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<<TORAO THERE’S A FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND!!!
Law stared at the text for a minute, considering his options. Finally, he settled on the safe option.
>>There's always a festival this time of year. It’s the same weekend every summer.
Luffy’s reply was almost immediate, like he had expected Law’s answer.
<<But this is the first year we could go together!
<<I want to go with you!
That had been clear from the moment he texted Law about it. Over the last couple of months, he’d gotten familiar with some of Luffy’s more frequent patterns. Telling him about events with the intent to drag him to those events was a common one. Though he didn’t usually get this much time to prepare; it was usually more along the lines of an hour or two rather than a couple of days’ notice. Law chewed on the inside of his cheek as he once more weighed his options. If he responded positively, Luffy would take that as an agreement to go. If he said something neutral, Luffy would think he wanted to be persuaded. If he rejected the idea immediately, there was a fifty-fifty chance of Luffy worrying about him or dismissing the idea and never bringing it up again.
<<Please?
<<I really want to go with you.
<<Just you.
That was…new. Law narrowed his eyes, suspicion creeping into the back of his mind. What was Luffy planning? Normally, Law would say that Luffy was incapable of planning anything, but he seemed remarkably capable when it came to plotting Law’s social calendar.
>>Why?
Shit, that was too neutral. He was fucked. He might as well put the festival on his calendar now.
<<Because I want to spend time with just Torao. We both have pretty cool friends but I want this to be just us.
<<If that’s okay with you!
<<I don’t want to make you uncomfortable!
Law considered it for a long minute. The upcoming festival could be interpreted as a romantic one, but there wasn’t really a reason to suspect that. There was no way Luffy had noticed Law’s carefully hidden but steadily and horrifically growing feelings.
But…it might be nice to take one night off. All of the covens, packs, hoards, and miscellaneous supernatural beings would probably be relaxing and enjoying the festival, but were unlikely to start anything for the night, so Law could afford to put himself on-call instead of hiding in the clinic.
And Law could already imagine the smile Luffy would have if he won a silly festival game.
>>Don't worry about that. I’ll go with you.
And just like that, Law had signed his own death warrant. Probably.
Law didn’t know why he’d let Bepo and the others bully him into wearing a yukata, but he did have to admit it felt nice in the heat of the summer evening. He grumpily waited outside the festival for Luffy, who had promised to meet him there. As was Luffy’s usual, he was a few minutes late.
When Law finally spotted Luffy rushing towards him through the crowd, Law opened his mouth to scold him for being late again, only to have the words die in his throat as he took in Luffy’s outfit. He was wearing a yukata, too, one that was a perfect complement to Law’s. Where Law was wearing a dark navy blue yukata with white trim and details, Luffy’s was a brilliant crimson with black details. And of course, he had that ridiculous straw hat of his dangling down his back by its string.
“Torao!” Luffy shouted as he threw himself at Law. Law heaved a long-suffering sigh and braced himself, electing to catch Luffy rather than letting one or both of them end up in the dirt. Luffy’s limbs wrapped around him, and Law forced himself not to think too hard about it. He could not blush here. Not in public.
“You menace,” Law muttered. “Get off me.” Luffy squeezed him in a full-body hug for a second, then let go and grabbed Law’s hand instead.
“Let’s see what snacks they have!” Luffy said excitedly. “Unless you want to play games or something first. Oh! I could ring the bell and win you a giant prize!” Law didn’t know why Luffy wanted to win a prize for Law instead of himself, but he didn’t argue.
“I don’t really have a preference,” Law told him. Luffy pouted at him for a minute, then seemed to get over it.
“Let's eat first! Then we can play games, then eat again, then watch the fireworks!” Law allowed himself a tiny smile at Luffy’s enthusiasm.
“Sure. Let’s go,” he agreed. He expected Luffy to drop his hand and sprint off into the crowd, but Luffy just wrapped his arm around Law’s and towed him into the depths of the festival crowd.
“This way!” Luffy headed straight for a food vendor selling various meats on skewers. “These are the best, you’ve got to try them!” He grabbed several, then apparently remembered that they were for sale and not for free, and hastily paid the vendor. Then he held out one of the skewers toward Law. “Try this one!”
Law took the skewer and eyed it suspiciously. He had learned that Luffy’s idea of good food was usually just whatever food was closest to him. It didn’t look like anything too weird, though, so Law took a tentative bite. It was chicken, perfectly grilled and seasoned. Law made an appreciative sound and ate the rest of his skewer while Luffy beamed and practically inhaled three of his own.
“Torao always looks happy when he’s eating good food,” Luffy said cheerfully as they threw away their skewers and kept walking.
“I do?” Law didn’t think he usually looked any particular way when eating.
“Yeah. Sometimes you make a face like you’re just eating because you have to, but sometimes you smile a little and eat faster because you really like the food. It’s cute,” Luffy explained. Law looked away, not sure what kind of response he was supposed to give to that.
“What next?” Law asked, trying to change the subject.
“Your friend Cabbage has a stall here,” Luffy answered. “We should go there so you can have lots of stuff that won’t hurt your stomach!” Law blinked at him; he’d only mentioned that Cavendish always made gluten-free options one or twice, and he hadn’t expected Luffy to remember that. Though maybe he should have; Luffy remembered a lot about different foods he wanted to try.
“Sure, we can go see Cavendish,” Law agreed. Luffy beamed and hooked his arm through Law’s again to lead the way to Cavendish’s stall. On the way, they stopped several times for more snacks, with Luffy hunting through each vendor’s offerings for something Law could eat. That’s when Law realized that every time Luffy had dragged him out of the clinic to eat, or brought him a meal or snacks, they had always been carefully chosen so that Law could actually eat it.
“Cabbage! Oh, and Rooster!” Luffy grinned. Bartolomeo was loitering beside Cavendish’s stall, munching on a crepe stuffed with berries and what Law assumed was Cavendish’s coconut milk ice cream. Law met Cavendish’s eyes and raised one eyebrow. He couldn’t believe Cavendish had not only given his supposed least-favorite customer a vampire-friendly crepe, but was allowing him to hang around to eat it. Cavendish huffed and shot a pointed look at Luffy, which Law steadfastly ignored.
“Mister Luffy!” Bartolomeo beamed. “I was hoping you’d come by. Have you had this weird horse’s food? It’s pretty good; I’ll buy you whatever you want to try!” For some reason, that really irritated Law. Not just because Bartolomeo was lingering around Cavendish, which could get Cavendish in trouble with the monster hunters, but because he was trying to buy Luffy food when Luffy was clearly spending time with Law.
“No need for that,” Law said coldly before Luffy could reply. “I’m sure you know that Luffy has a large appetite; I wouldn’t want you to strain your resources, so I’ll handle it.”
“Shishishishishi, Torao doesn’t have to,” Luffy laughed. Law frowned at him; would Luffy rather Bartolomeo get him something? “I’m the one who asked Torao out; I’m supposed to pay!” Bartolomeo choked on his stupid crepe, which served him right. Cavendish stared from Luffy to Law and back, slack-jawed. Law didn’t know what the big deal was; Luffy was just saying that he’d been the one to invite Law to the festival, which Cavendish at least already knew about. It wasn’t like Law planned outings voluntarily.
“You’ve been buying the snacks all night; I don’t mind paying for these,” Law replied. Luffy gave him a smile brighter than the festival lanterns, and Law decided that was worth whatever price the food he’d get from Cavendish’s booth would be. They made their choices - Cavendish did indeed have an assortment of options for Law - and decided to walk while they ate since Cavendish and Bartolomeo were being weird. When they finished with the sweets from Cavendish’s stall, Luffy announced that they should play games, and Law didn’t disagree. He was too full to try more food at the moment, anyway.
“This game is the easiest!” Luffy announced as he pulled Law to a stop beside a game Law didn’t recognize at first. It appeared to be a strength-based game, where hitting the target hard enough would win a prize. Law assumed it was rigged, or at least required more force than a regular human would be able to put into the game. “They say it’s about how hard you hit, but where you hit matters, too,” Lufffy confided before he stepped up and waved at the game’s attendant. Law watched with a fair amount of amusement as Luffy took the oversized mallet and approached the target. He wondered what face Luffy might make when he couldn’t win a prize.
He didn’t find out, because Luffy swung the mallet and hit the target just slightly off center, but it must have been the right spot to aim for, because the bell overhead rang sharply. The game attendant stared in disbelief for a second.
“Sweet! I hit it right!” Luffy cheered. He turned to Law, beaming. “Did you see, Torao? Now we get a prize!” Law couldn’t help smiling a little.
“Of course I saw,” he assured him. Luffy laughed brightly and pointed to a big stuffed animal, one Law was pretty sure he would barely be able to wrap his arms all the way around.
“That one!” Luffy insisted. Law didn’t know why he wanted a stuffed snow leopard, but the attendant retrieved the prize and muttered something about not letting Luffy play more than once per festival. Luffy took the prize and practically skipped back to Law before shoving the big snow leopard plush into his hands. “For Torao!”
“Really?” Law shook his head but accepted the stuffed toy.
“Yeah! Cause it reminds me of you!” Luffy explained. “Snow leopards are really shy and don’t like people, and they could totally bite or claw, but they’re also really fluffy and soft!” Law didn’t know what to do with that, especially when Luffy added, “Plus they’re really mysterious, and they’re cute and pretty and cool at the same time. Like you!”
Law glared down at the stuffed animal in his hands, hoping his cheeks weren’t as flushed as they felt.
What the fuck was he supposed to do with that? Luffy was too honest and enthusiastic. If he wasn’t careful, Law and anyone listening to him might get the wrong idea.
“Come on! Let’s play more games!” Luffy decided, bouncing up and down like an excited child. “We should do the goldfish scooping!”
“What are you going to do with goldfish?” Law asked. “Fish don’t exactly like walks, you know.”
“Silly Torao! I wouldn’t keep them,” Luffy laughed. “It’s just fun to catch them.”
“That’s really not good for the fish,” Law objected. Luffy considered that for a minute, then grinned once more.
“They’ve got a booth with fake fish to catch,” Luffy suggested.
“Alright.” Law felt a spark of competition. “But catching fish - even fake ones - is a game of patience and skill. Are you sure you’re up for that?” Luffy’s eyes blazed.
“Of course! I bet I can catch more than you!” Luffy announced. Law smirked as he accepted the challenge.
Law did indeed catch more automatic toy fish than Luffy, but it was a close match. The two of them ended up tying at the ring toss, and Law found himself impressed by the level of concentration Luffy displayed.
After a little over an hour playing whatever games they could find, Luffy asked if Law was hungry again. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he smiled a little and let Luffy lead the way to another food stall anyway.
“Luffy! I thought you weren’t coming tonight!” a familiar voice greeted them. Usopp and several other people Law recognized were clustered around the Baratie’s booth, which was manned by Sanji. Law felt the smile that had been growing on his face all evening disappear behind his usual sour expression.
“No, I said I wasn’t going with you guys! I told you I wanted to go with Torao,” Luffy laughed, throwing an arm around Law, who was debating the merits of hiding his face in his giant stuffed snow leopard versus hiding the stuffed animal behind his back.
“Yeah, but…we didn’t think he’d actually say yes,” Usopp blurted out. The woman next to him - Nami, the weather and glamour witch whose day job included being a loan shark - elbowed Usopp sharply.
“He means we thought you’d be working tonight, Law,” Nami said cheerfully. Law couldn’t exactly fault them for that. The whole gaggle of people around the booth knew that Law was a chronic over-worker, especially the ones he had business with, like Usopp.
“The clinic is closed so my employees can enjoy the festival together,” Law explained tersely.
“Does this mean you’ll be taking more holidays off in the future?” Robin - a half-demon woman who owned Law’s favorite magical bookstore - asked with a knowing smile.
“As long as they’re not on a full moon, it’s possible,” Law admitted grudgingly. “People’s pets get out of hand on the full moon.”
“Sanji! You made the stuff I asked for, right?” Luffy said, pushing through his crowd of friends to see Sanji. Law was thankfully left where he was instead of being dragged unceremoniously through the group of people who both knew who he was and knew Luffy the Alice.
“Of course I did.” Sanji pointed to a small section of the booth away from the rest of the food. “That whole section is gluten free.” Luffy beamed and grabbed at least half of the options before returning to Law.
“Here!” Luffy beamed and held out a filled taiyaki to Law. “I think you’ll like this one. It’s not super sweet.” Law hesitated, unsure of their unexpected audience, then sighed.
“Alright.” He accepted the treat and took a bite, feeling his lips twitch in approval. “It’s good.”
“Great!” Luffy proceeded to insist Law try a bite of each thing Sanji had made, apparently at Luffy’s request. The snacks that Law enjoyed, he and Luffy shared. The ones that weren’t to his taste, Luffy devoured without a second thought. Usopp and the others stood there in silent awe the entire time. As they were finishing, Luffy paused and tilted his head as he turned to stare at his friends. “Hey, wasn’t Zoro going to come with you guys?” The entire group turned to look at the empty space beside them.
“Shit! How did he disappear like that?” Usopp groaned.
“You guys have to find him; I can’t leave the booth,” Sanji snapped. “I swear, next time I’ll put him on a leash and tie him to the stall.”
“You’re talking about Roronoa Zoro, right?” Law asked. The group turned to him once more, which Law didn’t appreciate even if he had gotten their attention on purpose.
“Yes. You know him, right?” Robin asked.
“He’s wandered into the clinic by accident a few times,” Law acknowledged. The werewolf was technically a patient of his, and had been for longer than Law had actually owned his clinic, but that wasn’t necessary information to give out. “Maybe you should check the booth selling sake on the other side of the festival.” Zoro liked to drink, and he was almost always in the opposite location from where he was supposed to be. Law had never met a canine-adjacent creature with a worse sense of direction.
“Damn. Okay, who’s on Zoro duty?” Usopp asked.
“Franky and I are about to go get a good spot for the fireworks,” Robin replied.
“I’ll do it,” Nami sighed. “But he owes me.” Law winced in sympathy; he’d had coven members in debt to Nami before, and it never went well for them.
“Luffy, if you two are going to watch the fireworks, you should get a spot soon, too,” Robin said. Sanji seemed to take that as his cue to start packing up most of the rest of the gluten-free food in a container.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Luffy replied with a spark of mischief in his eye. “I already found the perfect spot.”
“What? Where? Tell us!” Usopp demanded. Luffy just snickered.
“It’s a secret!” He snatched the container with the gluten-free snacks from Sanji, then grabbed Law’s hand. “Come on! Let’s go to our spot!” Luffy exclaimed. Law let himself be pulled along, relieved to be away from the rest of Luffy’s friends. He didn’t like the way they had stared when Luffy kept offering Law food, like it surprised them. Like it meant something that Luffy kept feeding him, or maybe that Law kept letting him.
Luffy led him to the edge of the festival, where people were starting to gather to watch the fireworks, and then along the row of fences that separated the public space from private yards. Several houses down, Luffy stopped and grinned at Law. Then, without explanation, he jumped, grabbed the top edge of the fence, and pulled himself up to perch on top of it.
“Luffy?” Law questioned. “Whose house is this?” Putting aside the potential for the house to belong to something nasty and territorial like a werewolf - or worse, a dragon - humans weren’t exactly helpless, especially since many of the locals had guns. Law was taking the night off, he didn’t want to be digging bullets out of a stupid Alice, no matter how cute or charismatic that Alice was. He also didn’t want to have to explain to Sabo and Ace that he let their precious baby brother get shot by humans or eaten by anything larger for trespassing.
“A friend of mine lives here; it’s fine!” Luffy replied. “I know you don’t like crowds, so I thought we could sit in the yard here so we’re on our own.” Law couldn’t argue with that logic. Well, he could, but he also didn’t really want to. He climbed over the fence, and Luffy dropped into the unfamiliar yard beside him a minute later. Together they sat in the grass, with the box of snacks between them. Law tilted his head back, staring up at the stars. He could see more of them than usual, even with the lights from the festival.
“Beautiful,” Law whispered.
“Yeah,” Luffy agreed, and something in his tone made Law glance over at him. Luffy wasn’t looking at the stars; he was watching Law. Law blushed and hid it by tucking his face against the stuffed snow leopard.
They shared the rest of the food, talking about nothing while they waited for the fireworks to start. When they finally did, Law couldn’t help smiling as the sky lit up. He didn’t even flinch when Luffy reclaimed the hand he’d been holding off and on all evening, though it did make him blush once more and tell himself not to overthink things.
“Hey, Torao?” Luffy said during a pause between rounds of fireworks. Law turned to face him just as the next firework went off, casting Luffy’s face in bright red and orange light for an instant.
“Yeah?” Law replied just to show he was paying attention as another firework bathed them in greens and blues.
“I really like you,” Luffy blurted out, his words almost lost in the sound of the next couple of fireworks.
“You…” Law was sure he’d misheard.
“I mean it.” Luffy’s fingers squeezed Law’s in an almost reassuring way. “You’re really cool, and pretty, and fun.” A golden firework’s light washed over them next, a crackling one that didn’t boom or drown out Luffy’s words as he said, “I want to kiss you.”
For a second, Law’s brain refuses to function. He’d been nursing a crush on the stupid Alice for the last two and a half months, and now this. Did Luffy know? Had he asked Law to come to the festival with him just for this moment? That seemed like more planning that he usually gave Luffy credit for, but maybe this was as important to Luffy as it felt to Law.
Maybe he was dreaming. Or hallucinating. Maybe one of the booths had charmed them and Law hadn’t noticed.
Or maybe Luffy did actually like him.
That would be…
Amazing.
Terrifying.
He was Sabo’s little brother, and an Alice. There was no way Law should give in just because Luffy might feel the same way.
“Okay.” The word slipped out before Law realized what he was saying. Luffy beamed and leaned towards him, his lips brushing Law’s cheek just as the next firework went off. Law froze, heart pounding in his chest, wondering if he’d misread the moment. “Luffy?”
“Sabo says it’s polite to kiss someone on the cheek on the first date,” Luffy said, an almost shy version of his usual grin spreading across his lips.
“Sabo is an idiot,” Law replied. “Kind of like you. Why do I even like you?” Luffy laughed, and kept laughing until Law brought his hand up to Luffy’s cheek, cradling his jaw with his palm.
“Are you gonna kiss me?” Luffy asked, still grinning but sounding excited and a little out of breath.
“If you want me to,” Law replied against his better judgment. Luffy nodded, his smile brightening even further, and Law leaned in to bring their lips together just as the final, largest round of fireworks exploded overhead.
Law barely noticed, too caught up in the way Luffy leaned into the kiss, smushing their noses together in his excitement. It was unfortunately really cute, and Law couldn’t stop himself from kissing Luffy again because of it.
Finally, when the fireworks died down, a light turned on inside the house, and Law became aware of their surroundings again.
“Luffy?”
“Yeah?” Luffy was grinning even more stupidly than usual.
“Whose house was this, again?” Law asked, glancing toward the light.
“Oh! It’s Rayleigh’s,” Luffy answered cheerfully. Law stared at him, horrified.
“He’s going to kill me,” Law whispered. “Or Shakky will.”
“It’ll be fine, Rayleigh won’t mind. Or we can just jump the fence again! Besides, you’re with me!” Luffy replied easily, like he could protect them both. Law didn’t think that was exactly the best defense strategy against a potentially grouchy hydra, but he couldn’t exactly say that.
“Guess I am,” Law said instead. “Let’s go before we have to test that theory about him not minding, though.” Luffy just grinned, but he didn’t argue.
Once they were over the fence and back on public land, Law had a second to think. He really did like Luffy. But while he was fine keeping secrets from an Alice who was his friend, he didn’t want to lie to someone he was dating.
He’d have to tell Luffy the truth. About himself, his clinic, everything.
Not tonight, not when he hadn’t had time to think it through and plan everything yet.
In the morning he would talk to Sabo about being honest with Luffy. Then he’d start planning.
How did one go about telling an Alice that magic was real? Or that they had a crush on a witch who was the doctor for an entire menagerie of non-human people?
Whatever he came up with, he’d do it soon.
He wouldn’t leave Luffy in the dark, and he wouldn’t lie to him. It might be a lot for him to take in, but Law was pretty sure Luffy would understand why he hadn’t told him sooner.
Luffy’s hand was warm in his as they walked back through the festival together and then exchanged one last kiss before they parted ways. As he got into his old yellow SUV, Law sent a text to Sabo.
>>I have to tell him everything.