Marco X Reader: Flames of A Phoenix

Celebratory cheers were heard, ringing out across the deck of the Moby Dick as every ship division and its commanders gathered on the main ship, downing barrels of sake in thick wooden mugs with their great father, Whitebeard.

You were among everyone of course, celebrating the great win against some random, but formidable pirate gang that dared oppose you. Happening a mere ten minutes ago, doing your usual work on one of the ships, it was suddenly attacked by some outrageous outlaws. Sadly for them, it was the ship managed by the first division commander, Marco. The man you were proud to be working closely with, powers matching equally when fighting by each other’s side. Not counting his devil fruit ability of course. That put him on a whole new level. The random battle taking place, a few injuries happened here and there, but overall, you caused a serious amount of deaths, as well as Marco, wiping out every sly shit that thought they could take down the first division alongside you.

This brings us back to now, the celebration now in full swing. After hearing the news of the rebel band being taken down, Whitebeard took it as an excuse to call everyone together and drink some sake, obviously. No one objected to the thought, though.

“________! You did GREAT! “ Someone from the first division congratulated you, slapping you on the back, already half drunk.

“Yeah! The way you took those guys out, AMAZING! I can’t believe you took out at least half of them, all with your sheer physical strength!” Another cheered, clanking mugs with the other as the two of them took giant swigs of the fresh sake.

You chuckled and grinned widely at everything around you. This was exactly why you had joined the Whitebeard pirates. The atmosphere was always welcoming and full of fun. “Thanks you two~!” You smiled, taking a bit of your own sake to yourself as everyone swayed and cheered.

Just as you took your sip, a rush of blue flames flew through the sky from one of the other ships, the fire flicking in the shape of a pair of giant wings. Everyone cheered as Marco took his entrance and finally joined the party, a wide smirk on his face as he landed on the deck, blue flames still flicking themselves around his body as he was immediately offered a mug of sake. You watched him with a smile and a tint of blush. His devil fruit was so damn amazing and always enjoyable to watch, seeing as straight up neon blue flames were a rare sight. Though you admired his power, you weren’t always looking at him for just that. He himself was a pretty hot thing as well.

Whitebeard laughed loudly and began a small speech as well. “My children! Tonight, we celebrate the great achievement of our very own first division commander, Marco the Phoenix!” He announced. “As well as his amazing closely worked with partner, ________! Thanks to them, our first division is alive and well! They have proved yet another feat of strength! KANPAI!” Whitebeard yelled, thrusting his mug of sake high into the air.

“KANPAI!” Everyone echoed, thrusting their mugs up as well, cheering and shouting for you and Marco.

All the attention made you blush slightly, covering your face with your mug as you casually sipped from it with a smile, unable to avoid the 360 degrees of nakama around you and Marco.

“Oi _______! You did great! Always good hearing things like this from you being in the first division!” Ace said, walking up to you casually.

“Heh, thanks Ace!” You replied.

“Don’t go taking my place as Second division commander. You have the potential!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” You laughed.

“Oh, right! I don’t really think you would. That would mean giving up the ability to work closely with Marco~!” Ace teased slightly.

“Ace, shut up.” You said bluntly, a pinkish blush rising on your cheeks as you punched him in the arm.

“Just teasing~!” He laughed. “Enough of that now. Time to get this party started!” He said, implying something rather rowdy. “Fists of fury and the flames of a phoenix, put ‘em together and no one can beat us!” He began chanting, pumping his fists slightly.

“Oh god…”

Slowly, people caught on and began to chant the words with Ace, having them grow louder and louder every second. The drunken state of half the crew wasn’t a big help either, slurring the chant while leaning on one another. Soon, the entire ship, full of every being in Whitebeard’s crew, was chanting what Ace had started, surrounding you and Marco in a loud circle. You looked up at Whitebeard for help, only to find that he was chanting it as well. Sighing from embarrassment, you turned you head to Marco, who was surprisingly standing there calmly, drinking his sake like nothing was happening. You stared at him for a while until he turned to you with a smirk on his face.

“It can’t be that bad, _______! It is a party for us after all!” He reassured with a laugh.

“It’s kinda annoying.” You mumbled, the blush growing on your face from embarrassment.

Marco just laughed at you, making you blush a little more at the whole situation. The cheers were constant, and Ace was grinning widely at the two of you, launching up little flame fireworks around the ship, lighting up the night sky slightly with the orange glow. He refrained from his chanting for a moment and stepped slightly closer to you to speak.

“Oi ________~! What’s your blush for?”

“Oh come on not now.” You thought, rolling your eyes. “Ace, this is slightly embarrassing! I’m not used to the attention!” You argued, flicking your gaze up to him sharply.

“Phoenixes are interesting creatures, aren’t they?” Ace mused, glancing upwards, leaning on one of his legs more than the other. “I bet you would love to feel the flames of a phoenix someday~!” He implied.

“FOR CRYING OUT LOUD ACE!” You yelled, throwing your empty sake mug as him.

He laughed and dodged it, backing away from you and back into the crowd. “Oi! Everyone has a goal in life!” He added, bolting through the hoard of people away from you.

You twitched slightly and rubbed your head, trying to calm your nerves and your blush. “What an idiot.” You mumbled quietly.

Shaking your head, you cleared your mind of Ace’s provocative stupidity and tried to focus on the fun you were supposed to be having. Slowly, you brought a smile back to your face and let the cheers sink in, letting them go on for as long as they desired to scream out. Marco had finished his own sake and tossed the mug across the deck somewhere, grinning with satisfaction.

“We did good.” He said, crossing his arms and gazing out at the supporting crew in front of him.

“We did indeed.” You agreed, nodding slightly. “Now let’s make this more of a party!” You added, finally getting the partying spirit on and jumping up into the crowd of your nakama.

Marco laughed and joined in, pulling the whole crew into a fun filled night full of dancing, singing, and drinking. The chants Ace started had died down, but the spirit didn’t at all. Hips were bumping, voices rang out in song, and anyone with a devil fruit ability, or the correct weapon, made small sorts of fireworks and other explosions for eye candy in the sky, lasting for hours on end as your smile spread wider across your face and your spirits lifted as well as Marco’s, the entirety of this celebration being for the two of you, partying on together like the great partners you were, under the moonlit ship with Whitebeard and family.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hours had passed since the beginning of the celebration. People had stumbled off or passed out from too much sake, or just from dancing too much and getting tired. Whitebeard was asleep on his chair, a smile on his face with an empty jug of sake next to him. Ace was almost the same, lying on the floor off to the side. The only difference was his jug of sake was half full, meaning he clearly lost it to someone and passed out before he could finish. The few that were still awake just stumbled around, unsure of their surroundings. The only sane ones left on the ship were you, about six others, and Marco. Where he was though, was a mystery. Someone dragged him off to do something and you haven’t seen him since.

Taking a look at the passed out figures around you, you decided to take yourself around to the back of the ship, where there were no bodies and it was slightly quieter. Stepping over the limp figures, you found solid walking ground and paced yourself over to the railing, leaning on it and gazing out at the sea, sparkling with the light of the moon. You thought back on today, defeating a fairly strong bunch of rebels, leading up to a wonderful party. You grinned at the thoughts, the music from earlier still drifting through the air, bringing a more calming feel to the night, its slow pace enchanting you.

“Oi _______!  There you are! I was wondering where you disappeared to.” Marco said suddenly, appearing behind you.

“Hey Marco!” You greeted, still staring out at the scenery.

He came up beside you and leaned on the railing as well, gazing out with you in complete silence. The both of you had serene grins on your faces, taking in the sight and atmosphere.

“How was the party?” Marco asked, breaking the silence.

“Pretty damn good.” You answered. “Though the first half hour was rather embarrassing, it all turned out pretty good. So worth it for the battle we went through.”

“Ah, that battle. You fought extremely well _______! I’d expect nothing less from my partner!” He said, looking over at you with a smile.

You looked back up at him with your own, blushing slightly from the compliment. “Thanks! You did really well yourself, using your devil fruit an all. Totally wiped ‘em all out.” You said.

“And thank you to you too!” He said. “It’s always fun just washing over them with these hot blue flames of mine.”

Looking into his eyes, you saw a faint flicker of his usual blue flame there. Curiosity soon took over you and a question formed in your head.

“Marco, I’m just wondering. A phoenix is a bird that can heal itself, but you also kill everything in sight. I’ve kind of always wondered what the flames of a phoenix are like. Being able to hurt someone, or not be harmful at all.” You asked. “It is a rare mythological creature.”

Looking at you directly, Marco gave you a curious expression as he thought of an answer. A grin spread across his face as he thought of an answer that pleased him. “Well, it’s difficult to explain. These aren’t your average flames.” He said, igniting his finger, glowing with a bright blue, a hint of orange coming around in the flame every once in a while.

You gazed at the flame, watching it dance on his finger. “I can see that.” You chuckled.

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to get you to understand how the flames of a phoenix really are.” Marco concluded.

“How?”

“I can show you.” He said, turning the rest of his body around and taking your waist in his hands, pulling you close to him and causing you to squeak slightly in surprise. “It’ll add to the celebration, partner.” He added with a grin, quickly leaning down and kissing you softly on the lips.

You were slightly taken aback by his decision, eyes widening in surprise. You stared at him in the sudden lip lock, blush rising up on your face and radiation off like the heat of the sun. He had his eyes closed as he leaned into you more, deepening the kiss. Feeling a heat rise around you, blue flames rose from his body and soon engulfed the two of you, licking around your bodies. The flames were warm, but not burning hot. These were the same flames used to wipe out an entire squadron of 60 men left over from the original 120, but they held no destructive burn or sensation of pain. They were just warm and welcoming, as well as cool feeling at the same time.

The new sensation overtaking you, your eyes became half lidded, relaxing as you brought your once frozen arms up and around his neck. Slowly, you closed your eyes fully, and pulled yourself into him, kissing back with a slight smile. The neon blue flames still dancing around your bodies, you felt a tingling sensation in your body from them, bringing you that much closer to him as their warmth kept the cool midnight breeze from making you cold.

Once the need for air soon became important, Marco parted from you and looked down at you with a smirk, the flames still present.

“Was that a good example?” He asked smartly.

“Tch, yes, it was. I now understand the flames of a phoenix a little better than I did before.” You scoffed, smirking slightly.

“Tell me what you have learned then~!” He teased, pressing his forehead against yours.

“Alright. I learned then even within the most destructive and brutal power, there can be a beautiful feeling of restoration and peace. The flames of a phoenix may burn hot for the enemy, but for another, they can merely lick around them with peaceful warmth to show the sweetest affection.” You said, smiling up at him. “Though, I’m sure there is much more to learn about these hot blue flames. Maybe you could teach me?” You requested, a hint of mischievousness in your voice.

Marco laughed at this, one of his flames flicking up between you in the shape of a heart. “I think that is something I can do, my dear partner _______.”

You laughed as well and quickly gave him a quick yet affectionate peck on the lips. “What a great party. That certainly added to the celebration~!”

“I told you it would! But, who said we have to stop here?” He chuckled, capturing you lips once more, the burning passion of his flames exploding on your lips under the soft, silver light of the moon.

*~*~*~*~*Extended Ending*~*~*~*~*

“OOooOOooOO~! Marco and _______ are getting this partay starteeeeeed~!” Ace slurred, stumbling over to where you and Marco stood, now holding his half empty mug of sake that he was unable to finish some time ago.

Breaking apart, you and Marco turned your heads and glared at Ace with equally as pissed off expressions.

“What the FECK are YOU lookin’ at?” He hiccupped, leaning on the railing for support.

“He’s drunk, completely vulnerable with no control. Do it.” You whispered to Marco.

Nodding slightly, one of the flames around Marco and you shot out from the group, the blue having flicks of orange in it now. It darted out at Ace and hit him right in the ass, burning him good.

“OW OW OW IM SORRY! MOOOOOOOOM!” Ace screamed, dropping his mug and running off in the opposite direction of you, holding his butt in pain.

Puffing out your cheeks, you stifled a huge burst of laugher and narrowed it down to short spurts of giggles. “Now that’s something you don’t ever get to see. Fire Fist Ace just got BURNED!”

“He was too drunk to even stop the flame!” Marco laughed. “And he’s a fire devil fruit user. A LOGIA type. That’s saaaaaaaad.”

The both of you laughed together at Ace’s drunken failure. The night was fairly good, celebrating your win, topping it off with Marco, and Ace’s ass burned. What a beautiful night on the Moby Dick.