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Law would never admit it out loud, but he truly thought Zoro was a good company. At least when it concerned boozes, or swords. Yeah, definitely when it concerned swords. That match he had earlier with Zoro ... that was amazing. After knowing all about the Cursed Swords, sparring with Zoro, using Kikoku and Zoro's newly-acquired Nidai Kitetsu felt like a breath of fresh air.
For the time being, let's set aside the fact that Law had to reroute their course for, like, a hundred times before the rest of the Straw Hats joined them in Wano. All because of a certain swordsman alias the first mate of his allied captain.
Yeah. Okay. Swords. And now, boozes. Law didn't remember clearly when had Zoro managed to coax him into drinking, but here he was, clutching hard at his third bottle of sake. After the brutality and the mess and the chaos that was taking down the entire crew of a Yonkou, Law thought he deserved this at the very least: to let loose. For once. After more than a decade, considering he never truly felt at ease before Doflamingo had finally been brought down.
Well, Law drank. He used to drink when he felt frustrated and at a loss, and so, so desperate—scared, no matter how he wouldn’t admit, at the possibility of Doflamingo finding him and massacring his whole crew before he could exact his revenge. But, he never drank this much. How many bottles again? Wasn't this his third? Or now fourth?
Anyway, Law hadn't drunk this much before and never felt this drunk that he—
That Law—
His side felt so, sooo warm. Like Law was leaning against something solid that emitted warmth all over his side. That something felt a lot like a human's ... body?
When Law looked up, he found a flustered Zoro looking at anywhere but him. Law also found out his arm had slung itself around Zoro's shoulder and they were so close that Law thought he could hear Zoro's breath near his face.
Law blinked.
What had they been talking about? Oh, yeah, about being the greatest swordsman—
"I still don't think you can beat Mihawk, Zoro-ya," Law started. "Not now, at least. You still struggled here, in the land of swords and capable samurais.”
Zoro grunted. Law thought he heard a distinct I know muttered by the green-haired man.
Law quirked a corner of his lips up. "You did quite well here, though. Not bad."
Zoro looked like he wanted to reply, but then he closed his mouth. Again, the man stared at anywhere but Law. They stayed silent for a while. After journeying with Zoro (and Robin and Franky and Usopp and generally the self-proclaimed Dressrosa Team) for quite some time in Wano, Law finally began to understand the first mate of Straw Hat crew. Zoro, it turned out, was not that different from him (they were both swordsmen, didn't talk as much as the others, a quiet observer, and had his own demons, just like Law since Flevance).
Law realized, maybe they could be in a more friendlier term, if they weren't already.
Law’s body moved on its own. He leaned closer to the warmth, but he still felt, strangely ... not enough. There was something missing. He wanted warmth, warmer than this, warmth like that of a sun.
Law sighed. He closed his eyes and the first image that appeared in the back of his mind was—
"Toraooo! Torao, Torao, I've been looking for yo—huh...?"
(—was absolutely not the smile of a Supernova captain that stormed his way through the entirety of Punk Hazard, or the slow burning sensation he felt deep inside his chest in the middle of the freezing part of the fucked up island, or the anger and determination and pure rage accompanied by wave upon wave of Conqueror Haki and haki-coated leg that saved his life and the constant warmth admist the dread and helplessness beneath Doflamingo's heel, or even the fire spreading from behind him when they fight back to back, fighting for their life and the screwed up country, at the top of the shogun palace, facing the strongest creature alive.)
Law blinked two times. The face that was seared into his mind since Sabaody Archipelago two years ago stared back at him. Law hoped the boiling sensation he felt on his cheeks could be attributed to the amount of alcohol in his system.
"Mugiwara-ya," he managed to say. Maybe that sounded slurred, but Law was probably too far drunk to care.
"Torao," Luffy said again. "I was looking for you."
Law nodded. "I'm here," he replied. He could feel Zoro growing even more uncomfortable. Why...?
"With Zoro." Luffy glanced at his first mate, and then he looked at Law again, saying, "I thought you guys finished the spar already?"
"We did," Zoro answered this time. "I thought I could drag Trafalgar from his no-fun territory and turned out, it worked, Captain."
Law caught a smirk from the man beside him, albeit only for a few seconds. Law also caught a ... frown? On Luffy's face? That wasn't an expression he thought befitted the rubber man. Luffy was more suited to smiles and grins and laughs—
"Yeah, I can see how drunk Torao is, Zoro. I'm taking him to his bed."
Before Law could process what had happened, he was separated from Zoro, dragged by Luffy's strong grip, separated away from the warmth—
There was a sound.
A ... whine.
That definitely did not come from Law's mouth—fuck. He just unconciously whined. Whined. Whined, of all things! And, and that was because, what? Because he didn't want to lose the warmth on his side?
Silence befell upon the three of them. The night was indeed already quiet. The sound of the party had died down earlier, crews and allies falling deep into slumber after battles and foods. But this new, strange silence, Law thought, was different.
"I'm taking you to bed, Torao," Luffy said once more. Law noticed he used a different tone, the stern one, the commanding one, like it was some kind of an order.
"No," Law argued. The brief sobriety reminded him of how he hated hearing or taking orders from other people. No, no more.
"I'm not going anywhere, Mugiwara-ya," Law added. "And you know I don't like taking orders from people. I had enough of that, enough hearing that from fucking Eustass-ya during our fights, and I absolutely don't want you to think an allied, equal captain of yours will easily and willingly takes orders from you."
There, again. The frown was back to Luffy's face. Something clutched his chest, but he persisted. He would not take any orders from anyone, especially from someone he considered his equal.
Luffy seemed to contemplate what he was about to say for a moment. Good. That man better learned to think before acting, after all the time he had stomped Law's plans and saved Law from the doom that was his plans falling apart—
"Okay. If you don't want to go, then okay. Zoro needs to go, though. I know you guys are friends and such, but at your state now, I don't want to see you leaning into Zoro like that," Luffy finally said.
Huh...? What...? What did Luffy mean? Law heard Zoro chuckled beside him. Something fond, that sounded a lot like ‘possessive Captain’, slipped through his mouth.
His confusion gave Law the power to stand. He looked down at the shorter captain. Law could feel his legs wobbled a bit, but he paid it no mind.
"Why are you like this, Mugiwara-ya?" Law asked.
Luffy diverted his attention away from Law. A ... blush? What, blush? A blush bloomed on his cheeks.
"I just don't want to," Luffy settled to say.
This time, it was Law's turn to frown. "You're being weird, Mugiwara-ya."
Luffy ignored his comment. He said instead, "You really want to stay here?"
Law thought of the harsh floor on his back and a bed in one of their allied samurai's safe house would be a better place to rest. He sighed.
"No. I think I'm going to bed—" Law raised his hand, stopping whatever Luffy was about to say, "—on. My. Own."
Luffy pursed his lips. He looked like he wanted to complain, but choosing to swallow it back instead.
"Okay."
Law looked back at Zoro, muttering a quiet thanks for the sake, and then started to walk—
—only to find his legs giving up and his body in Luffy's arms. He brought his head up, meeting Luffy's intense gaze.
(Intense. Serious. Like it was another battle to win—)
"I think that just proves that you are in no condition to walk on. Your. Own. Torao." Luffy chuckled. His arms were still circling Law's body. Warmth spreaded from the skin contact, sipping through the bandages between them. Law felt a bit dizzy and he was sure that wasn't caused by the alcohol alone.
"... Tsk." Really, at this point, Law's brain couldn't come up with anything intelligent to get back at Luffy.
Luffy laughed softly. The sound created a nice melody in Law's ears and mind.
"I'm taking you to bed, Law," Luffy said with a finality.
Law wanted to protest—or ask, did Mugiwara-ya just call me by my given name? And, all this time, you could call me that but you just choose not to?—but anything on the tip of his tongue died with the way he was hoisted up and—
No. No. Not again—!
—slung on Luffy's shoulder, like a sack of potatoes, like it was Dressrosa all over again.
"Mugiwara-ya!" If Law's protest came up as an undignified scream, he didn't care anymore.
And then, what answered him was Zoro's laugh, a loud laugh, and the sight of a green-haired swordsman clutching his stomach due to intense sensation from laughing loudly at Law's predicament.
Fucking hell. He took back all of his sentiment. He would NOT befriend this man, or any of the crazy crews his allied captain had—!
"Mugiwara-ya!!" Law screamed once again. He felt Luffy tigthened his grip on Law's small back, making sure the Supernova on his shoulder wouldn't go anywhere.
"Relax, Torao. I won't let you fall. Dressrosa proved that, right?"
"That is not the point! The point is—"
"That your legs seem to unable to cooperate and will only fail you in the middle of the road? Because that is gonna happen from my point of view."
Luffy wasn't wrong, but still—!!
Law gaped. He was ... at loss. Truly, terribly, at loss.
Law was this close to giving up and resigning to his fate. Ever since Dressrosa, really.
"If you drop me...," Law said with a murderous tone.
Luffy only grinned in response. "I won't." Luffy glanced one last time at Zoro. "Bye, Zoro!" he shouted and—
FUCKING KIDDING—
—launched himself up in the air with his stretched arm, while the other still firm around Law's waist.
"MUGIWARA-YA!!"
Luffy's joyful laugh rang beautifully in Law's ears. The next thing Law noticed was warmth. Warmth everywhere, not only from the part where his skin had a contact with Luffy's, but also from the inside of his chest.
Law hoped the howling wind swallowed the sound of his heartbeat. Law hoped Luffy didn’t know how frantic his heartbeat was.
When things finally quieted down (and by quieted down, Law meant Luffy's no longer hanging from one branch to another, like the monkey his name was), Law could no longer hear Luffy's laugh. Instead, he found himself enjoying the calm inhale and exhale Luffy made when they walked even closer to their own bedrooms. Longer than this, Law thought, he could be lulled to sleep.
"... I'm taking you to bed, Law," Luffy broke the silence. "Is that okay?"
Luffy looked at Law, soft, firm, asking Law with sincerety and warmth that reminded Law of the sunrise he witnessed with the man holding him in Zou, sometime before half of the Straw Hat crews began their terror on the very center of Big Mom’s territory.
Had Law been more sober, he would've answered with a sarcastic you realize you're already doing that, right?, but even if he had indeed been more sober, Law thought again, he would've settled with this same answer anyway:
"Okay," Law said softly.
Law hoped the smile on his face now could warm Luffy's heart, just like Luffy's happy smile on him always warmed his.