Poking Your Nose Where It Doesn't Belong (Beyril Stone and Ace)

Marceline huffed to herself, prying her fingers in between slats on crates and poking her head in boxes, sniffing, and moving on. She rolled her eyes, plucking splinters out from under her nails and tossing them over her shoulder. She straightened her cropped tank, pushing wild black curls off of her sweaty brow and proceeding to another pile of boxes, making sure none of the dockhands were looking. She opened a crate and grinned, plucking a golden statue out from the newspaper packing material and hiking her skirt to stash it in a pocket on her inner thigh.

Marceline took off back towards the city, quickly enough that she wanted out, but not so quickly that she drew suspicion, green eyes darting in the midday sun like flashing emeralds.

Ace's always-grim stare (even when he was in a good mood he was in a bad one) locked on the two eyes that were as precious as the cargo their owner was trying to steal. The young weapon, of course, didn't know what exactly was going on, but he definitely had seen a flash of gold disappear beneath the girl's clothing. It was obvious she was no Kishin Egg, and a witch would have been far more extravagant. To Ace, this girl was nothing more than just a petty criminal, which wasn't something he'd normally bother with. Today, however, she had come to him, practically begging for it.

Already an hour had gone by that Ace had spent examining various parts of the hull of the ship, evaluating the burns. When a nosy little rat had gotten in his way, he was pleased to find some way to ruin her day. "Something tells me that isn't yours to take." He glared, reaching for her arm as Ace was not in the mood for a joke. All six feet and two inches of him towered over her.

Marceline didn't waste a second, immidiately spinning on her heel with the arm he grabbed and aiming a punch directly at his face, "Get off me!" she shouted.

Ace's expression failed to register any of the pain he'd felt. "That was definitely a mistake on your part." Ace was never strong, but he's always had incredible speed. As Marceline spun away, Ace released his grip, then immediately turned his arm into a chain, and wrapped it around her legs. "I'm not really big on fighting women, so I'm just going to drag you to the police station without beating the shit out of you."

Marceline wrestled with the chain on her arm, particularly strong for someone her size, but still not quite enough. A clattering sound hit the pavement below her skirt and she groaned, still trying to wriggle away, kicking a clearly ancient statue toward him that looked oddly like a certain would-be ruler of the world: Reaver.

The statue catching his eye as it fell, Ace immediately stooped to snatch the piece and tightened his grip on Marceline's body. I knew I'd find something. He's not just hiding for his own sake. "Where did you find this?" He shouted, trying not to draw too much attention.

"Crate." she nodded her head towards the loading docks, "Over there. You see, I can't seem to recall the history with your fucking chains all over my arms." she frowned, emerald eyes narrowed.

Ace ignored the obnoxious comments and began examining the crates himself. "Know where these things came from, Nose-Ring?" He peered inside one of the boxes before looking back to make sure she didn't pull any tricks. "If so, I'd advise you to tell me what you know. THEN I might let go of you."

"Look," she sighed, "I just get paid to make the deliveries. They come here from Asia, addressed to whomever. And the guy doesn't want them traced back to him, so I pilfer them once they arrive at the ship yards and drop them off at the point he gives me, and my money shows up in my house after the job is done. Beyond that, I don't care."

"Lucky for you, you're just some lackey nobody. A student from the academy would be another story." Ace turned back from the boxes and stood over the girl. "So someone's sending these things over here, and you steal them in order to take them to some anonymous recipient?" He thought on this for a moment, then quickly brought her to her feet. "Take me to your rendezvous point."

She raised a brow, "I'm getting paid good money for this and you want me to give all that up because you're on some headhunting mission?" Marceline shook her head, "Give me a good reason I should do what you say. And 'I'll beat you up or take you to the police' doesn't scare me, so try something else."

There was a long pause before Ace began walking away, seemingly without much consideration. His chain still coiled tightly around Marceline's legs. He said nothing, and let her decide whether she'd be dragged or try to keep up.

Marceline jumped, following just enough that she didn't get tugged over, "Hey! Hey!" she grumbled, "This is assault, you know. I can call for someone! I know my rights!"

"I also know you're a crook, so shut it." Ace grumbled as he kept on. He eventually came to a large manor estate. Almost like a creepy haunted house, complete with broken windows, dying trees, rusty gate and all. The only thing missing was a thunderstorm. "Take it you haven't really guessed who I am yet, have you?"

She shrugged, skipping bare-footed over a stone to avoid stubbing her toe on it, "Don't much care really. When shit hits the fan and the grand hoorah end-of-days comes you and I will both be equally belly up." Marceline tied up the edge of her skirt so it didn't drag and followed along.

"Great, some sort of doomsday fanatic. You know, you really aren't good company, not that I'd enjoy it either way." Ace unlocked the gate and heaved it open with some effort. "No matter. Why don't you start with your name. It'll ease the tension for the time being, and I really hate whiny women so consider it a favor."

"You seem like the kind of guy who hates everyone so I won't take it as a compliment for the time being." she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, "The name is Marceline De La Croix.You, Mr. Popularity?"

"Ace Toromaki. I'm the 'ghost in the haunted mansion' that the kids whisper about." He continued to pull her through entryway and up towards the door to the estate. "Even though everyone knows I'm real, some people still seem to treat me like a cheesy horror story."

She shrugged, "I don't talk to other kids. And I live in an RV in the woods so I'm sure I'm more like some sasquatch monster or something if that's the degree of creativity these morons possess."

"Where are there woods near here? Or do you just live that far away?" Ace replied, unlocking the door and propping it open with his foot. "You're probably the least pleasant woman I've brought home with me."

"I'm probably the only woman you've brought home." she snickered at her joke, "And yeah, it's a little far out, but I don't go to the school so it's not like I commute."

"Unfortunately, you'd be wrong." He sighed and began climbing the stairs, passing the chained private room and the basement door. "And believe me, I can tell you don't attend the academy, which is why I have even less interest in you than I do normal people."

"And here I thought you were simply allergic to smiling people." she snorted, hopping up the stairs to avoid tripping on the chain.

Ace entered his own bedroom, dark and gloomy as always, and drew aside one curtain to allow for the presence of light. He sat himself on his bed and paid no mind to where the girl sat. "Normally I'd interrogate you in a particular room, but I think we can come to a resolution in a more agreeable light."

"Oooh, scary." Marceline chuckled, sitting cross-legged on the floor, "Surely, at least, you understand why I'm not simply going to spill the details of where I'm supposed to leave Mr. tall, dark, and shiny?"