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Law was tired.
Not of the Strawhats, not exactly, but just in general. Well maybe a little tired of them. Their loudness and shenanigans mostly. And their irreverence, and lack of common sense. And how they got into his personal space, and their inability to use inside voices…
But it wasn’t like he disliked them. His own crew could get rowdy too, this wasn’t his first rodeo, Law just wanted a quiet moment for himself. Maybe read a book, take a nap. Definitely not sit alone with his thoughts. But the other two things sounded nice.
He wasn't a crewmember of the Thousand Sunny though, he didn't have private quarters to hide in, which was a problem. Sure, Luffy had offered. Had, in fact, bullied him into sharing a room, but it still wasn't his. He couldn’t just use the captain’s quarters when the captain wasn’t there, and if he were there, it defeated the whole purpose.
But surely.
Surely nobody would protest if he just absconded from the thick of it and found himself a brief respite while the Straw Hats were busy having their seventh party of the day.
Wandering the foreign ship like a lost soul, he ended almost tripping over Roronoa Zoro, sitting silently in one of the many corridors that overlooked the entirety of the ship. The man didn’t even bat an eye, barely even opened an eye, actually, as Law stumbled back from a diplomatic catastrophe.
“Uh,” He felt the need to say, if only to avoid awkward silence. “My bad.”
But then of course he had to add, “it’s quiet here.”
Zoro glanced at him, amusement lifting a corner of his lips. He didn’t say anything, but seemed perfectly comfortable returning to his meditation, despite his new audience.
Law thought about leaving him be.
He also thought that he hadn’t been told to leave.
This was also the only place free of noise.
Against his better judgement, Law sat down next to the other swordsman, Kikoku resting against his shoulder, cradled between his legs.
When he was not rebuffed, when all Zoro did was angle his body slightly towards him as if making space for him, Law felt his spine melt against the wood at his back.
It was nice, the quiet.
Reading did not even cross his mind, as he closed his eyes and felt the ever-present exhaustion weighing down his bones.
He wasn’t going to fall asleep next to another pirate, of course, but he hadn’t had such a moment of reprieve in a long time, and he definitely wanted to bask it in.
Juuuust for a second longer.
Just… just a bit longer…
…
Law blinked awake with much confusion, not remembering when or how or why he had fallen asleep. It was fairly easy to understand his situation, however, leaning against the wooden board, sword clutched against his chest. Luffy’s swordsman still breathing long and deep next to him.
Hopefully Roronoa had been too busy meditating and hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep like a child. Maybe the swordsman had even fallen asleep too. He wasn’t sure Meditating Roronoa looked much different from Sleeping Roronoa. If Roronoa didn’t tell, he wouldn’t either.
Law was still figuring out how to extricate himself from this situation without announcing he had fallen asleep to the entire world, that he realized what had woken him.
The clap of sandals against wood grew ever closer, and oh boy, Luffy was charging at full speed towards them, wasn’t he?
Law braced himself for impact but—
“Tora-o! Here you ar— whoa!? Zoro!?”
Feeling the air displacement, but without it resulting in a lapful of overeager Luffy and potentially a concussion, Law peeked through half-lidded eyes, still pretending to be asleep.
“Don’t bother him, he’s resting.” Roronoa said, more fond than admonishing, holding his captain back with an arm around his midsection.
Luffy was pouting, outstretched arms wiggling towards Law for a second longer before he turned to his first mate, wrapping himself obnoxiously around him, like a human octopus. “But Zoroooo!”
“Yes, yes,” Roronoa said, completely unfazed, accommodating his captain with scary ease, letting their limbs tangle without a care in the world. “I know you like him, but you have to be patient.”
“But he’s here now!” Luffy said, dropping his head on Roronoa’s shoulder, voice muffled. “And he’s not going to be here forever, so I want to spend as much time with him as I can!”
Law, who had been internally cheering for Roronoa’s comradeship, felt thunderstruck. He wasn’t sure why he was so surprised. Luffy had never made it a secret how he felt about him, after all. Maybe he hadn’t expected the longing, so raw for someone so cheerful.
“Yeah, and we can share a quiet moment too. He’s like a cat, gets easily stressed—” Hey. “—So let him relax, and then you can go bother him again.”
Luffy yawned.
“You can take a nap too, you know?”
“I dun wanna!” Luffy cried out, voice surprisingly soft. Law couldn’t see his face, but would bet good money that he was pouting. “What if Tora-o wakes up while I’m asleep?”
“I’ll wake you up, don’t worry.”
Luffy cheered, then leaned up and—
Law’s ears felt way too hot, and he couldn’t close his eyes fast enough. He knew Luffy and his swordsman were involved romantically, they had never been shy about it, but still it caught him by surprise every time they were physically affectionate. He hadn’t been able to see the kiss— because that was what it had been— and he wondered if Luffy had kissed his cheek, or if it had been full on the lips, even though Law was right there.
“Thanks, Zoro! I can always count on you!”
“You got it,” Roronoa replied, rearranging them just enough so he could support Luffy better. This put him slightly closer to Law. Not quite in touching distance, but Law’s skin prickled with goosebumps anyway.
“Hey Zoro,” Luffy mumbled sleepily, head leaned against his shoulder, half-lidded eyes trained on Law. “Do you like Tora-o?”
“Yeah,” Roronoa said like it was the easiest thing in the world. “He’s got a good heart. And he asked you to be his ally. Of course I like him.”
“Made me so happy… That he asked…”
“Me too.”
Law shouldn’t be listening to this. He shouldn’t be pretending to be asleep, and listening in on the couple’s tender moments and what they thought of him. Did this count as espionage? It wasn’t like he’d done this on purpose or heard anything dangerous. Embarrassing, definitely, but not exactly a secret.
But he couldn’t just… pretend to wake up now, right after they were talking about him like it was perfectly timed. It would be suspicious! Not to mention deeply awkward. And then they’d ask how long he’d been awake and what was Law supposed to say to that?
He was never again falling asleep anywhere but his captain’s quarters far underneath the surface, he decided.
But…
If he was still asleep, then nobody would find it weird if he just… moved a bit right?
Zoro held his sleeping captain close, making sure they were still plastered together even as Luffy’s limbs slackened. His captain’s breath came fast and sweet, always ready to jump into action, but readily willing to lay against him and rest.
It wasn’t often he could hold him like this, not in the middle of the day. His captain was a force of nature, bouncing off everything and everyone, smile as wide as the seas.
Zoro was the support pillar of their crew. He was safety, and he was protection, and the glue that kept everything together. Luffy knew he could count on him, he relied on him to carry their dreams forward, but he tended to forget to seek comfort when he needed it. When he wanted it.
So Zoro held him close, and hoped that when everyone was awake again, Law would indulge Luffy a bit longer, before he left.
Well, it wasn’t so much aimless hope as a certainty he could feel in his bones. Even right now, the Heart Pirates’ captain had chosen to pretend to be asleep instead of absconding away to quieter corners when Luffy had thundered in.
Zoro hadn’t called him out, hadn’t tried to tell his captain either, because Law also deserved the comfort he’d sought.
He was a high-strung man, he knew, always stressed out of his mind. And yet he’d played along with the rest of Luffy’s crew, had tolerated their silliest shenanigans despite being out of his depth.
He’d been the one to approach his captain, to offer him friendship, a public alliance, when Luffy had made the world his enemy, when he had always been the one to reach out first.
Zoro couldn’t forget any of this.
Still he couldn’t help but be surprised when he felt the stiff and nervous Law gingerly leaning against him, still pretending to be fast asleep.
Zoro did not say anything, but when Law did not relax nor move away, Zoro freed up one arm to wrap it around Law’s shoulders and slow but inexorably drew him closer.
The man jumped at the contact, but when Zoro made no comment, Law slowly relaxed against him, basking in the new warmth.
Even asleep, Luffy knew the moment Law came into touching distance. He reached towards Law, grasping the edge of his shirt with a sleepy hand, and murmuring happily against Zoro.
Law further melted against them.
Oh, how Zoro wished he’d never leave.
Maybe, one day, their two crews would sail under the same flag— like Whitebeard, like the pirate emperors— but for now this was alright.
As long as Zoro could hold them, every once in a while. As long as Law sought them out, and allowed them to find him…
They’d be fine.