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Luffy clamped a hand down on Law’s shoulder and he stiffened instantly at the contact. Just as he was about to knock it away, absurdly impractical sandals slapped against the ship’s deck and Luffy squatted down next to him, inserting himself into the argument Law was having with the more tactical Strawhats. He barely registered what Luffy said, something nonsensical, and Law snapped back with a retort on instinct. His head felt muffled and all he could consciously think about was the pressure of a warm thigh against his. Even through the fabric of his jeans, he could feel Luffy’s body heat and the indirect contact was enough to distract him entirely from the argument he’d quickly realized was futile. Pushing the hand off his shoulder, he made to stand up and couldn’t disguise a flinch when a rubber hand snaked out and grabbed his wrist instead.
“Is Traffy okay? You’re cold.”
Law mustered up all the energy remaining in his body to wrench his hand out of Luffy’s grip in what felt like a monumental action but must have looked pathetic from the way Zoro snorted when Luffy’s arm just stretched, his fingers still looped around Law’s wrist like the world’s worst bracelet. “My hands are always cold. Poor blood circulation.” He kept his voice as flat as possible. “Let. Go.”
When that didn’t happen, Law groaned and trudged toward the kitchen for a cup of coffee, the cursed rubber bracelet (with man attached) and all. Luffy’s hand on his wrist was warm and it was sapping his strength not unlike a pair of seastone cuffs. The latter were cold instead of warm, but the end result was largely the same: it was harder to move; Law felt tired enough to take a nap. Resisting the urge to lean against the ship’s railing and just call it a day, he shouldered into the kitchen, shuffling over to the coffee pot Sanji had started keeping filled for him, and poured himself a cup, doing his best to ignore the leech trailing from his arm who was now pestering the cook for food. Sanji raised one brow briefly at the sign of Law blankly guzzling coffee, Luffy’s arm stretched across the kitchen like a sticky hand, before shrugging and handing Luffy a colourful lunchbox. “Just a snack, alright? We’ll be having lunch soon.”
Pointedly ignoring Sanji’s questioning look, Law finished his cup and poured another. The bitter taste was reviving him somewhat, now all he had to do was hope Luffy would be distracted by the food and— Any delusions he had of teleporting out of there the second Luffy turned his attention to the bento evaporated as the rubber band around his wrist turned into a taut sash and yanked. Sputtering a curse as he choked on his mouthful of liquid in surprise, he barely had the chance to teleport his dropped mug back into his hand. In the next instant an arm looped around his waist and he was flying through the air, past Sanji who offered only a sympathetic smile, out of the kitchen, and… upside down? Groaning, it was all he could do to expand a small room to contain his coffee in a bubble as he was jerked upwards through the air and for all he knew, his death. It was a funny thing—what the brain chose to prioritize in critical moments. He might be dying and here his mind was, deciding protecting a cup was the best course of action. To be fair, the particular mug in question, with its white glaze and brown and black clay specks, was his favourite mug because it reminded him vaguely of Bepo, but certainly there were smarter applications of his powers.
“Hey Zoro! I’m gonna borrow the crow’s nest for a bit!”
“Knock yourself out, Captain!” A deep laugh followed the response, and just as Luffy shot them into the small room atop the ship’s mast, Law scraped together enough wherewithal and information to swap himself with a dumbbell, landing semi-gracefully on his hands and knees instead of into the pile of limbs and laughs Luffy tumbled into before the dumbbell landed too. Luffy made an almost comedic “Oof” sound under the weight and cursing, Law moved almost instantly to help pull the equipment off him.
He’d swapped with the first object he’d seen, but he should’ve thought about it a little more and chosen something lighter. After all, Zoro’s weights were ridiculously heavy and although Luffy was rubber he wasn’t impervious to damage. His hands rose to activate a scan, mind already running through possibilities of crushed bones or internal damage— The flickering blue power and rushing thoughts cut off as a firm finger poked the crease between his furrowed brows. A light laugh filled the room as Luffy caught the forgotten cup of coffee falling to the floor as its protective room dissipated. He sat up, offering Law the mug and a grin. “I’m okay! You don’t have to worry so much, Traffy.”
“What made you think I was worrying?” Law scoffed, snatching the cup, gulping down the remaining liquid, and crossing the room to set the mug down as far out of Luffy’s reach as possible. Definitely to protect the mug and absolutely not to hide the embarrassed expression on his face from his ally who was certainly now staring at his back with those wide curious eyes of his which made Law want to spill his soul. Luffy hummed and shuffled and laughed a little, and Law braced himself to be grabbed again, but nothing happened. Instead, Luffy hummed again and said, “Do you like the view from in here?”
Law let out a breath of relief and took the opportunity to glance out the window. From the crow’s nest he could see the main deck of the ship, small figures going about their business below, and beyond that, the ocean. A blue expanse almost glowing white where it kissed the horizon, and the sky above, a lighter, airy shade embedded with the barest whispers of clouds. Perfect weather.
“Yeah, it’s pretty, right?!” Luffy settled his elbows on the windowsill beside him, having walked up at some point to agree with an unspoken statement. “Do you think we could see the stars if we climbed a high enough crow’s nest? If the ship was big and tall enough?”
“And where would we find a ship that large?” Law couldn’t help the smirk crawling up the corner of his lips. It was such a ridiculous idea it shouldn’t have been worth humoring with a reply, but Luffy had a way of sweeping him up in his rhythm and by the time Law processed the statement enough to chastise himself for even responding, Luffy was already rambling about something else. He caught a few phrases like “dinosaur ship” and “pirate beetles” and “meat the size of a planet” and simply gave up the ghost of his aloof act by the last one, snapping back with incredulity as they fell into a comfortable bickering conversation. Since when had he gotten so comfortable around this pirate he’d only known for a couple days? (Not counting the emergency surgery two years prior, which admittedly may have played a part) It was comfortable, infuriating, but comfortable on the Thousand Sunny, and that was dangerous. Sinking into his thoughts, he went over his rehearsed plans for the upcoming days again.
“Traffy.”
Law blinked out of his musings to find Luffy staring at him, his face closer than he had been before, not close enough to be uncomfortable, but too close regardless. Dark eyes were boring into him with an almost curious intensity. He couldn’t tell where Luffy’s pupils ended and his irises began, but all the force behind those eyes was directed at him and the weight of it made his organs feel like they were liquefying in his chest. He desperately tried to avert his gaze, pulling down the brim of his hat in a pointless effort to shield himself as Luffy had no doubt read the entirety of his soul in those few moments of direct exposure. “What is it?” None of the bite he’d intended came out in his shaky whisper of a reply, and he clamped his mouth shut, cursing his body for betraying him yet again.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m strong.”
Some strangled half laugh choked its way out of his throat and Luffy frowned, puffing his cheeks up in indignation and frustration. Only Luffy could make years and years of planning, anger, revenge, agony, and nightmares seem akin to anxiety over a dentist appointment. Don’t worry about it? His mind felt like it was falling apart. If only it was possibility to will away fear and anger and desperation. If only it were that simple. He looked up to laugh again or snip back or teleport himself into the ocean to get out of there, perhaps even all three in that order, but fell still as he met Luffy’s gaze again. He’d moved closer, he had to have, because the space between them felt near nonexistant now. Deep black eyes glowing golden brown near the edges where sunlight hit them stared at him with the intensity of what he could only compare to black holes, as if Luffy was willing Law to understand what he was about to say next with his entire being. Conqueror’s Haki, Law could handle. Whatever this was made his legs turn into mush. If his hand hadn’t been braced against the windowsill, he’s sure he would’ve sunken to his knees.
“I mean it. I’m strong now. You’re strong too, Traffy.” Luffy paused for a few beats as if finding the words, “We’ve formed an alliance. And I’m even stronger with everyone. Like…really really strong! You can trust me.”
With the battle. You can trust me with the battle. Law’s mind supplied. His traitorous heart said something else and he briefly had the urge to rip it out of his body and strangle it. “Yeah? The same way I can trust you to not eat half of my dinner?” Giving up, he sank into the cushions of the window bench, leaning Kikoku against the sill and letting a lazy smirk fall across his face in the closest picture of nonchalance he could muster.
“Hey! That’s not fair!” Luffy pouted, flopping on the bench next to him, “food always looks tastier when your friends are eating it!”
If he’d still been drinking his coffee he would’ve choked on it and died then and there. Law closed his eyes after a brief coughing fit to muster up the courage not to disintegrate on the spot. This alliance was going to be the end of him. “We’re not friends.” He croaked, pushing Luffy’s slightly worried face away for a bit of space only to groan as his head snapped back like a rubbery coil.
“It’s okay! You don’t have to say it! I know!” Without skipping a beat, Luffy pulled the lunchbox Sanji had handed him earlier out and flipped up the tabs keeping the lid shut, uncovering a variety of vegetables, sausages, and rice balls with an excited flourish. “Oh! Look! You like these right? Here, you can have one, but just one, okay?”
As Luffy dug in, eating as if he hadn’t had a morsel in the past 3 days, Law looked down at the lumpy ball of rice which had been shoved into his hand (no doubt jostled out of shape from Luffy’s rough handling of the box and his ally during their erratic flight into the crow’s nest). He took a small bite just to please Luffy before blinking in surprise. The soft rice was seasoned nicely with a hint of flavour and the salmon filling was tasty yet light. Before he knew it he’d eaten the rest, his body apparently remembering he’d only had coffee for breakfast.
“Good right?” Luffy paused long enough to grin, “Sanji’s been practicing ever since he found out you like them!”
That was information Law could have really done without. Wordlessly, he adjusted the brim of his hat to hide the embarrassed flush of his cheeks and turned to stare out the window again. A mundane sort of mood fell over them as Luffy continued to eat, piping up between mouthfuls to occasionally voice any random thought which popped into his head and Law let the inane chatter fill his mind. Just as he was making up his mind to teleport out of there or fall asleep, he didn’t know exactly which, Luffy declared “that was good!” setting the empty box down on the floor and instantly turned his gaze back to Law whose attempt at ignoring him lasted roughly ten seconds. “What?”
“When we meet up with your crew again, let’s have a party together! Sanji can make them riceballs if they like them too! Then you’ll feel better!” Luffy nodded to himself as if he’d realized the nature of the universe after pondering it for a while “Yep! That’ll definitely do it!”
“Strawhat-ya… Are you trying to cheer me up?” He slowly pieced the previous conversation and events together with a growing understanding before his smirk cracked into an incredulous soft laugh. How this headstrong idiot who ran blind into danger had somehow realized he was missing his crewmates, Law had no idea since he considered himself skilled at hiding his emotions, but the past half and hour suddenly made a lot more sense.
“You don’t have to thank me!” Luffy laughed and that laugh seeped into Law’s bones like sunlight into boulders, making his entire body feel warm and sluggish. “I’m glad you’re my friend too, Traffy.”
Sinking deeper into the cushions Law grumbled out a half rebuttal to that statement. He supposed he didn’t really mind if that’s what Luffy thought. In his chest a vague hope trembled with the light of a small candle approaching a storm. A hand stretched out hesitantly at first, then confidently when Law didn’t stop it from looping around his wrist again. In reality Law simply didn’t have the energy to push Luffy away anymore—that was what he told himself as he allowed rubber to grasp him in a firm hold. Law immediately regretted letting down his guard when a call of “Lunch!” sounded from the deck below and Luffy jolted up, yanking him through the air like a pinata as he leapt from the mast forgoing the stairs altogether. He was going to die. Yes. Law mind sarcastically supplied. This alliance would be the end of him.
Later as Luffy reached over, stretching around his arms to grab at the cucumbers on Law’s plate, his heart supplied the idea there were worse ways to die. He didn’t miss the smile which played across Robin’s lips as she met his gaze, but instantly wished he had, dropping his chin to his chest to hide his expression as Luffy all but crawled over him to reach another dish, each point of skin contact igniting his flesh and feeding the little flickering flame which had grown large enough to push back the chill clinging to his body like a shroud. Luffy’s palm on his shoulder burned away the icy layer of pain shielding him, and staring at his newly exposed skin, all Law could do was close his eyes, a futile action before the sun.