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The Moby had grown quiet as night consumed its form, lulling the residents into a gentle sleep, and rocking them like babies in a cradle. Marco, and Thatch were no different. The pair cuddled up close in bed, Thatch’s arm wrapped around Marco’s shoulder, and the blonde's head resting on the other man’s chest. The action made Marco feel safe, and after years of never being secure he appreciated the kind action. Being able to hear Thatch’s heartbeat throughout the night made him feel comfortable.
Marco stirred when a new noise had begun to penetrate his dreams, soft at first, but then it increased until it was the only thing he could hear. He was about to push it to the back of his subconscious, but then one piercing scream startled him awake. Wide eyed, and full of panic Marco quickly shook his partner awake.
“Thatch! Thatch, wake up!” Per usual, his love was a deep sleeper. Marco loved him to pieces, truly, but now was not the time for him to be so damn stubborn. “WAKE UP!” He landed one good flick right on the man's forehead, and watched with quite a bit of satisfaction when the brunette jumped awake.
“W-Wha!? Who's dying!?” Big brown eyes looked around in horror, trying to find the source of his pain until his eyes met a pair of prideful blue ones. His expression instantly morphed to one of annoyance, and he let out a low growl that just humored Marco. “The hell did you wake me up for? What time is it anyway?” He looked around, becoming more annoyed when he slowly realized that the sun hadn't even peeked from over the horizon.
“I heard something.” It was the only way to explain it, that terrible scream still playing in his mind even though the room was quiet. Thatch just sighed, pulling Marco into a gentle hug that warmed both their souls.
“Babe, you had a nightmare, nothing more. Let's just go back to bed.” His face was full of nothing but kindness, wanting to soothe Marco’s fears like he always did, and falling in love all over again as he lovingly brushed a piece of blonde hair out of his face. “Everything is ok, my lo-” They were interrupted when a high pitched cry echoed throughout the halls, scaring both men out of their own skin, and making them jump right out of the sheets in a panic.
“Was that a dream too?” Marco shot the brunette a look, but neither had a chance to say another word when the sound of soft crying reached their ears. They had rushed right out of the room, looking down the hallway for the sign of the noise, and freezing when they found the source of it all.
“Ace, buddy, what are you doing out of bed?” There, standing in the middle of the hallway with tears pouring down his cheeks, was Ace. His brown curls were a mess, and he seemed to have dragged his blanket all across the ship with him in a desperate search for the only two adults he trusted.
The sight broke Marco’s heart, reminding him of a young little bird that had just been freed from slavery, and running to his new pops room everytime he had a bad dream. He had to shake away the thought, not wanting to view the young child as a tiny him no matter the similarities between them.
Ace tried to explain, but neither man could understand the garbled mess of tears and snot. Poor thing, Marco was pretty sure he had never seen the man cry, yet here was the child version of him proving his thoughts wrong. The blonde felt so awkward watching him bawl, wondering what he was supposed to do as he made pitiful attempts to reach out. Thankfully Thatch jumped in to help.
“Oh, it's ok buddy! Come here, I'll give you a big old hug.” The man crouched down, opening his arms wide, and Marco couldn't help but think he looked handsome with such a caring expression. He never thought Thatch being paternal would be so hot to Marco, but it was.
The little four year old ran right to them, falling into the man's arms as he began to cry harder. Thatch began to hum, and bounce the little one in his arms. His voice soothing both Marco, and Ace as the two let its loving sound fill their hearts.
“Now what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?” The child gave a pitiful “yes”, and then nodded his head into the man’s shoulder. He was so sad, and it tore away at Marco to watch him bawl. He felt so useless too, just standing there as Thatch comforted the little one.
“Mr. Thatch? Mr. Marco?” They both turned to see a little flash of light blue, and after looking a little longer they realized it was Deuce. The poor boy had probably woken up when Ace had run off looking for them, and seeing as they shared a room it was inevitable.
“You ok Deuce?” Marco decided he needed to step up a bit; he hated feeling so useless, and he thought maybe he could do this at least. He moved closer, copying what Thatch had done before as he crouched down to the kids level.
“Yeah.” The little boy nodded, but despite his response he stayed hidden from around the corner. He was still wary of them, and that made sense. Unlike Ace who never had a kind soul in his life, and was just hungry for affection, Deuce had a life before this. He had a father, mother and brother. All of this was some weird experience for the poor kid.
“Do you need me to put you back to bed? He offered nicely, trying his bets at the whole caretaker thing, but it was obvious in his tone he was uncomfortable. He hoped that Deuce wasn't able to pick up on it at least.
“N-No, i’m ok. I have bunny.” He held up the stuffed bunny that was sitting happily in his arms, cuddling close to his body despite the rough way it looked. It seemed like Deuce had the thing for years before his pirate life, taking it with him when he set sail, and thank goodness for that since the little four year old had refused to sleep until they found the stuffed toy.
“Bunny is a very good protector, right?” Marco couldn't help but smile when the little child giggled, and nodded in joy. The two of them really were adorable, and despite his fears he couldn't ever find it in him to dislike them. Thatch had come up from behind them, carrying Ace as he did so.
“Ace wants to sleep with us tonight, he had a nightmare.” When Marco peeked at the little form he was shocked to see that Ace was comfortably cuddled up to the man, no signs of fighting back which was almost uncharacteristic from what he knew.
“That's ok, whatever helps him sleep through the night.” This actually wasn't the first time Ace had woken them up from a nightmare, mostly though it was during naptime, but he should have known it would leak within his nighttime dreams.
“You have a lot of hair on your chest.” Little Deuce had spoken up again, big eyes staring at Thatch’s hair covered dadbod (which Marco saw as very sexy), and seeming to find it mystical. Marco couldn't grow hair (damn phoenix powers had their faults), and this was the first time he had seen Thatch shirtless now that he thought about it.
“Yeah! I’m a werewolf!” Marco could feel his eyes almost pop out of head. Thatch, why in the world would you tell him that!? He was expecting the worst, but instead both kids had starry eyed looks.
“Woah! You turn into a wolf!?” Wow, they believed him, and even crazier they weren't scared. Kids were odd.
“Maybe I will show you later, but for now let's get to bed.” He gently took the other four year olds hand, and led the little ones to their bedroom. Marco sighed, but followed, he supposed they were going to snuggle up with one another tonight.
When he entered he saw that they were already tucked in, and getting cozy with Thatch on their right. The older man smiled, and ran a hand through Ace’s long hair as he tried to lull the little one to sleep. It was a sweet sight, and one that warmed his heart up.
“There's still some room for you Marco, come on in.” Thatch spoke with a sing-song voice, and made sure to make a little room for his blonde boyfriend. It was enough to make the man smile, and slowly climb into the large cuddle pile.
He expected to be annoyed, or find the sleeping arrangements uncomfortable, but instead he ended up being bombarded with love. Little Deuce snuggled right up to him, and warmed his soul as he wrapped his arms around the boy. It just felt so right, and he wondered if he could get used to a life like this.