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“I can’t believe you talked me into this.”
“Don’t chicken out now, Trafalgar.”
They’ve been trudging through underbrush for the better part of an hour, accompanied by either one of them swearing when they’re pricked by thorns or stumbling over roots. Had he known about Kid’s plans earlier, Law would have chosen clothes that he could actually stand to be torn apart. While his jeans had been ripped before, the new ones are simply unaesthetic.
Kid soldiers on with the same energy he’s had since they watched the fireworks over the castle from afar. For all the secrecy, some of the patches on his jacket are unreasonably neon coloured.
“Calling me a coward, Eustass?” Law keeps following him. It’s one thing to get into the Magic Kingdom with a ticket and sunlight burning down on you, and a different thing to sneak through woods first while trying to stay undetected.
“Would I ever?” They find tram tracks and follow them. “Getting closer.”
On one side the black surface of a quiet lake spreads towards the opposite shore. The lights of still open resorts and some dotted hotel windows sparkle there. On the other side it’s just more trees and bushes, no less dry now that summer has ended. The night air is still mild.
“You’ve done this before?”
Kid turns to him and walks backwards. “A few times with a few buddies. But that was during the day.”
“Jackass. All of you. You’re a bad influence.”
“You’re the backalley doctor,” Kid replies with a shrug. Which was how they met in the first place, with Kid’s tendency to get into trouble it had been merely a matter of time when their fateful meeting happened. Fateful as in fatal. Fatal as in Law had no rational explanation for why they clicked as they did.
“And I should really be home right now.”
“Nah.” Kid waves dismissively. “Anyone who gets into trouble today has to wait. This is more important.”
“And what is this exactly?”
“You calming down, Trafalgar.”
The tracks cross a small artificial river, one of many they have crossed tonight. They’re circled around the Disney property like medieval moats. Once they are on the other side, it’s back into the trees along the flow of the water. There is a path and Law longingly eyes it. Solid ground under his feet, so close and yet so far.
The first buildings that greet them don’t look magical at all. They are boring blocks with neatly lined windows. Maintenance rooms. Which means more sneaking. Law reluctantly relents when Kid orders him – the audacity he has ordering him around at all – to follow him around. He keeps mustering the buildings for something and then seems to find it in the form of a breaker box. Once he’s fumbled it open, he doesn’t hesitate to smash his fist into the buttons and cables. Doing the same to a punching bag daily, and occasionally to people, pays off when there is a visible dent in the breaker box and the whirr of electricity stops.
“Got the park for ourselves.” Kid grins proudly.
Law meets it with a deadpan expression of his own. “You just had to do that, didn’t you?”
“Yepp. And it’s just warm up.”
“Warm up for what?”
Kid ruffles his hand through Law’s hair. “You need to fucking unwind.” He keeps grinning even when Law slaps his hand away. “So, where d’you wanna go?”
The way this night went until now, Law is surprised to even get a choice in the matter.
***
They end up one the path between the Haunted Mansion and its gates, armed with a crowbar. It leads along a lake that is just as dark as the others and brings them to the cartoon cemetery before the attraction’s entrance. Gravestones and busts of faces too exaggerated to even be confused for real greet them.
“Creepier with the soundfiles and animatronics or without?”
Law shrugs. “Wouldn’t know. Never seen it with all that.”
“I’m saying without,” Kid says, climbing over a fence separating the path from a gravestone area. “This one–” he pats the top of a stone with the face of a woman on it– “moves usually.”
“But it won’t tomorrow,” Law guesses, crossing his arms.
Kid grins and gets to work. Levered out, the gravestone’s face falls to the floor with scratches and tears at the edges. It leaves a hole of wires behind that Kid makes sure to stir into disarray. Law picks up the face and shucks it over the railings into the water.
Further up the path are more gravestones and Kid hands Law the crowbar with a quirk of his shaved eyebrows meaning go wild .
Law does. At least he tries to. He grips the crowbar and starts hitting. The lush accessories to the graves break off easily enough, and a fish with a puckered mouth hits the ground in a clatter. The stones themselves are tougher. He barely gives them scratches. Watching Kid kick one down has Law admit to himself that in just physical strength Kid can one-up him. Not that he’d ever say that to his face. Rather he channels that frustration to hit just a little harder and burn all the energy it gives him. Every impact makes the crowbar ring and the vibrations travel up his arms until his head hurts. Only that gets him to stop. He is out of breath and his hoodie is sticking to him with sweat.
Kid throws an arm around him, his big frame shaking with laughter as he pulls him in. “Less uptight, are ya now?”
Law places the tip of the crowbar under Kid’s chin and pushes him away. “Don’t patronise me.”
“How you feeling about smashing some windows?”
“Of a gift shop or something?”
“If you want.”
“Find one with bears.”
***
The windows are hidden behind blinds and Law leaves the work of prying them open to get to the windows to Kid. The pleasure of swinging the crowbar and crashing through the glass is all Law’s. They tread carefully over the shards. Inside the gift shop is dark, only the outline of their newly made entrance on the ground is somewhat illuminated. Each step is accompanied by the crunch of glass.
Only once his eyes have become used to the darkness does Law venture forward. There are rows of plastic figurines of various characters, a wall just dedicated to big round ears, posters and puzzle boxes, glitter slime and sweets in bright pinks that make Law cringe just from looking at them.
“Over here,” Kid calls from the other side of the store. Law joins him in front of a wall with plushies, lined up like prices at a funfair.
“Really thought you’d have enough of those by now,” Kid says.
“Shut it, Eustass. It’s only ten.”
“Eleven. And they sit all lined up in your bed and they look at you with all their big cute eyes. How are you having sex like that, Trafalgar, knowing you’re corrupting their innocent little souls?”
Law eyes each plushie critically, only listening with one ear. There are bears of many sizes. Some polar bears, some with brown fur, and some with spots. Others that look more like dogs. “Feeling watched?”
“You’re terrible.” Kid drapes himself over Law’s back to speak directly into his ear. “Just choose one now. Can’t stick around too long.”
“Just one?”
Kid tightens his arms around him but this hug isn’t nearly as crushing as Law knows he can make it. “You gotta carry them around the entire time after this.”
And Law hates that he has got a point there. With Kid still impatiently holding onto him and swaying them to some inaudible music, Law finally chooses a polar bear the size of his torso and elbows Kid away to hug the plushie better, burying his chin in its fluffy round head.
Kid grabs snacks from the shop, throws them in a bag, and then they are back outside again where the moon shines at least a little light. This time Law accepts Kid’s arm around him easier.
“We should get home again,” he says.
“Really?” Kid questions, “We’re here, so we should make the most out of it, don’t ya think?”
“I’ve got my bear. Got to smash some shit. Never felt this relaxed, actually.”
“Is that so?” Kid abruptly stops and halts Law with him. Above them flies a jolly roger. “How you’re feeling about pirates, Trafalgar?”
***
They walk the ride in the opposite direction because it starts out dry. They can climb along the tracks in the water and squeeze between the dozens upon dozens of animatronics lining the artificial pirate town. Making his way through this collection of motionless, uncanny valley humans dressed partially in rags and partially in fancy period drama clothing, more feeling than actually seeing anything, Law can’t say he feels especially enthusiastic about pirates.
“Dirty living conditions, rat plagues, and scurvy. Did I mention scurvy?”
“Only three times before now,” Kid says from somewhere in front of him. He can barely even see the silhouette of him amidst all the other pseudo-humans.
“Honestly can’t see why you’d idolise that.”
“They’re cool, Trafalgar. It’s that simple.”
They find themselves in front of water, the only way now is the one back. Before them lies a bigger chamber and Law makes out the outline of a big ship opposite to them. “Dead end,” Law says sharply, “Great. Let’s go back.”
“Getting scared, Trafalgar?” Kid teases, “Some skeletons in the dark finally doing the trick?”
“We’ve left our stuff outside. At this point it’s just a matter of time until somebody shows up.”
“Relax, baby.”
“Don’t–” He doesn’t get any further because a hand closes around his wrists and the next thing he knows is that he is weightless.
And then he hits the water.
At least it isn’t too deep. He barely hits the ground. Feeling for anything to hold onto and gripping the underwater tracks, he pulls himself onto his feet. The water reaches his chest, his clothes and hair sticking to him uncomfortably. “Eustass!”
There is more sloshing of water next to him, meaning Kid is coming towards him and when he reaches for Law this time, the touch is pleasantly warm. “C’mon. Almost done. Dead Man’s Cove is just ahead.”
Law decides it is time to finally give in and accept his fate. He is going to get arrested tonight. All because of a stubborn redhead who he likes for some incomprehensible reason. So he lets himself be guided along the tracks of the ride and into the cove that is their destination. To its credit, it has an artificial beach, entirely sandless, where they drag themselves out of the water and Kid leaves him there to sulk for a few minutes.
A light turns on. Law startles.
“Chill,” Kid says from the light source. It comes from a lamp meant to illuminate one of the many skeletons that litter the beach. After being surrounded by pitch black, it’s actually pleasant. Not too bright. Just right to see enough. To see each other.
It also exposes the cove as only interesting on the side that they’re on. The other side shows walkways for staff and the tracks in the water.
“And we’re here because?”
Kid shrugs and settles down next to him. “Privacy.” Unlike Law he’s had the foresight to leave his precious jacket by their bags. He lays his arm around Law again, as naturally as though he belongs there. He is dripping wet and within seconds their clothes stick together. Law finds that he doesn’t mind it and leans into it. When he lets himself, it can be easy, allowing himself to relax into Kid. It’s comfortable because for how overbearing Kid can be, he isn’t demanding the same attention back at all times.
“Privacy. For sitting in a dark room with plastic skeletons?”
“Yeah?” He is very close to his ear again like this.
“And you had to dunk me into water for this?”
There are teeth on his neck, just below his ear, trailing down to his shoulder. Not quite biting and still making Law shiver. “Maybe I tried to get you naked.”
A hand wanders up his thigh and settles in mock-innocence just above the waistline of his clinging jeans. Law reaches back and grips Kid’s chin between his fingers. “We’re not fucking in the Dead Man’s Cove.”
***
“I can’t believe we fucked in the Dead Man’s Cove.” They’re on their way back through the underbrush, the most critical sections of their route way behind them. His clothes are still drenched from their way back out of the ride and their weight is only adding to how exhausted he feels. What he hates the most is the ambivalence of said exhaustion. His body feels lax and calm, sated. On the other hand he is sure he could collapse right then and there and sleep for twelve hours straight.
Kid leans over him to place a condescending kiss onto his head. “Better than traumatising your horde at home.”
“I’m gonna dump your dead body in the fucking Dead Man’s Cove and traumatise some children. How about that?”
“So hostile,” Kid laughs, “You need to smash some windows again?”
“I hate you.” But he is too tired to argue, let alone actually make this a serious fight. He squeezes his polar bear to his chest, quietly regretting getting it dirty with water and forest already, and just revels in its softness.
“Nah, you love me,” Kid replies smugly.
They make it out of the forest again, close to where they started. At the side of the road, just concealed by the ditch, they have left Kid’s bike. He drags it out of there and brushes the dirt off before swinging his leg over. “Ready?”
Law sighs, takes Kid’s chin in his hand again and presses a quick kiss to his mouth. “I hate you.” He kisses him again.
Kid smiles into it. “Happy anniversary to you too.”