Birds of Feather

Chapter 14: Marco

For the first time in a long time, Marco found himself aggravated that he had the responsibility of the Vet Hospital. He knew the frustration would pass, but driving away from your house and toward his own was not the easiest thing for him to do right now.

Even without the clinic to consider, he did have to go back home. He'd let Thatch know he wouldn't be home last night, but if he was away much longer he might not survive the return. The pros to having so many brothers was a long list he appreciated time and time again in his life, but the con to having so many brothers was that they acted like brothers.

There wasn't going to be a way to avoid the teasing, or the number of times he was going to hear a song about sitting in a tree, either.

The thought brings a smile to his face. His brothers will mean it in good humor, and it also brought to mind the image of you hiding behind your hands. Every time he saw a new side of you, he was just more intrigued. From the minute you'd stepped into his hospital, he'd felt drawn to you. Maybe it had just been the commotion of the emergency pittie, maybe it had been how well you'd kept your composure despite everything.

Maybe it was simply the fact that you'd gone out of your way to help an animal you had no connection to. Well, that certainly a large part of why he'd offered to give you a ride home in the first place. But the more time he spent with you, the more time he wanted to spend with you.

Some of it was physical attraction, but there was a tug that was persistent. Persistent enough that it was a bit of a struggle to pull into the drive to the house, well, mansion if he was being honest, and not just turn the car around and head back to your place.

Keeping hold of himself, he parks the car. Breathing in deep and letting it out slowly, he takes a couple moments to just relax before walking into the cacophony that the house is going to be.

Four stories high, four distinct wings, the Newgate Estate was one of the largest residences on the island, and one of the newest too. It had been built from as much of the Moby as was possible, which also made it one of the least expensive building projects of the island. Most of the crew built it, shipwrights to house-raisers.

Every time one of the older members of the crew found a splinter they'd blame it on the construction of the house, despite a couple decades having gone by. But that was how much of the family was sunk into the building itself. In a way the house was just as much a member of the family as everyone who ever resided in it.

The parts of the Moby that didn't translate into housing materials well became decorations and flourishes on the new, smaller ship, the family used to haul goods to Heun. Thus one life had become something completely different.

Opening the door to the house, Marco couldn't help the smile that pulls at the corners of his mouth. The entire room went quiet once everyone saw it was him. Slipping off his shoes and locking the door he evens out his expression.

"I'm home." He declares evenly. He can feel the eyes on him, but he's not going to make anyone's day by returning any gazes.

"Welcome home." Izou says, the barest hint of amusement in his voice.

"Thanks."

Izou's in a recliner, reader a coo newspaper, and Ace is turned around on a couch, ignoring whatever movie he was in the middle of watching, eyes practically glued to Marco. Thatch was in the kitchen, and Deuce was giving him a hand prepping for dinner. Feeding so many mouths took a lot of time, and just about everyone in the house knew the basics of food prep.

"You're going to burn a hole through my head if you stare any harder, yoi." He says, glancing sidelong at Ace.

"It went well, yeah?" Ace replies. "You'da been home way sooner if it had gone bad."