Chapter Text
When Law initially allied himself with the Strawhats, he considered a multitude of issues. Trust, betrayal, fighting, general issues. Planning had made its way up the list fast as well, pretty much immediately after he was warned about Luffy.
One issue he never thought would be a problem, however, was cuddling . Maybe personal space and touching was something that crossed his mind, but not something as intimate as laying together! He was glad at first because he wasn’t really involved, but it was still a shock to his system when he saw anyone on the crew doing it.
He first witnessed it when he stepped onto the main deck only to see the swordsman napping and the navigator on top, laying on his chest like it was the most comfortable pillow in the world. Then again when he went into the kitchen and saw the sniper napping on a chair with the doctor in his lap, and the chef shushing anyone who came in as he cooked.
He just never realized how close everyone was. He sort of wondered if some were in relationships, but so far he only ruled out that Robin and Franky were together. Everyone else wasn’t obvious about it if they were. He also considered the fact that, yeah, you can be close to your crew, and your crew can be close to each other.
His brows furrowed and he shook his head. It was too much to analyze, even though it shouldn’t be. His eyes flicked up towards the stars and he was half tempted to lay in the grass and search the heavens above for some story to distract himself.
Footsteps were coming down the stairs and he glanced over, relaxing at the sigh of orange hair. “Nami-ya,” he greeted casually, “It’s late.”
Nami waved her hand loosely at him before bringing it to her mouth to cover a yawn. “I know,” she stated, smiling at him regardless of the annoyance that just laced her tone. She walked over and sat down, leaning back against the wall. “Momo’s passed out on my bed, I kind of don’t want to move him… he’s happy,” she giggled softly, “I hope you’re happy too, Traffy.”
Law sent her an odd glance before nodding. “I’m fine,” he clarified, not one to talk about emotions much so he left it at that and looked forward. Something however, pulled him to add; “You’re all very close. It feels like I’m out of place here.”
A chuckle left Nami. “That so? I guess we are all kind of close.” She had a certain fondness in her voice, it wasn’t anything to put words too, but the closest comparison was it sounded soft. “I guess our shared experiences led to this. After risking everything for one person, it’s hard not to cling to those you have around you,” her head hit his shoulder with a soft sigh. “Knowing our captain, he’s already willing to gamble everything for you. He’s never been good with money,” she joked. “But, really, if you aren’t careful, Law, the whole crew will see you that way. Get comfortable while you can,” she warned.
He didn’t know if it was her words or her head, but he felt a weight on him that he couldn’t explain. It wasn’t intimidating, but he was intimidated. Nothing made sense here…
“Nami!” Usopp whined.
Both of them looked up in surprise, staring at the Sniper, whose hair fell over his face. And, who’s hair was full of plants.
Nami’s brows furrowed. “Usopp? What happened to your hair?” she asked, gesturing for him to come down.
He did come down, huffing down the first two steps. “Luffy,” he grumbled and hopped the rest, landing with a little stumble before walking over. He didn’t hesitate to sit down in front of Nami, presenting his hair in full. “He wrecked a little bit of the garden by accident. I decided to fix it,” he explained. “And then he tried to help, insisted he help, so I told him to pick up sticks. Then he started to play with them,” he trailed off.
Nami had gone to work pulling out twigs and leaves as he ranted, it was like this was a regular occurrence. Though, she was glaring at the mess of curls and twigs. “Would you mind if Law helped at all?” she asked, mildly irritated, “It’ll take less time if he does.”
Law made a face at the question, about to argue that he never asked to help. But, Usopp already agreed and shifted to sit in the front middle of them both so they could each reach. So, he helped. There was something almost soothing about cleaning his hair though, it was repetitive and grounding.
When they finished, Usopp schooched back over to Nami, laying back with a happy sigh. His head rested on her chest, and Law sat and waited for the smack or punch, whatever. He knew Nami didn’t usually like contact. But, when it never came, he grew more confused than anything but never spoke about it.
“Did any of my trees get ruined?” she asked, resting her face in his hair.
Usopp hummed in denial, a small smile crossing his face. "Nope," he popped the "p" and chuckled. "I shooed him away before he could screw them up." He placed a hand on Law's knee after hearing Nami mumble a thanks. Then, he squeezed gently. "Thank you both, my head feels lighter already," he laughed and removed his hand.
Law felt warm.
"I owe you one, Law," he added, "Nami's payment is usually a painting or something easy. What do you want? Oh! How about I tell you a story about one of my many amazing adventures? Or one about Sogeking?"
"I love Sogeking!" Chopper exclaimed as he hopped towards them. He looked fluffier, and Law could smell a sweater scent. "He could never replace you though, Usopp. No matter how hard he tried!"
Franky was following after him and laughing. His hair was wet which probably correlated with Chopper looking fluffy. They must've bathed. "Man, I haven't seen Sogeking in ages. I hope he's doing well," he chuckled, winking at Usopp indirectly before tipping his shades down. "Did they ever tell you that he was the one to burn the flag at enies lobby?" He asked, looking at Law. "It was super amazing!"
Law’s eyes flicked to Usopp, a sense of amazement filling him for a moment. “Nose-ya?” he mumbled.
Usopp's face turned a little pink and he chuckled sheepishly. "It was pretty cool."
Chopper sat by Law, grinning brightly. “It was so cool! Oh, sorry you couldn’t meet him, Usopp,” he said, looking over with a frown. “Wait- but you did see him, right? You were on the bridge with us. Wasn't he your friend?"
Usopp glanced away, averting hai gaze. “I might’ve met him.”
Law blinked and looked at Usopp in confusion. “Aren’t you-”
“ Anyways !” Franky exclaimed, sitting next to Chopper. “I finished maitancense on the ship, so everything should be in good condition now!” He gave a thumbs up. “I made sure the water heater was working alright too, so no more going cold after a while."
Nami sat up with that. "Franky I could kiss you ," she breathed, laughing out softly. "It's about time. I was tired of having to rush my showers."
Chopper laughed softly before yawning, his head falling to rest against Law’s arm. “It’s been a long day. Every day seems long right now,” he said, changing the tune of the conversation. “I can’t wait to be done with this stuff.” He closed his eyes.
Franky leaned back against the wall with a nod. “I feel ya, little bro,” he said. "This whole thing is ambitious as hell. I'm glad we're part of the action!" he chuckled softly.
"It’s going to be a long year,” Nami mumbled, leaning her head against Law again. "So much money is going to go down the drain…"
It appeared that everyone was going to sleep. The little group drifted off together into their dream worlds. Law counted the seconds until it seemed everyone was out, which took about five minutes, and then he realized he couldn't really move. With two heads against him, he figured the best course of action was to simply stay still. He didn't really want to make the navigator cranky either.
He frowned and glanced between all of them before looking at the mast as Zoro came down the ladder.
The swordsman approached the pile and did a once-over on the sleeping bodies before sitting down in front of Law. "You look uncomfortable," he pointed out.
Law cocked an eyebrow in annoyance. No, really?
"Trade me places."
And, then Law froze in confusion. How was he supposed to go about doing that? But, then he saw Zoro glance at his hand and he remembered, right , he has powers. He held his hand out and opened a room, sending a glance to Zoro.
But, he already had his back to him, waiting for the swap.
" Shambles ," Law muttered with a gesture and they swapped places, Law's feet touching the ground.
He looked back at Zoro, who was already comfortable with his head on Nami's. Chopper also seemed happy to rest his head on Zoro's lap, repositioning himself to do so.
Law stared, maybe a moment longer than he should have.
Usopp's eyes peaked open and a smile filled the Sniper's face. He shuffled awkwardly away from Nami, carefully standing and stumbling just a little bit before placing his hand on Law's shoulder. "You want coffee?" he asked.
Law looked him over before nodding. "Coffee sounds good," he answered and flicked the hand off of his shoulder.
Sanji was in the kitchen for maybe five minutes, but the moment Usopp mentioned Nami was sleeping on the deck, the blonde booked it out of there.
"He's never been too smart when it comes to women," he commented as he walked to the coffee maker, some advanced piece of work Law was already gaining a headache from looking at. But, the Sniper seemed to have all the functions memorised. "Regardless, nothing beats what Sanji makes, but I like to think my coffee tastes okay," he shrugged and lifted himself into the counter with ease, letting his feet dangle.
Law wasn't sure if he wanted to continue talking, or if he wanted to try and get some silent time in while everything seemed calm. Yet, he still had a question in mind that he needed answered. "Is everyone on this crew dating?" he asked.
Usopp choked on air, turning bright pink but it seemed that was more from shock than anything else. "No! I mean, yes , but not everyone," he gestured to himself, primarily. "God, no. Franky and Robin are married, Zoro and Luffy night be dating? I don't know," he shrugged a little. "Nami's got a lover back in Alabasta."
"And you have no one? What about the Blackleg-ya or bones? Or Tony-ya?" he prodded, a quizzical look in his eyes.
Usopp shook his head. "I know I'm single. Everyone else, not a clue except for Nami, Robin, and Franky." He sighed out, swinging his feet for a moment. "Why do you ask?" He tilted his head, a little light shining in his eyes. "It's because of the cuddling, isn't it?"
Law blanked, and he felt almost as though he was too open. Was it that obvious? "Perhaps," he answered, trying not to directly answer yes. That was for his own sake.
"I get it," Usopp replied with a nod. "I wasn't for it right away either. Our crew just had a tendency to be clingy," he laughed softly and glanced towards his feet. "We've done… some scary stuff. What we're doing right now is scary stuff . Cuddling is just a nice form of comfort. Frankly, I blame Luffy for it because he's the worst, but we're all guilty of just clinging to someone when we need to."
That made sense.
Or, it made more sense then the weird relationship angle that Law was trying to figure out. He should have just figured from the beginning that this was how they provided comfort, hell, he did that with Bepo.
Bepo. He guessed he could have compared the whole thing to him and his friend, seeing as he lays on him often.
"So how come you left your little pile?" law asked, "you don't come off as the most assured person."
Usopp looked mildly offended for a moment. "I saw you trade with Zoro. Figured maybe… you needed a saving grace to get you out of there for a minute," he shrugged. "I bet if you go out there now that Luffy's claimed a spot on Zoro somewhere. They all probably have blankets too thanks to Robin and Brook," he trailed off, gaining a fond look to his eyes before snapping into reality when he heard the coffee stop dripping. "How do you take yours?"
Law watched as he slid off the counter, grabbing two coffee cups and carefully starting pouring the drink. He was rhythmic in his movements, something the doctor hadn't really bothered to notice. "Just.. black please," he said.
"Boring," Usopp teased, but handed him his cup before walking towards a few jars and dumping some sugar into his drink. "Are you planning on sleeping?" he asked, turning to look at him. "I mean, everyone else can handle Ceaser if you need a few minutes of rest."
The fact he said everyone else raised Law's curiosity. "You couldn't handle it?" he nearly teased, holding back just a tad to test his boundaries.
Usopp cracked a grin from behind his cup, sipping obnoxiously on purpose to suspend his answer. Then, he swallowed and shrugged. “I won’t have to handle it,” he clarified, “Luffy’s ready at a moment's notice to fight.” He trailed off, stepping forwards and whispering; “But, I could totally handle it.” He laughed softly.
Law took an amused sip from his drink. Something about the sniper was just… amusing. “Let’s sit,” he encouraged, “I wanna hear about that Sogeking guy.”
He watched Usopp’s eyes light up and it was a nice sight.
Throughout the next few days Law gained a bias towards Usopp. He just liked how he talked and maybe he liked how he smiled too. Law, himself, wasn't a funny person. At least not on purpose, but Usopp laughed around him a lot. Usopp also just seemed generally entertained by him.
He was having fun.
Getting to Dressrosa was a little scary though. The captain didn't know how the sniper would fare in the conditions of this battle, and frankly, he really didn't want him to die.
So, the night before they got there, he found Usopp in their usual space; somewhere in the soldier docking system rooms. Usually with the mini merry. They couldn’t really just sit and chat in the kitchen, Sanji would kick them out at some point, so they changed.
Law entered the room, seeing Usopp already there. He was messing with the boat, mumbling something to it fondly. It was cute.
The sniper stood up straight after a moment, turning towards Law with a little smile. “Hey! Bout time you got down here,” he commented, crossing his arms cockily.
Law offered him a smile and walked over, side-eying the boat. “I’m early today,” he stated matter-of-factly, “Not my fault you were earlier than that.” He stopped in front of him, a fondness crossing his face for a moment. Then, they both chuckled and climbed into the boat, relaxing into the comfortable seats.
They sat in silence for a moment. It was comfortable, familiar. They grew used to it over the last few days.
“So… tomorrows the big day, huh? You must be excited,” Usopp laughed softly, looking at Law.
But, the atmosphere dropped when Law didn’t react.
He couldn’t react. He was suddenly nervous, a little frightened even. He stared at Usopp, watched his face contort into different emotions, watched his smile slowly drop. Then, he wrapped both of his arms around Usopp, enclosing him in a tight hug. “I’m…” he bit his tongue, he didn’t really know how he felt.
But, Usopp returned the hug regardless, squeezing Law gently. “I get it,” he mumbled, resting his head on his shoulder. “We’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it,” he promised.
“...Don’t die on me tomorrow, alright?” Law requested softly.
Usopp chuckled. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
Law could have cried.
When they met after the battle ended and he could move he wanted nothing more than to hug Usopp to death.
He watched him approach, laughing and excited. Everything was over. They were okay for now.
With a small amount of energy that he regained, he teleported Usopp right to him and squeezed him tight. "You didn't die," he breathed out, ignoring whatever complaints Bartolomeo was making in the background. "I'm so glad," he mumbled, hiding his eyes on his shoulder.
Usopp laughed and hugged him back happily. "I should be saying that!" he exclaimed. "You.. you're an idiot, you know? You're no better than Luffy," he grinned and rubbed his back.
And, just like that, Law moved away. "No better than Strawhat, huh?" he glared a little, no heat. "He took most of the blows."
Usopp raised a brow. "You lost an arm," he retorted and then gently brought a hand to rest on his face. "You're worse."
A laugh was shared between them, and if it was anyone else maybe Law wouldn't be so happy to be talking after a fight like that . But, he was. He was happy. "You know… maybe I'll finally try that cuddling business," he mumbled, "but… only with you."
Usopp nodded and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Good, cause I wasn't going to be letting you go anytime soon."