no use in moving the crates and accidentally setting him free. No way will the bird let himself get captured again.
All three boys are a little floored with everything that just happened. Their laughter filling the air as to clear their adrenaline, relief and nerves. It’s not every day that you capture a bird in your store after all.
“Now that Sjaak’s secured, what now?” Sabo asks, the smile still present on his face.
“Let’s call gramps!” Luffy calls, immediately turning around to grab the phone and dialing Garp’s number.
“You think gramps is going to help us?” Ace incredulously asks his blond brother, his eyebrow raised in scrutiny despite the chuckles that leave his lips.
Sabo turns to him with a serious face, one that breaks the moment as their eyes meet. “Probably would tell us to roast the bird for dinner.” The blond managed to wheeze out between laughs.
“He’ll turn Sjaak into a new daily special.”
“Only today; pigeon sandwich.”
“Awe poor Sjaak, maybe it’s for the best if the old man doesn’t show up.” Ace sympathizes with the pigeon. It would be bad if that were to happen, sure Sjaak is annoying but that doesn’t mean he is a bad bird.
The whole phone call was ignored when the two brothers were joking around. Only when Luffy turns back to them did they remember the boy was on the phone with their gramps.
“The old geezer says we need to call animal rescue patrol otherwise he’s having pigeon for dinner.” Luffy retells with a scowl. He likes the bird a lot, so with gramps threatening to eat Sjaak he’s not happy.
At that Sabo takes a hold of the phone and dials the correct number, somehow he already knew the number and Ace isn’t going to ask how.
When someone picks up on the other end of the line, both Ace and Luffy stay quiet. They listen to Sabo as he explains how they captured a pigeon that had been spotted a few days ago and was taking multiple trips inside their bakery, also carefully retelling on how the pigeon seemed to have trouble with flying and they think he might be sick or exhausted. After the blond gave them their address and phone number, he hangs up.
“They said they’ll be here soon to pick up Sjaak.” Sabo explains.
“Alright, then let’s continue cleaning up until they get here.” Ace suggests.
With slight reluctance they walk away from Sjaak who’s hidden in the crates. After all, there is more than enough work left to do and they need to finish it all before closing time. While Luffy continued to clean up behind the counter and make sure that every loaf of bread is cut and packed—that way it can be picked up by the foodbank then they come by—Ace makes his way to the back to use the dishwasher while Sabo begins on cleaning the restaurant area, sweeping and moping the floor.
The dishes proved to be more work that Ace originally thought, almost twenty minutes in and he still isn’t done. Looking on the bright side, the pile of clean dishes is getting bigger than the pile of dirty dishes, so that’s a plus. Nobody from the animal patrol had shown up yet and Ace wonders just how long it’s going to take and if they need to wait till after closing time.
Another ten minutes later Sabo calls out to him, his voice sounding a little distressed and it makes Ace groan.
“What. Did. You. Do?” Is the first response that he could come up with, only imagining the blond did something and now Sjaak’s a free pigeon once again.
“We think he’s dead.” Sabo appears from behind the corner, broom clutched in his hands and face set in worry. “I mean, I accidentally hit the crate with the broom but Sjaak’s not responding. He’s still on the same spot and hasn’t moved since. Luffy thinks he might be dead.”
Ace drags a hand over his face is exasperation. Did capturing the pigeon give it that much stress that he’s dead, how are they going to explain that one to those animal workers. “So you’re telling me we killed the nugget?” He asks in a tired sigh.
“Well I’m not sure, he just isn’t moving anymore.” Sabo walks back to the counter, forcing Ace to follow him.
“If he’s dead, then you get to explain it to those people.”
“It’s not my fault, don’t put the blame on me!”
“Oh Ace, Sjaak doesn’t seem to react to us anymore.” Luffy calls out to him, cutting Ace off in his next response to Sabo. The boy is sitting in front of the crate and worriedly looking inside. “You think he’s dead?” Those large puppy eyes tug at his heart, the pigeon better not be dead because he can’t deal with the fact to tell Luffy the bird didn’t make it.
“I’m not sure, let me have a look.”
Ace walks closer to the crate and placed a hand on Luffy’s head, ruffling his dark locks as he bends over to look inside the crates from above. Sure, Sjaak is still standing in the same position as when they caught him. But he’s still very much alive. It’s head jerking around in small and precise movements and his beady eyes stare up to Ace.
“Well, he’s not dead. Probably still a little shocked and pissed at us.” He concludes.
“You sure?” Luffy hopefully asks.
The hand on Luffy’s head ruffles his hair once more as Ace releases a relieved laugh, he really couldn’t deal with the fact if he had to tell Luffy otherwise. “Yes, his head is moving around. He most likely didn’t move because he’s freaked out or something.” He can hear Sabo take a relieved breath as well, the blond was probably thinking the same as him.
“Have you ever seen a pigeon with colors like this one?” Sabo asks him, his emerald eyes focused on the feathery friend locked in the crates.
Ace turns to look inside once again, taking in his colors that doesn’t match those of most the pigeons he usually sees. “Nope, never seen one like this. Most are grey with something blueish, or like that very dark gray one that comes by from time to time. Never seen one with red feathers however.” Ace drawls a little before adding, “he does look fancy with those colors.”
Sabo snorts as he turns to face Ace. “I know you’re gay and all, but don’t flirt with birds okay.”
“I wasn’t— you’re a jerk. I’m going back to finish those dishes!” Ace exclaims with a growl as he turns on his heel.
At that moment the bell chimes and all three boys look to the entrance, feeling a little sad that is wasn’t animal patrol but a customer. And since both his brothers seem too distracted by Sjaak, Ace decides to help the young woman. It was but a simple order and right now he’s waiting until the oven will beep to indicate the pizza part is warmed up and ready for take-away.
During that time he decides to clean up a little behind the counter when Luffy talks to him. “It’s so sad he’s there all alone, I’m going to give him something to eat.”
“Sure, there are some pieces of bread in the bread slicer, just give him one of those.” Ace advises as he searches for a new spatula to take the pizza out of the oven when it’s done.
“He doesn’t seem to want it.” Luffy complains, sitting in front of the crate again and pressing the bread in one of the openings. “Here buddy, it’s good, it’s food. Makes you feel good again. Well maybe not as good as meat, but it’s still good.” Luffy coos to the pigeon, still proceeding to press the pieces of bread through the opening.
“I think he’s scared Lu. Just leave some pieces in there and he’ll eat when he feels like it. I mean, wouldn’t you be annoying if someone locked you up?”
Luffy pushed the last piece through the hole before he walks towards Ace. “Well yes, but it’s sad. He’s all alone.”
“Okay, I’m going to ask, what is down there?” The woman nervously asks as she tries to look in the direction Luffy came from.
“There’s a pigeon named Sjaak there, he’s not feeling well.” Luffy proudly states with his characteristic laugh.
“A pigeon?” She parrots in complete disbelieve.
“Yes!” Once again Luffy proudly states, adding the story of how he came to the name Sjaak.
Ace overheard the conversation and decides to interfere, before Luffy will scare the woman off thinking that they might be holding someone hostage. After all, their conversation might come off a little dubious for those unbeknownst of the situation at hand.
Before Luffy can say too much, Ace butts in. Explaining that they caught a pigeon there that isn’t completely healthy and they are waiting for animal welfare to pick the bird up. Trying to convey that they feel sad for the little fellow as he’s locked up and sick, therefore wanting to feed him a little.
“Oh, okay. That’s good, you had me worried there. I just heard the words sad, locked up and then I see him ducking down. Really felt like I should ask what was going on.” The woman clarifies.
“Don’t worry, we don’t take people hostage in crates and then feed them pieces of dry bread.” Sabo jokingly adds from beside the woman, holding the mop in his hand as he was busy cleaning the floor.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t. In either way, thank you and good luck with the pigeon.” She nods as Ace gives her the to-go pizza. Quickly making her way outside but not before looking once more in the direction of the crates.
“I think she thinks we’re weird people now.” Sabo laughs as he turns around to continue where he left off.
Ace only laughs at that as he too goes back to his previous chore. Those dishes won’t wash themselves, unfortunately.
With three men working till closing time, everything was done before they even knew it. The dishes are back in their respective spot, the floor is as clean as it can get, the displays are emptied of their contents and stored where they need to be and everything that needs to be thrown away is patiently waiting until closing time. The loafs of bread and buns go to the foodbank for people with low incomes, that way they can still have good food without spending too much money. Everything else bread-wise is to be squeezed in other crates and goes to a local farm, the farmer gives it to his animals. That way there won’t be much loss and food to be spilled.
Less than twenty minutes are left before closing time and none of the brothers have seen the animal patrol, it’s making Ace wonder when they will finally arrive. His silent question seems to be answered when the phone rings, quickly he makes his way over and picks up.
“Good afternoon, Marine Bakery this is Ace.”
“Hello, this is Marco Newgate from Animal Welfare. Am I correct you had called us before about a pigeon in your store?” Relief floods through Ace at the introduction, mentally cheering that they are probably close and they don’t need to wait till after closing time.
“Yes that is correct. He’s still here.” Ace responds as he looks to Sjaak who’s still sitting in the same position ever since his capture.
“I see. Could you maybe give me the address once more, because you said Marine Bakery and I don’t believe we have the right address as of now.” The deep voice asks through the phone, sounding a little sheepish.
“Oh sure, you ended up somewhere else then. This street isn’t that long to be honest.”
The man on the other end chuckles before answering. “Yes, we’re looking at an apartment block and I don’t believe that’s where your store is.”
“No it’s not, would be quite difficult to reach.” Ace snickers as he gives the right address while explaining they can’t miss it if they are in the right street, the large hangout sign is hard to overlook after all. The man thanks him and makes a promise that they will be there as soon as possible before he hangs up.
Ace informs both Luffy and Sabo that the man is close and him and his colleague will appear any minute now. In the meantime they focus on closing the store and making sure the last of their stuff is stored away.
Almost five minutes later a man walks in, wearing a ridiculous yellow jacket as is courtesy from the Animal Welfare, the logo stitched on the one of the jacket’s sleeves. The man appears to be older, probably well in his thirties but that doesn’t do anything in making him appear less handsome. Blond hair, blue eyes, stubble, long angular face, lean but looking to be built. Not too shabby for someone of his age, if Ace says himself.
“I’m guessing this is the right place?” He asks with a smile, a beautiful, closed-eyed smile that sends butterflies down Ace’s stomach.
It’s embarrassing how much he’s drooling over someone he just met. Even more so when the blond man quirks a curious eyebrow at him when Ace doesn’t respond to his question.
“Good you’re here— wait, aren’t you usually with two?” Sabo walks to the front as he gives Ace a weird look, probably wanting to know why he doesn’t say anything.
“Actually we are, my colleague is trying to find a place to park the van without causing too much trouble. Police and such isn’t much of a fan when we park the van wherever we want. Did I speak with you on the phone?” The handsome blond easily replies to Sabo.
At the mention of the phone call Ace’s brain starts working again and informs the man, Marco, that it was him not his brother. Marco only gives him another curious look before asking about the pigeon, something that Luffy kindly likes to explain. The raven-haired boy almost drags Marco to their crate setup and begins to retell the epic story of Sjaak’s capture, also including the random facts about how both Sabo and Ace failed several times in capturing the pigeon. Something that Marco seemed to enjoy if his chuckles are any indication, well that and the lingering glances he continues to give in Ace’s direction.
“Alright, let’s see how the little fella is doing then.” Marco states as he casually picks up both crates with pigeon included and walks to a spot that holds more space. On the counter he left a small plastic box, one that is probably to put Sjaak in when the blond leaves.
Without breaking a sweat Marco opens the crates and plucks the bird up, Sjaak didn’t even stand a change against his fast movement. Uselessly Sjaak tries to flap his wings, but just as easily Marco traps the pigeon with his wings in his large hands.
“Hmm, interesting.” He hums as he checks the bird for whatever it is people check a bird for. Ace maybe should have done a little research beforehand so he could impress the man.
So instead he decides to play dumb—which he kind of is in this situation—and walks closer to Marco, standing a little behind his back and glancing next to him at Sjaak. The poor bird is practically getting manhandled by someone who could be over ten times his size. “What is?”
If the man is startled by Ace’s sudden appearance behind him, he doesn’t show. Instead he slightly turns to Ace as he begins to explain. “This is a carrier pigeon, so not your average feral pigeon.” Marco points out as if this is a fact that everyone is familiar with.
“I’m sorry, a what?” Sabo asks from beside him.
Marco doesn’t seem bothered by it, not even in the slightest. However Sjaak is. The red and grey bird is desperately trying to break free from Marco’s strong grip. “Could one of you first bring me that little box, that way we don’t have to re-capture him again.”
Luffy is the first to sprint to said box, picking it up and bringing it to Marco. “Isn’t this a little small for Sjaak? He’s a big pigeon.”
“It’s only for a little while, until he’s somewhere safe and then he’ll have a whole cage from himself.” Marco calmly informs Luffy, everything about this man is laidback and calm.
And again, without too much trouble he locked Sjaak in the small container. Marco then turns back to the trio of brothers to explain his earlier statement.
“A feral pigeon is what you’d commonly see in the streets, like the ones that are outside right now.” With a nod Marco points towards the window and as Ace turns around he spots their usual quartet of pigeons that are dying to get inside for a nice snack.
“This one however is a carrier pigeon.” Marco holds up the box filled with Sjaak as an example.
“You mean like those that flew around with messages taped to their legs?” Sabo earnestly asks.
“Yes like those. So that means that uhm… Sjaak belongs to someone. The number on his ring will tell us who the owner is, so after checking for any injuries we’ll let him go home.”
“Why did he end up here? I mean, if he belongs to someone, how did he end up here?” Ace asks, genuinely interested and slightly concerned about the owners who are missing their pigeon right now.
Marco completely turns to Ace, completely seizing his attention on the man. “Probably because he got tired. That’s usually the case with these pigeons, they leave their home and are unable to return because they are tired and hungry. It didn’t look like he was severely hurt or anything, so that’s good.”
He talks so passionately about birds that it completely gotten Ace hooked. He wants to know everything Marco knows about birds if that means the man will explain it to him. If someone as attractive and interesting as Marco explains things to Ace then he might have paid more attention in school.
“So do you know if Sjaak is a boy or a girl, you could’ve seen right?” Sabo suddenly asks, curiosity is written all over his face.
“Now that’s a rude question.” The comment took Sabo by surprise as he looks a little startled, uncertain of what he did so wrong. “I’m not going to look inside your pants to see if you’re a boy or a girl, why would I do that do a poor pigeon?” Marco expressed so much sincerity in his words that if leaves Sabo lightly flustered.
A grumbled, “damn bird lovers” is the only thing they hear before Sabo walks away. Seemingly done with the lecture.
“Don’t mind him, he just can’t deal with jokes.” Ace tells Marco, who looks a little sheepish after Sabo’s retreat.
“It’s okay, didn’t mean to offend him or anything. Sjaak’s a boy by the way. And before you ask, yes that was one of the first things I noticed about him, no I’m not telling you any more right now.” That caused a pout to appear on Ace’s face, he really wanted to know more about birds if that means spending more time with Marco.
“I need to get back to my colleague, we have more calls we need to respond to and I can’t really leave this fella in such a small space.” Marco explains. And while it makes perfect sense, it still bugs Ace that he can’t spend more time with Marco.
“If you ever have some free time, I can tell you more. Well, if you’re interested of course.” To see the laidback man become slightly flustered and hear an awkward chuckle escape him, is a weird sight. Not an unwelcome one.
“Sounds like a plan, I’d love to hear more.” Even though Ace wanted to play it cool, he’s unable to hide his excitement.
Marco smiles adorably to him as he hands Ace his number, along with a promise to meet again. Luffy on the other hand is completely ignoring the conversation in favor of talking to Sjaak, giving him a pep talk and telling the bird that everything will be fine.
After Marco had finally left to get Sjaak in a more spacious place than the small container, Sabo re-appeared again.
“So that bird loving man is gone?”
“Not for long, Ace is going on a date with him.” Luffy, sweet, adorable, oblivious, Luffy. Apparently he isn’t as oblivious as he seems and Ace can’t help but embarrassingly squawk as Sabo gives him an inquiring look.
But fortunate for him—well more like unfortunate—Luffy is nice enough to safe him the talk as the boy loves to tell Sabo about Ace’s pouting when Marco said he had to get going. Which ended in a full out war with dirty rags, as that is the only item close by that isn’t food or a knife.
At least Sjaak is safe and Ace may or may not have an interesting date soon.
