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It was Law’s day off. Doflamingo was out running some kind of errand; Law did not pry into the details, although he would be lying if he said that he was not disappointed that Doflamingo could not spend the time with him. He half-heartedly scrolled through his social media feeds; they had already been exhausted of all fresh content, so he was hoping that they would update.
I need a real hobby, he thought.
Just then, his doorbell rang. He frowned slightly. Doflamingo had his own set of keys, so he did not need to press the doorbell. Neither of them had ordered anything, so it was not the delivery man. Law concluded that he was not in the mood to entertain salesmen, beggars, or evangelicals, so he elected to not answer the door.
The doorbell rang a few times more, and then to Law’s surprise, he heard scratching and yowling coming from outside the door.
“Doffy? He must have gotten himself locked out for some reason,” Law gasped, as he pictured the poor cat man pitifully scratching at the door. He hurried towards the door and opened it.
Rosinante quickly stood up straight and put his hands behind his back, whistling as if he hadn’t just scratched the door in such a pathetic way.
“Hi?” Law tried to smile at him.
“Uh, hi.” One of Rosinante’s eyes were clearly twitching. “I thought Doffy would be around…”
“Oh yeah, he said that he was on an errand.” Law replied. “It’s just me now. Why don’t you come inside and wait for him? It’s hot outside. You can have some cold drinks if you want.”
Rosinante nodded. He took off his shoes and hesitantly walked into the apartment, tripping over the ledge that separated the entrance way from the living room. Law caught him in the nick of time.
“Careful.”
“T- Thank you,” Rosinante stammered, his cheeks flushed red. He was much larger than Law was, so he hung over the smaller man awkwardly. Law did not mind it. Doflamingo had regaled him with many stories about how clumsy his little brother was in the course of the week.
They both made their way to the sofa without incident.
“Would you like something to drink? We have diet cola.” Law asked the large cat man.
Rosinante shook his head. He stayed as still as a mouse that was being pursued by a cat. Law sat down beside him on the sofa. Rosinante’s silence and body language made Law feel terribly awkward. He panicked internally at the thought of starting small talk. He had no idea what to say.
Just then, he remembered that cat people required a different approach. He had fantasized about using it before, but he had never actually done so, due to a lack of opportunities. It was clearly the time to put his knowledge to good use. He held his hand out for Rosinante to sniff. Rosinante looked at him curiously, and Law initiated a slow blink with his eyes. He held his hand still as Rosinante sniffed it.
“Rosiiiii.” Law said in a soft, cooing voice.
Rosinante meowed at him, and Law knew that he had succeeded when he saw Rosinante blink slowly at him in return.
“May I pet you?” Law asked.
“Of course,” Rosinante grinned at him. “You’re such a trustworthy man. I can see why Doffy loves you so much.”
Law could not hide his happiness at the thought of being accepted by a cat man. He ran his fingers through Rosinante’s hair gently, in the direction that he knew Doflamingo liked. Rosinante purred and leaned into Law’s touches. Law felt his heart filling up at just how adorable the large cat man was. His eyes widened as Rosinante eventually broke away from him, and began to rub himself against Law’s entire body, just like Doflamingo often did.
“You don’t smell like me enough,” Rosinante explained. “I’m going to scent you so that everyone knows you’re part of my clan.”
Law grinned widely as he kept still, and allowed Rosinante to do as he pleased. This was definitely a victory for him. Not only did he succeed in getting Rosinante’s attention, now he also had his affection. Doflamingo would surely be proud of him.
Eventually, when Rosinante got bored of scenting him, he lay down on the couch and rested his head on Law’s lap. He took Law’s hand and placed it on his own head. Law took the hint and leisurely petted the large cat man’s hair, the way he patted Doflamingo’s head whenever the cat man felt like it. Law felt comforted by the action; it was a way of saying that he was loving someone and being loved.
Just then, the door opened. Law turned his head, but was otherwise unable to move due to the large cat man lying with his head on his lap.
Doflamingo let out a shocked meow as soon as he stepped inside the apartment.
“Welcome back, Doffy,” Law smiled at him, even as he stayed seated.
“Rosi!” Doflamingo shouted. “What are you doing?”
Rosinante’s ears perked up, and he got up to glare at Doflamingo. “Don’t shout at me like that, Doffy.”
Law tilted his head in confusion. His hand and legs were free, though, so he put up both of his hands to try and defuse the situation. “Doffy, calm down.”
Still pouting, Doflamingo went up to Law. He sniffed him in a displeased manner, and made a face. “Stand up, Law. There’s something I must do.”
“Oh, okay.” Law replied, and stood up as Doflamingo had requested.
Doflamingo began to rub himself against Law’s body. However, Rosinante saw what Doflamingo was doing and decided that he would not be outdone. He went over to Law and began to rub himself against Law’s body as well. Law stood there, perplexed but in heaven, at the two cat men showing affection towards him. It had already felt great that one cat man loved him. Now, there were two! He could barely contain his joy.
“Stop that, Rosi!” Doflamingo hissed, his ears flattening against his head.
“No, you stop that!” Rosinante huffed.
“Why are you guys fighting?” Law wondered. “You’re both lovely cat people to me. There’s no need to fight.”
“He’s covering you with his scent,” Doflamingo complained. “You should smell like me.”
“No, I claimed you. You should smell like me.” Rosinante shook his head stubbornly.
“I’m not an object to be claimed,” Law huffed. “Besides, aren’t you brothers? I thought I should be nice to you since you’re Doffy’s brother.”
“That’s not how cat people work. When we consider you a part of our clan, we want you to smell like us,” Doflamingo frowned. “You’re mine, Law! You’re my husband!”
“Yes, I’m yours,” Law sighed. “Sorry, Rosinante. Doffy’s my husband. I can’t argue with that. I barely got to know you.”
Rosinante’s ears drooped, and he sat quietly to the side while Doflamingo resumed scenting Law with his body.
“It’s okay, though! I’m sure we’ll get to know each other.” Law tried his best to make Rosinante feel better.
Rosinante smiled at Law and nodded. “You’re my brother’s husband. Of course I want to be on good terms with you. Besides, you are really nice to me as a cat person.”
Law was happy that his approach to get to know Rosinante worked. He smiled at Rosinante, while Doflamingo meowed and hugged him. He patted Doflamingo’s back gently.
“You should maintain some distance,” Doflamingo hissed. “You’re too close to Rosi.”
“I just wanted to be nice to Rosinante,” Law explained. “And I don’t know how to do it as a human. I can only approach cat people, because I understand them better.”
“Are you a cat person chaser?” Doflamingo’s eyes narrowed, as he squinted at Law. “Any cat man would do? I thought you liked me because of who I was...”
“No, of course not!” Law sighed. “I just feel closer to cat people than to other humans. It’s not like I’m fetishizing you or anything. You’re different, but you’re still a person to me.”
Doflamingo nodded. He seemed pleased with Law’s answer. Law heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Doflamingo go over to Rosinante and lick his face. It seemed that their little conflict had been resolved.
“Keep your paws away from my husband, Rosi.” Doflamingo said. “You’re my brother, but nobody gets to touch my husband.”
Rosinante sat still as he let Doflamingo lick him. His eyes narrowed and he smiled in pleasure at being groomed. “Fine, Doffy. I just thought he was a nice human. That’s all.”
“Weren’t you adopted by a human? You should have your own favourite person.”
“I do,” Rosinante replied. “But Law is nice, too. He’s so kind and gentle! I like him already.”
“Rosi...” Doflamingo huffed, and bit him gently on the ear. “You’re too friendly. You need to be more wary of strangers. But you’re right, Law is kind and gentle.”
Law blushed when he heard that coming from the brothers. He had never thought of himself as kind or gentle. It was interesting to see what the cat men thought of him.