Written for the MarcoAce week 2015 day 3 with the theme "Flowers"

Prompt used: "Things you didn't say at all" requested by Vergina-spva

This story is based on the notion of floriography, or the language of flowers, which became poulair in the Victiorian era. This story is set in the 1840-50s when it comes to fashion, and while most things are researched and (hopefully) accurate, I did also put a more steampunkish element in somewhere.

Ace looked up when the doorbell rang. He was currently placing a teapot and cups on a tray in the kitchen. His master, Lord Sakazuki, had told him that he expected company in the afternoon, and Ace had been busy preparing. Ace put down the last cup and hastened himself to the door.

He was met by two men, one wearing a top hat and the other had an impressive moustache. Both wore a black frock coat. They were accompanied by a woman wearing a dress by the latest fashion, with the skirt expanding. Her pale blue hair was pinned up, and she fanned herself with a beautiful fan.

"Milords, milady, please come in," Ace said as he stepped out of the way and made a bow. "The master will be with you shortly."

He let them pass him, before leading them to the salon, where he served the tea. He had the eerie feeling that they watched his every move. Moreover, they did not speak a word while he was in the room, only exchanged looks.

Finally, when he announced he would get his master, the lady asked him, "Have you worked here for long?"

Ace was taken off guard by the question. "Er, no, madam. I only started here last week."

She nodded, seemingly satisfied, and Ace left the room to fetch Lord Sakazuki. He could still feel the stare of the man with the top hat on him.

Ace came home exhausted, like every day. True, he didn't work in the factory or anything, which was worse, but he had to be on his feet all day. While most servants slept at his master's house, Ace had permission to live somewhere else, as long as he was on time every day.

His brother Sabo was sitting at the table, studying. Thanks to a rich sponsor, he had been able to go to university. Ace wasn't so lucky, but at least he had a decent job. Luffy, their youngest brother, was lucky too, he had a job as a paperboy. Ace would never let him work in the factories. The conditions were horrible there. The employees, mostly children, were pricked by pins to make them work faster, they hardly had any breaks and did dangerous work.

Luffy came home soon after Ace had arrived, carrying a flower. "Ace! This is for you!" He grinned broadly.

"You… picked me a flower?" Ace asked confusedly as he took the plant from Luffy.

"Shishishi. No silly, someone paid me to give it to you!"

"Who?"

Luffy shrugged.

Ace sighed. "Was it a man or a woman?"

Luffy thought for a moment, then grinned broadly. "Yes."

Ace sighed again as Luffy was distracted by food. It seemed he would never find out who sent him a flower.

"Is that starwort?" Sabo asked.

Ace shrugged and handed his brother the flower.

"I think it is. It means 'Welcome to a Stranger'." Sabo handed the small white flower back to Ace, who stared at Sabo.

"Whaddya mean 'means'?"

Sabo shut the book he was reading. "It's called floriography. The language of flowers. Each flower means a different thing and this one is a welcoming to a stranger."

"Oh." Ace was dumbfounded. "Who'd welcome me?"

Sabo shrugged. "Are you new somewhere?"

"I started my new job last week, but… Wait a minute! A lady asked today if I was new." Ace cocked his head to the side. "Maybe she sent me the whaddya-call-it."

"Starwort. Maybe. But a lady is a bit above your station, don't you think?"

Ace shrugged. "Maybe she was just being nice. I sincerely doubt she's wooing me."

A few days later, the three people visited the house again. The lady – Lady Whitey Bay, Ace had learned – offered him a small smile. Did that mean she did send him the flower?

Lord Marco – the man with the top hat, who was blond – gave him a sharp stare with his blue eyes. Lady Whitey was probably his wife or at least the lady he courted, so he wouldn't appreciate Ace's interference.

Or would he just frown upon the fact that she smiled at a servant?

By the end of the day, Ace took his bowler hat and left for his own house. There, he was surprised to find a pansy waiting for him on the table.

"Who's this for?"

Sabo turned around in the kitchen. "You, of course. Luffy was paid again to take it to you."

Luffy grinned.

"Was it the same person who sent me the starwort?" Ace asked.

Luffy shrugged.

Ace rolled his eyes and sat down. "So, does this one have a meaning too?"

"I thought this might happen, so I borrowed a book on floriography from the university library." Sabo showed Ace the book and started leafing through it. "Let's see… Pansy…" Sabo fell silent.

"What?" Ace tried to see. He had never gone to school, too expensive, but Sabo had and had taught him and Luffy how to read.

"You occupy my thoughts."

Ace stared at Sabo. "Beg your pardon?"

"That's what a pansy means." Sabo turned the book so Ace could see.

Ace thought for a moment, staring at the purple flower in front of him. "But… Maybe the person who sent me the flowers just happens to like these flowers? Is that possible?"

"You still think it's that lady?" Sabo asked.

"I don't know," Ace said. "She was visiting the master today again, with entourage. But… I think one of the men might be her fiancé or something. He looked like he wanted to strangle me for looking at the woman."

"Then I suggest you stay out of her way. The last thing you need is a jealous lord."

A couple of days later, Lady Whitey returned, again accompanied by the two men. Ace had since learned that Lady Bay was a cousin to the two men, who were sons of Lord Newgate. Ace didn't know much about the Newgate family, only that they were rich and influential. And apparently visited his master because of business.

That Whitey Bay wasn't Lord Marco's fiancé or wife didn't mean that Marco seemed to like it when Ace looked at her. Ace hadn't received a flower after the pansy, and, to be honest, he only looked at Lady Bay when she wasn't looking.

'You occupy my thoughts' was what the flower meant according to Sabo. Why would she think about him? He was only a servant. Sure, he considered himself handsome, and he didn't doubt he could find a suitable wife from his own class if he put his mind to it – not that he was interested in such a thing, he would rather stay with his brothers – but as Sabo had pointed out, Lady Bay was way out of his league. Maybe she tried to court him for fun; it wasn't unheard of that a lady whose husband was away a lot sought her pleasure elsewhere. However, Ace was not inclined to get in the middle of that.

Ace had served Lord Sakazuki and his guests tea and went to clean up the kitchen. When he was done with that, he was about to return to the salon to see if his master needed anything, when he bumped into Lord Marco in the hallway. The lord was looking at a painting of Lord Sakazuki, painted by one or another famous painter.

"Oh, may I help you with anything, milord?" Ace asked.

Lord Marco didn't respond and kept staring at the painting with a pensive look on his face. Ace rolled his eyes. Another lord who thought himself too good to talk to a servant. Now that he thought about it, he had never heard Lord Marco speak, not even to his brother or cousin.

He shrugged and made ready to leave, when Marco turned around. He seemed startled, as if he hadn't heard Ace before.

Ace cocked his head to the side. "My lord? Do you need anything?"

Marco stared at him for a moment, before he smiled warmly and shook his head.

Ace was taken aback. His master never smiled at him, no one of the upper class did. Marco's smile made Ace's skin tingle, though he wasn't sure why.

"Please call if you need anything." Ace bowed and turned around to leave, walking right into a pedestal with an expensive Chinese vase on it. The vase wobbled and fell over.

Ace stood frozen, waiting for the inevitable moment where the vase would fall to shards on the marble floor. He would never been able to pay for that vase, not even if he put his annual salary together.

A figure moved past Ace, catching the vase before it hit the ground.

Ace turned around. Lord Marco, with amazing reflexes, apparently, was suddenly standing very close, holding the vase.

"Th-Thank you," Ace stuttered. His whole face turned red and his heart was racing. Why had this lord such an effect on him?

Marco tilted his head a little.

Ace took the vase, still red-faced, and placed it safely on the pedestal. Taking a deep breath, he bowed. "Thank you," he said again.

Marco smiled at him again.

That night, Luffy brought a variegated tulip, which, according to Sabo, meant 'beautiful eyes'.

"She's really trying to court you, it seems," Sabo added as he closed the book.

"Can't I just tell her I'm not interested?" Ace asked with a groan.

Sabo looked at him shocked. "Are you mad? You can't just tell that to a lady of higher ranking!"

"Isn't there a flower I could use then?" Ace said pleading.

Sabo sighed. "Can't you just humour her? She'll lose interest soon enough."

"Thanks," Ace said sarcastically. "And no. She started this game, I'll end it." He grabbed the book. "Now, let's see…"

When Lady Whitey visited Ace's master again a few days later, Ace waited until she was alone in the hallway making her way to the toilet before confronting her.

"Madam?"

She turned around to face him.

Ace took a deep breath and shoved the flowers in her hand, a yellow and a striped carnation. The striped one meant refusal, but also 'Wish I could be with you', so to prevent misunderstandings, he had given her a yellow one too, which meant plain rejection.

After he had given her the flowers, he bowed lightly and ran off, leaving her flabbergasted behind.

He didn't receive a flower that day, which relieved him, if he was honest. Apparently, she had gotten the message that Ace didn't want to involve himself with her.

He became nervous again, however, when she approached him several days later when he was working in the garden. Her entourage was nowhere to be seen.

"M-madam." Ace bowed his head, his face bright red.

"Are you nervous?" she asked, obviously amused.

"M-my lady, I…" Ace took a deep breath. "Wasn't my message clear?"

"Oh, it was." She started to circle him, observing him closely and making him feel highly uncomfortable. "Very clear indeed." She stopped. "What was also quite clear is that you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Madam?" he asked confused. She wasn't the person trying to court him?

She smiled at him. "I think your secret admirer is ready to reveal something more about themselves." She handed him a few green blades of grass that vaguely smelled like lemon. With that, she left.

That night, Ace hasted home. "Sabo, get the book!" he called upon entering.

"What did you get this time? Grass?" Sabo asked with raised eyebrows as he took out the book.

"It smells like those citrus fruits."

"Ah, lemongrass, then." Sabo started leafing through the book until he had found the page. Then his cheeks turned red and he looked at Ace.

"Well? What does it mean?" Ace asked impatiently.

"It means…" Sabo pursed his lips as he seemed to look for a way to tell Ace.

"Just spit it out," Ace all but snapped. He almost burst of curiosity.

"It means… homosexual love."

Ace stood frozen.

"It would seem that it wasn't Lady Whitey who was courting you. It's a man." Sabo looked carefully at Ace.

Ace could only blink. He had naturally assumed it was Lady Whitey who tried to court him, but she was always accompanied by the same men, so what if…

Ace remembered his encounter with Lord Marco in the hallway and a shudder went down his spine. Would… Would Lord Newgate be his suitor?

Ace was sweeping out the fireplace when the Newgates and Lady Bay arrived again. The chimneysweeper had just stopped by – a boy of merely six years old – leaving much mess to clean up.

Remembering Lord Marco might be trying to court him, Ace peeked over his shoulder. Lord Marco looked at him, so Ace turned back to his work, his cheeks turning bright red. It was a good thing he was covered in ashes, so his blush wouldn't be visible.

"My apologies for the mess," Lord Sakazuki said. "The chimney was just swept. Please, follow me to the sun room."

Ace heard several pairs of footsteps leave and sighed in relief. That was, until he discovered a pair of legs covered with breeches next to him. Slowly looking up, he saw Lord Marco smiling down at him. Ace managed a smile back, before he realised what he looked like and tried in vain to clean himself up a bit.

In one of the buttonholes of Marco's cutaway morning coat jutted a red daisy. Marco nodded briefly at Ace and then followed the others.

At the end of the day, Ace found a red daisy in the pocket of his jacket. Once home, he flipped through the book while Sabo looked curiously over his shoulder.

Finally, he found the right page and almost started to blush. The meaning of the red daisy was 'beauty unknown to the possessor'.

Ace stared at the flower for a while, a stupid grin on his face as he smelled it.

"So… You don't mind you're being courted by a man?" Sabo asked.

Ace's smile grew. "Not now I know who my secret admirer is."

When Marco and his party left the next time, Ace handed Marco his top hat with bright red cheeks. Inside, he had hidden a yellow tulip. 'There is sunshine in your smile'. He had long ago stopped calling Marco 'Lord' in his head. Marco obviously didn't care about his social status or he wouldn't have courted Ace in the first place.

Marco didn't seem to notice at first and just shot Ace a smile.

Ace was nervously biting his nails until he got something back, a hydrangea this time.

"Thank you for understanding," Sabo read from the book.

Ace replied with a ranunculus, 'I'm dazzled by your charms'.

These flower exchanges became more and more frequent as time passed, even though Ace had never spoken to Lord Marco directly. It started out innocent, but became more passionate as time went by. Finally, Ace received a gardenia.

"It means either 'you're lovely' or 'secret love'," Sabo said.

Ace didn't know how he had to take it. Was Marco in love with him? They had been exchanging flowers for a while, and there had been meanings such as 'Flame' (German iris) and endearing affection (gorse), but love? Ace decided to play it safe and replied with a love-in-a-mist, which meant 'you puzzle me'.

He received a bouquet back, which included japonica ('sincerity'), mimosa ('secret love'), jonquil ('love me'), and a red rose ('I love you'). Ace coloured bright red. Marco really loved him? They had never spoken, not directly anyway, but the flowers spoke for them. Every time he thought of Marco, his heart started to beat faster. Maybe… Maybe he did love Marco too.

Ace made a decision.

It wasn't hard finding the Newgate estate. It was Sunday, so Ace only had to work half a day, and in his free afternoon, he had decided to visit Marco and hand him a flower personally. He clenched his hand tightly around the Jerusalem oak in his hand. He felt nervous. What if Marco wasn't home? Or worse, what if Marco was just having fun with the flowers and didn't mean any of it?

Still, Ace took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He was surprised when the door wasn't opened by the butler, but by Lord Vista, the man who had accompanied Marco and Lady Whitey every time.

"I… I have a delivery for Lord Marco." Ace resisted the urge to hide the plant behind his back – he didn't know how much Lord Vista knew, not about floriography or about his relationship with Marco – and instead fumbled with it.

Vista surprised him again by stepping aside and letting him in, instead of taking the plant from him, but a wave of relief washed over Ace when he stepped inside the house.

"You can find Marco in the garden," Vista said and pointed him in the right direction.

Ace thanked him. He wasn't sure if he should take off his hat or not, so he left it on and only took it off when someone passed him.

When he reached the backdoor, he could see Marco sitting on a bench, reading a book. The garden itself was beautiful, filled with flowers. Ace didn't doubt that at least some of the flowers he had received Marco had picked from here.

Marco looked up when Ace approached. He looked surprised at first, but soon a smile broke through on his face. He placed the book to the side and rose.

Ace, who had hidden the Jerusalem oak behind his back, turned red and handed it to Marco without making eye contact.

'Your love is reciprocated.'

Marco accepted the plant and took Ace's hand in his, smiling warmly.

Nervously, Ace looked up and bit his lip. "I-I guess it's official now, huh?"

Marco squeezed his hand gently.

"Please say something," Ace begged. "I know we haven't spoken before, aside from the flowers, but it would be nice to have confirmation."

Marco remained silent.

"D-don't tell me this was all a joke! I know I'm just working class, but that's just cruel!" Ace started to panic and pulled his hand back. "I'll… I'll just go. Forget I ever was here."

He turned around, but before he could leave, Marco grabbed his wrist.

"Please wait."

Ace froze. Marco had finally spoken, but something sounded… off about his voice. He turned back to face him.

"I don't like to speak," Marco said. It sounded like he had trouble pronouncing the words.

"Why?" Ace asked.

Marco sighed. "I'm deaf."

Ace stared at him, blinking. "But… you can understand me."

"I can read lips," Marco explained. "But I prefer to communicate in different ways."

"Like with flowers," Ace said.

Marco nodded.

"I… I had no idea." Ace sat down on the bench, and Marco sat next to him.

Marco picked up the twig of Jerusalem oak and played with it, looking doubtful at Ace.

"No, I haven't changed my mind." Ace smiled and pushed the plant back at Marco.

"I'm sorry I kept it hidden."

"We never had time to talk. And I doubt there is a plant that means 'I'm deaf', right?" Ace closed his eyes for a second. "You don't mind I'm just a servant, though?"

Marco shook his head and took Ace's hand into his again.

They just looked at each other for a while, when the backdoor opened again, and two people came into the garden. The first was a woman, her dark hair pinned up, and she wearing the most gorgeous dress Ace had ever seen. She was followed by a man in a wheelchair. They seemed to be bickering.

"Who are they?" Ace asked. He couldn't remember seeing either of them inside the house.

"My brothers," Marco said. "Izo," he pointed at the woman, "and Thatch."

"Bro– Oh." Ace looked at the two as they stopped in front of them. The man in the wheelchair made some kind of gesture with his hand. Marco responded by making a series of gestures back.

Ace looked confused from one to the other. "What are they doing?" he asked Izo.

He sat down next to Ace on the bench, taking out a fan. "Sign language. It makes it easier for Marco to communicate with us."

Ace looked on amazed. It seemed Marco and Thatch were engrossed in a heated discussion. "You follow this?"

"More or less. But what I'm really interested in is you. Tell me everything." Izo started to fan himself and looked at Ace expectantly.

"Er…" Ace scratched the back of his neck. "What do you want to know? I work for Lord Sakazuki. That's how I met Marco."

"And you started exchanging flowers. How romantic."

"He started, actually. But yeah." Ace grinned sheepishly.

"Did you know he was deaf?" Izo inquired. His voice was sharper than before.

"Not before today, no. But I still like him," he added hastily.

Izo nodded and sighed. "That's good." He looked at Marco, but he was turned to Thatch and wasn't paying attention to Izo. "You know, we all have disabilities here."

"Really?" Ace looked Izo up and down. "You don't look– Oi!"

Izo had lifted up his skirt a little, making Ace flush when his lower leg became visible. However, Ace wasn't looking at bare skin, but at a metal prosthesis.

"My leg had to be amputated when I was a child. Gangreen," Izo explained. "I was… undesirable after that, until Pops took me in. Well, Thatch is obvious, he is paralysed from the waist down. Some of our other brothers have prosthetics like me – Vista, for instance, has a prosthetic hand."

Ace nodded. He had noticed Vista always wore gloves.

"But even Haruta, who is blind, doesn't have it as bad as Marco," Izo continued. "The deaf and mute are seen as being in an animalistic state, as they have no way to communicate. Not a way which other people understand without bothering to learn something. And most deaf people do not have access to schooling or learn sign language. Marco wouldn't have either if Pops hadn't taken him in. Because of his deafness, Marco can't marry and officially can't even inherit. People are cruel," Izo concluded. "So I had to ask."

Ace looked at Marco, who was still talking to Thatch. He had always thought the working man had it hard, which was of course true, but it had to be so much worse for Marco.

"I don't know what you heard, but Marco, Vista and Whitey are seeking to buy your master's factory. We want to improve the working conditions. Marco can't negotiate of course, but hardly anyone outside the family knows he is deaf, and because he doesn't speak, he looks intimidating, and people are less inclined to cheat us. He can follow the whole conversation, though, by lip-reading," Izo explained.

Ace nodded. That explained a few things. And he had to admit, he had been intimidated by Marco as well at first. Though why he had caught Marco's eye was still a mystery to him.

"He doesn't care about your class," Izo said as if he read Ace's mind, "because he isn't a noble either. Most of us aren't. Not by birth."

Suddenly, Marco turned to Izo and gestured something. Izo rolled his eyes and signed back.

"What did he say?" Ace asked.

"He asked what I was telling you, and I told him that I was telling you the truth."

Marco pouted.

Izo sighed and rose. "Come on, Marco, Pops needs you. That was actually the reason why I came here."

"Right, not to check out Marco's boyfriend," Thatch said sarcastically.

Izo shot him an unamused look.

Reluctantly, Marco rose to his feet. He looked doubtfully at Ace and then at Izo, who rolled his eyes again.

"He'll be right back," Izo said to Ace and then pulled Marco along by his sleeve.

Thatch had stayed behind and snickered. "Don't worry, it won't take long," he said to Ace. "I'm Thatch, by the way." He held out his hand.

Ace shook it. "Ace."

"So you're the guy Marco's so crazy about. Thanks for indulging in his flower game. You should have seen him, he was beaming when he discovered your first flower." Thatch grinned.

Ace flushed a little. "You're welcome," he muttered.

Thatch picked up the Jerusalem oak. "Now, did you give him this? Or did he give it to you? Either way, someone declared their love first." He was now smirking.

"S-shut up." Ace pulled the plant from Thatch's hand. Never in his life had he imagined he would tell a lord to shut up, but Thatch laughed it off.

Ace looked at the plant in his hand and bit his lip. "Could you… Could you teach me to say something to Marco in sign language?"

"You mean something like 'I love you'?" Thatch asked teasingly and made kissing noises.

Ace lost his temper and hit him over the head. "N-No! Just… something nice."

Thatch rubbed the painful spot on his head. "Fine. How about 'I like your smile'?"

Ace nodded, and Thatch demonstrated how to do it.

By the time Marco came back, Ace had mastered the sign. Thatch left them alone to sit somewhere else in the garden. When Marco sat down again, Ace took a deep breath and made the sign.

Marco looked at him, puzzled.

"Did I do it wrong? Thatch said– Where are you going?" Ace asked when Marco stood up and saw Marco running to where Thatch was clutching his stomach with laughter. "What did I say?"

After another heated argument in sign language, Marco returned and sat down next to Ace with a sigh.

"What's wrong? What did I say?"

Marco shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Thank you for trying."

"I wanna learn it." Ace smiled at him.

Gently, Marco cupped his cheek, a grateful look on his face. From behind his back, he produced another plant. It had small green leafs and white berries.

"Mistletoe," Ace said, a grin on his face. "I know what that means." He leaned in and caught Marco's lips with his own.

When Ace came home Monday evening, a flower was waiting for him on the table. Ace smiled as he recognised the sweetpea.

'Thank you for a lovely time'.