#marcoxoc

Taiga eyed the space she had been given carefully. It was a plain storage room, filled with crates and other supplies. A small section had been cleared so she could set up. Marco had offered up an examination room in Medical but she had refused. Luckily he hadn't pressed, just shrugged and found another spot for her.

It was well lit at least, with a few portholes lining one wall. Dad had asked if she wanted to share the space that he normally used for tattooing whenever they came aboard the Moby Dick; she had once again refused. Although normally she loved any chance to watch him tattoo, today was a big day for her. Taiga didn't want to get distracted by Dad's clients coming in and out or having people gawk at her own work. 

Today she would be doing her very first tattoo on real skin. While already well-practiced on fruits and pigs' feet, human skin was different. It could always surprise. The way different people's skin sat over their muscles and bones, how well their skin held the ink, it all varied. The more practice she got, the better. Unfortunately, the only real way was to do that on clients.

Which is why Marco had volunteered. Although initially Taiga had been against it, Marco had waved her concerns away. 

"Even if it sucks, I can just burn it off or something yoi. My skin will heal it and it'll be like it was never there. No pressure for you right?" Her pride burned at her. There was still pressure. The ability to remove it was nice, sure. But even if Marco had that option, she didn't want to depend on it either. And besides, a small secret part of her wanted him to like it. Maybe even keep it. 

Taiga bit on her tongue as she readied her space. Now was not the time to be dwelling on such thoughts. The important part was doing the best she could. 

Sitting on a rolling stool, she set out the small cups of ink and started filling them with black ink. She didn't look up when she heard the door open. 

"Yo!" Marco greeted casually. Taiga gestured to the seat across from her. 

"Take a seat." 

"What no 'hello it's good to see you'?" Marco teased and Taiga rolled her solitary eye. Marco sat across from her and eyed the armrest set up on one side of the chair. "What are you tattooing yoi?" 

"Your hand. Prop it up for me?" Easily Marco set his hand up on the paper towel covered armrest. With a gloved hand she pressed it down flat. Humming under her breath, she grabbed some shaving cream. 

Marco watched with half-lidded eyes as she shaved the back of his hand before wiping it clean. "What am I getting?" 

"You'll see soon enough," Taiga answered vaguely and Marco snorted. She couldn't hold back a small smirk at the noise. Grabbing up the stencil, she positioned it carefully over his skin. He leaned closer to get a better look. 

"A flower yoi?" He asked with surprise. "Isn't that kinda girly?" 

"Maybe. Good thing you'll just cut your hand off after this, hm?" Taiga asked with a teasing smile as she straightened up. Marco stuck his tongue out at her. 

"Hey you should be grateful I'm even doing this! Shouldn't you do something cooler? For me? Your friend?" Marco whined as she ripped open the packaging for the tattoo gun needles.

"Oh stop being a baby, it'll be cool you'll see." Marco made a face as he brought the flower to his face. 

"I don't think so. You're doing this so the others make fun of me yoi. What did I ever do to you?!" 

Taiga sighed loudly as she spun around on the stool. Reaching up she grabbed up his hand and pressed it back down. "No, this'll be good practice. Hands are difficult, the skin moves around a lot, not to mention the tendons and bones. Lots of people want flowers on their hands, it's a popular tattoo. Having this practice for me would be really great. So are you gonna sit still and get it or are you gonna chicken out?"

"Fine," Marco huffed, slouching just a tad but keeping his hand still, Taiga was pleased to note. 

"Here," she held out a thin sea stone bracelet. He straightened up with interest as she dropped it into his other hand.

"I've never seen sea stone jewelry before yoi." 

"No?" Taiga grabbed up the tattoo gun and idly pressed on the pedal to make sure it was running smoothly. "They're popular with certain kinds of people. I never understood the appeal myself but it makes it easier than forcing people to wear a shackle." 

"Alright, let's do this," she said ominously as she dipped the needles into the ink before positioning herself over his hand. The first few lines were nerve-wracking. Taiga's heart was beating like crazy, while dread pooled in her stomach. It wasn't that she thought it would be a bad tattoo, she'd practiced plenty. It was the desire to do a good job, to show that she's ready was what tugged at her. That urge to prove herself, show her Dad that she was good at this. That all the time and effort he had put into her hadn't gone to waste. She had soaked it all in, learned every tidbit, every small sliver of advice. Wanted him to be proud of her. He probably already would be but if she did well at this—enough to satisfy herself even—maybe it would feel like she earned it. 

"So what kind of flower is it?" Marco's sudden voice broke her out of her thoughts and she lifted the gun hastily. 

"Don't talk!" Taiga hissed as she spun around to dip into more black ink. Turning back she saw Marco's eyebrow raise. 

"Don't talk?? What do you expect me to do, just sit here in silence? Don't you have to chat with clients yoi?" 

"I'm not at the level where I can chat and tattoo," she said through gritted teeth. "This is my first one right? I don't want to lose concentration and mess up." 

Marco sighed loudly and dramatically. "I wish you had told me that. I could have brought a book or something." 

"Sorry," Taiga said, as she leaned forward and started a line. 

"You know, help distract me from the pain yoi," Marco went on and she stopped the gun. Glancing up, she glared, and he smiled crookedly at her. "Okay okay, shutting up now."

Finally, Taiga slipped into a sort of fog. The automatic sort, where time had no meaning. Just the buzzing of a tattoo gun under her hand and the tattoo slowly appearing beneath her fingertips. Spin, dip, spin, tattoo a few lines, wipe, spin, dip, spin, tattoo some more, before wiping. Marco faded away, everything did. It was just her and the art. 

Taiga grew up in a tattoo shop. Almost every day she’d find a vacant chair in the shop and draw away in her sketchbook. Whatever she was feeling, whatever mood she happened to be in, once she started drawing it was like nothing else mattered. Taiga would blink into herself hours later, sore shoulders from bending over for too long, and a finished piece in front of her. Dad always said she had an artists' soul.

Then, she was done. Rolling away she grabbed up the bottle of soap mixed with water before cleaning it up once last time. 

"Can I talk now?" Taiga slapped Marco's knee and he chuckled before wiggling his fingers and staring at his now finished tattoo. 

"What do you think?" She couldn't help herself from asking, heart practically in her throat. It was a camellia flower blooming from the center of his hand, surrounded by large leaves. The shading was light, just small soft lines to give the flower a pop from the dark leaves surrounding it.

"You know what? Surprisingly I like it yoi. Still think you could have given me something a little cooler though." 

"Flowers are cool," Taiga argued but sighed with relief all the same. "Okay great, let me grab some wrapping for you—" 

"No need," Marco cut her off, unclasping the bracelet. The moment it fell off his wrist, blue flames engulfed his hand. 

"Oh." She had forgotten about that part, mind so focused on the clean-up portion. "Let me see," she demanded, grabbing at his hand.

"Oof," Marco said as she pulled him towards her. Taiga ignored him, twisting and turning it to see the now fully healed tattoo.

"Hmm," she said under her breath, seeing a few areas that could be better. 

"What's up yoi?" Taiga felt his hair press against her own, a few pieces brushing her forehead as he bent to look too. "Does it look different now?" 

"The swelling is a lot less, but no not really." Quickly she dropped his hand and scooted back, busying herself with cleaning up the mess, feeling her cheeks suddenly heat. Stupid, why was she feeling nervous now? "Wanna do me a favor?"

Marco stood up and stretched, Taiga's eye flickered to watch his chest tattoo expand for the briefest of seconds before turning away. 

"Sure what is it?" 

"Would you come back tomorrow?" 

"Tomorrow?" Marco echoed in disbelief. "Whatever for yoi? Didn't you finish?"

"I did," she confirmed. "But I wanted to do another tattoo on your other hand. Same design, but in color. So I can compare." Marco scratched his head, looking pensive. When he looked up and caught her eye, he immediately laughed. 

"Okay, anything to get that look off your face yoi." 

Taiga's nose wrinkled. "What look?" 

"Oh you know, the wounded dog look. Like I might take away your favorite toy or something." Marco grinned and her heart definitely didn't flutter at the look, nope absolutely not. 

"You're not my favorite, now get out so I can clean. Same time tomorrow?"

"Sure, sure," Marco replied, shooting a wave at her over his shoulder as he left. 

The next day Taiga was not nervous, she told herself firmly. Even if there were a few butterflies buzzing in her stomach, that was from wanting to do well today. Not, she reflected, from seeing Marco last night in the galley showing off his newest tattoo. She had been at a different table but was able to overhear some of the louder comments. He did get some ribbing, as he said he would. Still, he seemed happy with it regardless, singing her praises. At one point Marco had looked over and caught her eye before his face stretched into an happy smile. Feeling her heart leap into her throat she quickly turned back down to her food while Dad chuckled at her side. 

"Seems like he likes it," Dad commented quietly, with a knowing smile.

"Suppose so," Taiga agreed mildly. 

Shaking her head from the memories, she started setting out the colors before there was a short knock on the door and Marco waltzed in. "Yo, long time no see." 

"Sit," she ordered and Marco rolled his eyes as he sauntered closer, hands buried in his pockets. 

"Could seem a little happier to see me yoi," he whined and Taiga sighed. 

"Hello Marco, how are you?" Marco smiled as he sat and Taiga fought to keep the blood from rising to her cheeks. 

"Fine, thanks for asking! How are you? See that wasn't so hard was it?" 

"Hand," Taiga said instead of replying. They went through the motions, this time Marco didn't bitch about the flower and simply allowed her to put the stencil on. After putting together his hands, she had to wipe it off and try again, so they were even. After finalizing the position she started slowly. This time it felt easier, maybe because she had settled her nerves from yesterday somewhat. She handed him the sea stone bracelet and got started.

After a few minutes of silence passed between them, with only the buzzing of the tattoo gun, Marco spoke,

"So why don't you do the stick and poke that George uses yoi?"

"I can. Master is a traditionalist and he taught me the ways. I don't mind using it myself and in some cases prefer it," she answered before leaning back and shaking her hair out of her face. Spinning she dipped the needle back into some ink. "However many clients ask for a gun, if only because it's faster. I would like to become skilled at using both techniques." 

"Gotcha. Need a model for that style too?" Marco's eyebrows rose up and down and she snorted out a small laugh. 

"No, I think I'm filling up your hands enough as it is." 

"Ah, well if you ever change your mind you know where to find me yoi." Taiga didn't answer, focusing back on the tattoo. She prayed with the angle he couldn't see the slight flush against her cheeks. Why was she feeling like this?! It didn't make any sense. Marco was just being nice; she didn't need to react like...like...whatever this was! 

Casting around for something to distract her with, she asked the first thing that came to mind,

"I thought you were going to bring a book?" Peeking upwards she was just in time to see Marco's face redden slightly before he looked away. 

"I uh, didn't think about it," he said quickly and she looked back down without commenting. They made idle chit talk this time, as Taiga was more confident the second time around. Marco sat like a rock, which she appreciated. Taiga knew that the hands were especially sensitive but he barely flinched and never moved. Soon it was all over and Taiga watched closely as Marco took off the sea stone bracelet and his hand was engulfed in blue flames. 

"What does it feel like?" She wondered aloud. Marco blinked a few times before he held out his still burning hand to her. 

"You can feel it if you want yoi, it won't hurt you." 

"Oh!" Marco had never healed her before, she hadn't ever needed it on the short trips they made on the Moby Dick. "Uh, okay?" Carefully she settled her hand on his outstretched palm. The flames didn't hurt, and they weren't even warm. Instead it was the strangest thing, a coolness that jumped around her palm before it found the edges and wrapped itself around the top of her hand before expanding upwards. It felt amazing and her eye widened. Trailing her fingers against his palm, it was so odd. She could feel his skin there but just barely. It almost felt like it might disappear entirely if she pressed too hard, just burst into flames leaving no trace of his hand behind. 

Marco slid his hand away with a cough. "Anyway, how does the tattoo look?" The flames went out leaving only his bare hand behind and he flipped it so she could inspect it. The blue seemed to leap from his hand, bright and bold and she smiled. 

"It looks good, what do you think?" Taiga asked and he put his hands into fists next to each other. Marco hummed.

"Pretty cool, for flowers I guess yoi." Taiga sighed loudly and he laughed. 

"Hey wanna see what they look like on my wings?" Marco asked, a gleam in his eye as he leaned towards her. She leaned the slightest bit back, to put more space between them. 

"Your wings?" Taiga repeated, mind momentarily blank, his smile was so cute—wait what?! Heart pounding in her chest, she barely heard Marco babbling as he stood. Taking a few steps back he lifted his arms and they transformed. Taiga watched mouth agape. It's not like she hadn't seen them before but seeing them in such a small space really showed how large they were.

Marco curled them around blocking most of his body from view and it took her a few seconds to realize he was showing her the ends of his largest feathers. She gasped. Looking larger than life, were her tattoos. Taiga almost thought they looked like moth wings, two large dots sitting close to the edges of his feathers. But they were flowers, her flowers. 

"Marco! Sit back down, I need to fix something," she instructed, turning back to her inks. 

"Wait what? What's wrong yoi?" Marco quickly transformed his wings back before rushing to her side. She gestured to the chair aggressively. Sitting, but obviously perplexed he set his hand back up on the armrest. "You going to explain or?" 

"Hold this," Taiga said as she thrust the sea stone bracelet into his other hand before bending closer.

"Whoa! Let me get settled first, what's going on Taiga?" 

"I had colored it with your phoenix colors in mind. The blues were supposed to match and they do! Really well actually. Too well, I think it'll look better if I darken it a bit, then they'll stand out a lot more. Right now it just looks unfinished, instead of shaded like it's supposed to."

There was a long stretch of silence before Marco laughed. Taiga quickly lifted up the tattoo gun and shot him a glare. "Why are you laughing? Stop it, you're moving too much!" 

"It's just funny yoi! I'm flattered you tried to stick to my brand so much though," Marco grinned so wide, it looked like it might hurt. 

Taiga tsked loudly and Marco just laughed again, louder. 

It ended up working out fine, Taiga made Marco transform when she finished and inspected his wings closely before declaring it a success and practically shoved him out of the room. Marco tried to argue, to hang out or something, it was hard to tell with the ringing in her ears. Either way it didn't matter once she shut the door in his face and then leaned her whole body against it. 

Grabbing at her hair in horror she stared unseeing at the opposite wall. She had a crush. On Marco. Of all things. Sliding down the door instead she ended up on her butt. Pulling her knees close to her face Taiga buried her face into them. This was terrible, what was she going to do? 

Marco admired his hands as he laid out on the deck. Stretching out his arms and fingers, he ran his eyes over the increasingly familiar lines of his flowers. Unfortunately, Taiga and George had left sooner than scheduled. Something had come up George had told Pops apologetically. Marco could admit he was a little disappointed. He liked Taiga, found her fun, and always enjoyed spending time with her. She was a little distant though, it was hard to get close. When he found out that she needed to practice tattooing on someone he practically leaped at the chance. Spending several hours alone with her seemed like the perfect way to get closer! 

The first day was a bit of a bust though. Silence and intense, he hadn't dared break her concentration after cracking more than a few jokes and meeting her eye in a fierce glare. It was a bit unsettling. So when she had asked for a round two, he was more than a little hesitant. But seeing her pleading face broke him quickly. 

He wasn't being too obvious, was he? Marco wondered with a frown. Hopefully not. The second day went better, she talked a bit which was more than he could say for day one. But also this time he was able to relax enough to watch her work. When she had shaken her hair out of her face, he longed to lean forward and touch it. The blue color always fascinated him. He wondered what it would feel like against his fingers. What it would look like next to his feathers. Just thinking about it sent a shiver down his spine. Then when she looked up at him, magenta eye shining so brightly, blue braid covering the scar over her other eye, and the mess of blue surrounding her face while the sun from the portholes made it shimmer even brighter; he was momentarily speechless. She was just so stunning. 

Sighing loudly, he let his hands fall to the deck. He had it bad huh? Marco's brothers had been teasing him relentlessly although he made them shut up whenever Taiga wandered by. Everyone had been expecting him to burn off the tattoos the moment she left the ship but he kinda liked them. Something to remind him of her. Hopefully, the next time she came aboard she'd say something about him having them still. Marco grinned as he threw an arm over his eyes. He hoped she would. 

That wish came true a few weeks later. Marco was practically bouncing as he waited for George and Taiga to come aboard. They had gotten quite a few more members so George had agreed to come back to start making the rounds, tattooing all the new brothers who wanted to get the mark. 

Seeing her familiar blue hair Marco smiled as he shot forward, ignoring the knowing chuckles around him. 

"Taiga!! Hi!!" He waved cheerfully and Taiga nodded back. "Look yoi!" Thrusting his hands into her face, she frowned before he saw her eye widen when she focused. Dropping her bags on the deck she grabbed both his hands in her own. 

"You kept them?" She whispered. 

"Yeah I did! They were too cool to lose!" Maybe the enthusiasm was too much? Marco's nerves tugged at him as he watched Taiga's face, anxiety making him sweat. Then she smiled, teeth and all and he couldn't help but smile back. 

"Of course they were! My work is amazing!" Taiga said proudly. Marco blinked a few times before grabbing her up. She yelped then started hitting his shoulders as he spun them around, laughing. 

That visit was the best one by far. Taiga seemed...warmer to him. Although they had always been friendly, he didn't consider her a best friend or anything like that. Marco would have liked to, but Taiga was always the slightest bit hesitant and guarded. He hadn't wanted to push too far and annoy her. But over the coming days, she seemed to relax around him. Marco wasn't sure if it was because he kept her tattoos and she didn't expect him to, or if it was something else but either way he'd take it. Seeing her smile in his direction never failed to amaze him. Several times seeing her shoot a smile at him over her shoulder, Marco had to tap down on the urge to let his tail feathers out. 

The first and last time he did it, Taiga had reached out and casually brushed something off his cheek. She was normally so reserved, not one for casual touches, so it had instantly caught him off guard. Luckily someone called for her attention right away, otherwise, Marco wouldn't have been able to explain why his legs had transformed and he had his tail feathers out and spread wide over his shoulders. What was he even doing?!

"Maybe it's a mating display," Thatch had mentioned slyly when Marco had bemoaned the incident later. Letting his face fall onto the table with a groan, Marco severely hoped it wasn't. But after that he made sure to keep himself in check because regardless of what it was or what it meant, it would be embarrassing if Taiga ever found out. 

"Marco!! A little help here!" An annoyed voice violently pulled him out of his reminiscing.

"Sure thing yoi," Marco replied back, nonplussed as he flapped his wings to circle over the man Thatch was locked swords with. Letting his wings transform back into arms, he kept his talons outspread as he fell towards the fight. Landing heavily, he knocked the other man to the deck. "Took you long enough, what were you doing up there?!" Thatch complained. Marco rolled his eyes. 

"Don't whine, I helped didn't I?" 

"Maybe if you weren't up there daydreaming—" Their argument was interrupted by a sword swinging down and they both jumped out of range. "Oi, watch it!" Thatch yelled, upset by the interruption of their argument. Both of them swiftly stood back-to-back as the rival crew surrounded them. Easily Marco pushed off Thatch's back and felt him do the same. Brothers in arms, they fought well together, always have. Marco was taking out a few of the cannon fodder when he heard a pained grunt behind him. Throwing an elbow into someone's stomach, he easily used their back as they bent in half to vault over, kicking someone in the face before landing back on the deck as he sprinted to Thatch. They weren’t that far apart but Thatch was being held in a headlock as another went to stab him with a knife. 

Heart in his throat, Marco didn't think, just caught the blade in both hands easily. Blood ran down his wrists immediately before he knocked the man away. The distraction was enough to give Thatch room to break out of the hold and handily force the other man to the deck.

"You good Marco?" Thatch asked with concern, one foot firmly pressed on the back of the guy who tried to hold him down, as he let out a painful groan. 

"Fine yoi," Marco answered distractedly as he unfurled his fists and the bloody knife fell to the ground. Immediately his healing flames sprang up and he sighed with relief. Although pain never lasted long for him, grabbing onto a knife with his full strength had been pretty foolish. In the future he'd have too—the thought was suddenly cut off as he caught a look at his hands. 

"Oh no..." he whispered. The back of his hands were bare, Taiga's flowers nowhere to be found. Thatch finally came up to his side. 

"What's the holdup, did they get you with sea stoneeee—oh." There was an awkward silence as they both stared at his blank skin. "Maybe she can do them again?" Thatch offered immediately, likely knowing how much they meant to Marco, despite the shit-talking Thatch frequently gave about his crush and the fact he got flowers of all things.

"I'm not sure..." Marco replied. Thatch clapped him on the back. 

"It'll be fine you'll see!"

"Was it fine?" Ace's voice broke Marco's train of thought from his recounting of the story. Blinking, Marco focused. He had been so involved in the past, he forgot where he was. Taiga laughed from his side. They were out on deck, seated around a small table; yet another party happening in the background. Ace had asked them how they had gotten together. 

Looking into Ace's freckled face, he seemed utterly engrossed. Taiga leaned forward eagerly. 

"It was not fine!" She confided with a finger pressed against her lips as she smiled. Marco rolled his eyes as he wrapped an arm around her waist. 

"Whattttt!" Ace yelled. 

"You said it was okay when I saw you next yoi," Marco complained, a well-worn argument by now.

"What else would I say?! 'Oh, actually Marco it meant so much to me that you kept them, I can't believe you lost them by saving Thatch's life'??" 

"I asked you to do them again!" Marco whined. Ace's eyes followed the argument, going back and forth. 

Taiga sniffed, throwing her long blue hair over a shoulder. "It just wouldn't be the same. Plus I thought you were only asking because you felt bad, not because you actually wanted them." 

Marco pressed a soft kiss to her temple. "I did yoi, I really did."

"Yuck," Ace stuck out his tongue. "Maybe have your moment when I'm not sitting directly in front of you?" 

"Then leave," Marco said, tugging Taiga against his chest. Ace's chair made a loud scraping sound as he stood up abruptly. 

"Fine then I will!" Ace said with a pout. "Thanks for the story Taiga!" He called more cheerfully as he spun around to rejoin the party. Taiga sat up straight with a frown. 

"Marco!! You didn't have to scare him off!" 

"He's fine, Ace doesn't scare that easily yoi. Besides what if I wanted some time with you?" Marco gave her a wicked smile that made Taiga roll her eye before looking down at the tabletop.  

"You’ve already spent time with me," she said grumpily. But Marco knew her well enough by now to tell she was pleased by the comment all the same. 

Tilting her head up with a finger at her chin he leaned down and kissed her gently. Pulling back just a tad he mumbled against her lips, "You know if you ever wanted to give me another tattoo I'd gladly sit through another one."