Archive of Our Own ^beta

“No. Absolutely not. Why would you ever paint any designs in red like that. It looks - how - how do you not see a problem with this? Anyone? Law? Bepo?” 

“I’m staying out of this.”
“Uh, yeah. Me too… Sorry.” 

“It’s because they know it looks perfect! Ever heard of color theory?”
“ C-COLOR THEORY?!” Penguin half shrieked - as if on the verge of a mental breakdown - and whipped his hands up into his hair, knocking his hat off his head from the ferocity of it, “Where - When - Why do you know what that is? When did you learn this?” Shachi ‘tsk’d and shook his head in disappointment, making Penguin’s eyebrow twitch as if ready to throw a punch. If it wasn’t obvious, this argument has been ongoing for several minutes already.

“Wouldn’t you like to know. I bet you don’t know anything about it.”
“Of course I don’t!” He screeched back, fingers now gripping his hair in a comedic rage. “And I don’t need to know anything about it when the issue here is it looks like you went and murdered someone!” Hands flew from his head to the air around him, waving them around as he stomped around in a circle, “ WHY!” 

Indeed, if one were to look around the shed the small group of four have currently been occupying for the last several weeks, splatters of red happened to coat the walls, floors, and ceilings. It wasn’t exactly the most welcoming of designs. 

“To cheer up the gloomy-ass atmosphere. And red was the only paint I had.” Shachi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, placing his still-red hands on his hips. Penguin let his arms fall back down as he groaned into his hands. “Please, enlighten me. How is this cheering anyone up?” 

“Because!” Shachi shouted, making the small polar bear mink yelp and press himself into Law’s side. The latter simply rolled his eyes. “Red has more positive meanings than negative meanings. Meaning looking at the color red is supposed to make you feel good. Duh. Don’t ask such stupid questions next time.”

“What? No way. There’s no way red has more positive meanings. That’s bullshit. Literally name one thing-”
“Love!” Shachi whipped his hands up to make a heart above his head, red paint flying and splattering onto the windows.
“This doesn’t make me feel loved.” Penguin winced, “It makes me feel… Threatened. ” His eyes narrowed for only a moment before he had to make a slight shift to the side as more paint flew towards him with Shachi’s new pose.

“Stop throwing the damn paint! This isn’t our shed, we’re lucky Wolf let us use it.”

Law’s words would go completely ignored as Shachi followed up with a loud yell towards Penguin, “I think you mean determined! ” If humans could sparkle, Shachi would practically be glistening by now.

“Y-you really shouldn’t be moving so much… Are your wounds even fully healed?” Bepo inquired with a slight head tilt, to which Law gave a quick response of “No.”

“In no way does red mean determined?! Unless by that you mean you’re determined to kill several people!” Penguin threw his arms back into the air, wincing slighting from where one was sewn back together, but he paid it no mind -  there were more important matters. Like the ridiculousness of color theory and proving to Shachi that he was an idiot.

“Where are you even getting all this from? What’s next, you’re going to be telling me that green means something nice and pleasant like… Plants!” He glanced around the room and then his gaze landed back on Shachi with an inquisitive look - and then to his hands. After a beat, Penguin nearly backhanded his friend, “Why didn’t you use a brush?!” 

Shachi crossed his arms and sat back down on the floor with a huff and a shrug, but not before slapping Penguin’s hand and getting red paint all over it, “Didn’t have one. Also, plants? Really? Green obviously is about… Harmony and revitalizing! You know, a new future, happiness… All that stupid fake cheesy bullshit.”

Penguin yelled and stumbled backwards to wipe the red paint all over Bepo’s white fur, which in turn made him yell as well, “Don’t DO THAT! ” The polar bear stood up and let out a loud yell, making both Penguin and Shachi yell in fear. With the two trembling, Bepo quickly bowed, an aura of shame immediately suffocating the air around him.
“Sorry.” 

Penguin blinked a few times and let out an awkward laugh - he was not used to all of Bepo’s mannerisms just yet, it seemed - before he slowly sat down and grabbed his hat from the floor, placing it securely back on his head. He scooted over just to give a swift (but gentle) kick to Shachi’s shin, “ Anyway, where are you getting all this bullshit from? Green obviously is the color of greed and jealousy. And vomit. Vomit is not revitalizing.” 

“Well you certainly feel revitalized after vomiting!” Shachi crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at Penguin, making the other cringe at the thought. “Fucking gross, none of your arguments are valid. I look at green, it reminds me of vomit. I look at yellow, it reminds me of piss. I look at brown, it reminds me of shit. Same thing applies here. I look at red, I think of blood. Your color theory is bullshit.” Shachi looked like he was about to go feral and aim for the throat, but before he had a chance to make the argument turn physical, Law sighed loudly. 

“You're both idiots.”

“HAAAH?” Shachi and Penguin both stopped slowly approaching each other’s personal bubble, as if preparing themselves to lunge, to snap their heads in the direction of their shed-mate. They stayed silent for several moments, eyes narrowed as if waiting for an explanation, but when they received none, they simultaneously gave him a thumbs down, speaking in sync and clearly communicating through the same shared braincell, “Boo, boo! You can’t just say that without a reason! Boo! Boo!”

At some point, Bepo had slowly appeared behind Law and joined in with the harassing as well, giving his friend two thumbs down and ‘booing’ quietly in tandem. Law scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Color theory isn’t some one thing that explains all or even just the meanings behind colors. It’s specific rules and guidelines about what color schemes are appealing versus what aren’t, and how the human eye and brain perceives them. And then it breaks down even further than that.” 

Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo blinked in unison at Law’s explanation, and then all tilted their heads with a noise, “That sounds boring.” 

“Yeah, anything with the words ‘rules’ and ‘guidelines’ is not something I follow.” Shachi spoke coolly, as if he wasn’t just raving about his conception of color theory. “I’m a lawless man, pinned down by no one.”

Penguin laughed, “I don’t know about that, that boar pinned you down real good.” His laughing was quickly interrupted by a shoe to the head. “At least I kept all my limbs!” As the two continued to bicker, Law couldn’t help but smirk, “Rules and guidelines do sound boring. I don’t want to have to listen to anyone.” He glanced over at Bepo and raised an eyebrow, “We should be pirates.” 

Shachi and Penguin both froze and looked at Law, “Pirates? Aren’t we a little too young for that?” Penguin asked with a slight head tilt, but Law just waved him off, “Who cares. If we’re pirates, no one can bother telling us what to do, even if we are kids.” 

“Oooh, I like the sound of that!” Shachi perked up, a wicked grin on his face as if his mind was already decided. 

“Is it that easy? Don’t we need a boat?” Penguin leaned forward with an inquisitive look, but Law merely shrugged. “A jolly roger and a name is all we need. We can get the boat later when we’re ready to leave.” 

“Well, then what’s our name, captain?” Bepo asked with a paw raised to his mouth, Shachi and Penguin quickly scooted in closer to Law as well, as if eager to hear what brilliant name he had in store, “Yeah!” Penguin started, “What’s our name, captain?” Shachi poked Law’s cheek, a smug smile on his face when he noticed the raging blush Law got from Bepo calling him ‘captain.’ 

Law swatted Shachi’s hand away and huffed as if annoyed, but it was clear that he wasn’t, “... The Heart Pirates.” 

“OOOOH I LIKE THAT, CAPTAIN!” Bepo jumped up enthusiastically, waving his paws in the air while Shachi and Penguin remained silent for several minutes. Law narrowed his eyes - he didn’t care if the two liked the name or not, that was going to be the name of their crew whether they liked it or not - but he was curious what they were thinking.

“What?” 

After a moment, Shachi immediately jumped up from his spot and put his finger directly in Penguin’s face, nearly up his nose, “HA! HEARTS ARE RED. Obviously, the captain agrees with me about the color.” Penguin’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor and he lurched forward, wrapping his arms around Shachi’s legs and tackling him into the floor, “No way! You’re just making shit up now! He literally confirmed that your color theory was bullshit!” The sound of Shachi’s cackles filled the small shed, “That sounds like something a loser would say- hey, OW, STOP! OW!”

Bepo and Law sat against the wall, watching the two argue. There was a small warmth in Law’s chest that led him to grab at his shirt at that spot, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it out loud. He was content the way they were now. He turned his head when Bepo gently tapped his shoulder, “Uh, captain, should we stop them?”

Law turned his head back to the duo and simply shook his head. “Let them fight. I don’t care.” The words were harsh, but the gentle smirk on his lips spoke otherwise. After all, they were a crew now, and he was the captain.