Chapter Text
Even unconscious, Monkey D. Luffy seemed to vibrate with fury as they dragged him to Udon Labor Camp through the wastelands of Wano.
If asked, one might be tempted to guess the target of that fury was none other than Kaido, the one who had put him down and directed his imprisonment. One would be wrong.
For inside the brain of one Monkey D. Luffy, things were never as straightforward as they may seem from the outside. He was mad at Kaido, sure- The guy was a big damn jerk and he was starving and enslaving and ruining and a bunch of other very reasonable and motivating verbs that would properly explain his level of rage to anyone with basic empathy but, despite all of that, it wasn't Kaido that had him grinding his teeth and growling under his bandages as his limp body was pulled behind Kaido's lackeys.
It was Trafalgar fucking Law, with his absolute refusal to admit to anything that could be remotely considered a vulnerability and his utter inability to lie. Well, Luffy thought darkly, Traffy did lie- A lot actually, he just didn't lie well enough to fool Luffy so Luffy didn't care enough to hold it against him. Thing was, he didn't feel like he could particularly hold it against him since he was positive it worked pretty universally for him most of the time since Traffy cultivated an unapproachable aura of apathy that was hard to see past- At least, it was hard to see past unless one was lucky enough to be one of the handful of people Trafalgar Law let close for long enough to see the glaringly obvious truth that, whatever else may be said about him, he was at heart a good person.
Traffy's facade was fairly useless on everyone in Luffy's crew at that point, all having come to the conclusion on their own terms over the course of his travels with them. He was grumpy and crotchety and pessimistic- The antithesis of Luffy's own self to such an extreme that Luffy couldn't help but to be enamored.
He'd hoped that after defeating Doflamingo together, maybe Traffy would trust him enough to really let him in and he'd been thrilled when Traffy hadn't treated him dismissively or as a child when he'd approached him on the way to Zou. Luffy hadn't really realized that they were flirting until Traffy's tongue was weaving through his fingers to clean the nut butter from his skin but when he had finally realized what had been going on he hadn't hesitated to dive in head first.
Luffy had recognized Traffy trying to shut it down again by saying he wouldn't remember in the morning but Luffy knew he wasn't drunk enough for that. So he'd pushed them further, stubbornly planning on talking to Traffy more in the morning whether he wanted to talk or not but Traffy had fully committed to the lie of not remembering. No amount of Luffy's directness had been able to breach the impenetrable wall of Traffy's panicked guard.
There wasn't much Luffy hated more than being avoided and he'd been frustrated when Traffy had managed to succeed at it the entire time they'd been on Zou. By the time Luffy had gotten Sanji back from Big Mom and reunited with Traffy, he'd been beyond ready to finally get to tell him all about how much he wanted to try it all over again but, when Zoro had finally left them alone together, Traffy had tricked him with a ghost story instead of letting him talk and when Luffy had tried to corner him afterward he had made excuses and run off again.
So when Kaido's drunk ass showed up to rain on everyone's parade, Luffy had already been well annoyed to say the least.
Kid stiffened, looking up warily when the door to the cell they'd left him in the day before opened and someone was thrown unceremoniously into the cell with him.
Luffy's eyes refocused in the dark of the cell they'd tossed him into, coming back to awareness from the dissociated hostile glare his face had been frozen in at the sound of a fist slamming into the ground.
"Damn-!" Kid snarled in the dark. He'd heard the doors opening and been blindsided by the sudden hope that flared at the spark of recognition that registered before he even processed what he'd seen that had sparked it. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, a tiny voice had wondered if perhaps he would finally be reunited with his first mate here. It was the first real thought he'd had in the last week and a half and Kid was livid to have been dragged back to mindfulness for nothing- He knew the frame of the person that had rolled to a stop next to him was far too small to be Killer.
Luffy's feral glare slowly swung around to lock with a hostile golden stare and two shocked exhalations disturbed the air in the cell as both occupants growled, "Huh?!"
"Oh-!" Recognition dawned on them simultaneously as they both exclaimed hoarsely, "You-!"
For a moment, Luffy thought a fist was about to fly his way but the huge frame of Eustass Kid seemed to almost deflate as all the tension bled out of him and he slumped back against the wall. Luffy considered him silently, fuming palpably about his circumstances as he absently noticed that despite losing an entire limb, Jaggy had still somehow nearly doubled if not tripled in physical size since he'd seen him last two and a half years before in Sabaody but the inferno in Jaggy from Sabaody had shrunk into a small guttering stubborn candle flame that refused to go out.
Luffy felt a small spark of relief in his gut at the grim consolation that at least he wasn't alone, as long as Jaggy still had any hint of fire left then he wasn't alone.
Kid ignored Luffy's interest steadfastly, slamming his eyes shut and swearing to himself that he would actually make an effort to scope out the yard the next day. If he was gonna get out and about in the yard to find Killer then he needed to get his strength back up which meant he needed to eat.
Fuck if he was gonna let some shrimpy teenager beat him to Kaido- Tomorrow marked day twenty four of being separated from Killer, which was twenty two days longer than he'd ever gone without seeing Killer before because, even during their short stint as rival gang leaders on their home island, they'd still seen each other nearly every day. Kid's resolve hardened even as he forced himself not to hope for positive outcomes, trying to force Killer's name back out of his mind, back to the safely tucked away panicky tangle of repressed emotion waiting in the wings of his subconscious for a chance to take center stage.
Luffy had focused inward, working on willing his body to heal faster and then letting his mind glaze over while he worked the day away for a bite to eat on autopilot as he tried not to wonder if his friends had escaped Kaido's attack. He was content to move on instinct until Jaggy had shouldered past him and he'd realized there was a much better way to spend his days than on autopilot. If Jaggy could move that block with only one arm then Luffy knew he'd be able to move it too, especially if he used both hands,
Luffy studied him silently for the rest of the day, watching the way he selected his blocks, how he leveraged them off the ground, the way he balanced it with his back to make it work with his single arm. He watched while he worked with the group again on autopilot, planning routes to run based on Kid's paths, maneuvers for darting around other prisoners that were slower or in the way, and watching Jaggy's stack of food tickets grow with a burgeoning sense of competition flaring to life in his chest along with the envious hunger gnawing at his gut.
Kid had noticed the attention, who wouldn't with the way the Monkey had been staring a hole in the back of his head the whole damn day. He'd expected the kid to beg a few dumplings off him when he felt him staring while he ate his hard won mountain of dumplings that first night but Luffy had said nothing. Kid was even more impressed when Luffy's stomach growled loud enough that dust shook loose from the ceiling and he still didn't say a word.
For reasons he didn't wanna look too closely at, Kid found himself scooping up a handful in his hand and reaching toward the smaller captain. He dropped the five dumplings in Luffy's lap without a word and without pausing in his own eating. Luffy blinked, staring down at the dumplings for a long minute before stuffing them all in his mouth at once with a happy noise that turned the tips of Kid's ears pink.
"Don't get any ideas Monkey, I'm not bein' nice- I just aint gonna be able to sleep if your damn stomach's growling fit to bring the mountain down on us! You better get enough tickets to feed yourself on your own tomorrow, I'm not in the habit of taking in strays or helping weaklings." Kid stuffed another handful of dumpling in his mouth to stop the defensive flood of words before he got carried away.
Don't get any ideas kid, I aint bein' nice- You got a stomach loud enough to bring the guard dogs down on us so I'm feedin' ya tonight but I aint teamin' up with some useless kid. Got it?
Kid almost choked when he tried to swallow the dumplings after his mouth went dry at the sudden intrusive thought, the imagined voice of nine year old Killer in the scrapyard they met in growling softly in the back of his mind in a way that made the blood drain from his face.
"Shut up Jaggy," Luffy grumbled back, rolling his eyes and sighing loudly.
Kid grunted at him, not reacting as his own remembered voice crept out of his subconscious.
Whatever, blondie- Aint tryin' to team up with some kid killer anyway-
A few minutes later, Luffy settled into a curled up ball to sleep and, in the quiet while Kid got settled himself, a small voice called out, "Hey Jaggy? Thanks for feedin' me- You're not half bad under all the showy loud bits, huh?"
Y'know blondie? For someone they call the kid killer, y'sure don't seem that scary. I aint never eaten somethin' I didn't have to steal from folk that act like they're better'n me just cause they don't gotta steal. All the street rats avoid the scrapyard cause they say it's the kid killer's turf but ya didn't kill me at all- Ya fed me.
"Don't fuckin' mention it," Kid growled, not looking back at him as he forced the past out of his head. "Seriously."
Kid woke up the next morning to find he'd gained a shadow out in the yard. Luffy kept pace with him, moving just as many blocks, never tiring and only ever pulling ahead by one block once in a while before letting Kid catch up. Kid was only more annoyed when he realized Luffy'd been treating it like some kind of deranged camp game competition.
By the time they were done for the day, they'd each stockpiled their own mountains of dumplings and retreated to their shared cell with the two hoards.
Luffy paused, swallowing a huge mouthful of bland mushy dumplings, and turned to observe Kid. His color was coming back and he didn't have that horrible look of hopelessness lurking in his eyes anymore.
Kid felt eyes boring into the side of his skull and swung his head around to glare at Luffy, mirroring his expression and growling as their stares locked.
Luffy leaned in just a little to solidify the challenge and snarled, "Got a problem?"
Kid immediately leaned forward and snapped back louder, "Yeah, your dumb face!"
Exhilaration flooded Luffy when Jaggy matched his energy and he couldn't help but surge forward, surprised by his own movement almost as much as he was at Jaggy meeting him forehead to forehead in the middle of the cell. Jaggy's growl got louder and Luffy could almost see the tattered remains of his ego stitching themselves back together in his amber eyes.
"I made one more trip than you, you know!" Luffy taunted, baring his teeth at Kid like he was reaching a helping hand down to pull him out of the mud in their own secret little trash gremlin street kid language.
"So what? I was still faster!" Kid returned, the flames of belligerence kindling back to life in his chest as he sneered at Luffy.
"No you weren't!" Luffy shoved him back a few inches with his head and declared antagonistically, "I'm the strongest and the fastest!"
Kid shoved back twice as hard, pushing into his space as he ground his teeth in irritation and retorted, "How do you know how many rocks you hauled? You can't even count!"
Luffy forced him back again as he hollered in his face, "I CAN TOO!"
"MY ASS, YOU CAN!" Kid screeched as he overpowered Luffy's advance so strongly that Luffy nearly lost his balance.
Catching himself at the last moment, Luffy reset them back to the middle distance and pulled back after another feral growl. His eyes flickered over Kid's face and he scoffed, "Tcch- You can't even eat right, you've got food all over your stupid face!"
"You do too, ya damn Monkey-" Kid's eyes lingered on Luffy's mouth when his tongue slipped out.
Luffy could feel Jaggy's eyes on him as he cleaned the food bits off his own face then leaned in so quickly that there was no time for Kid to react before the food was being licked right off his cheek too.
Kid's eyes widened, caught entirely off guard at the soft hot flutter of Luffy's tongue on his cheek. Reality stuttered for a beat around Kid as he wondered what the actual fuck was happening to him.
Luffy hummed in pleased surprise and the hostility whooshed out of him all at once as he exclaimed brightly, "Woah, you made 'em taste way better!"
Before Kid could summon up a response to that, Luffy popped another dumpling in his mouth then darted in close and licked him again, this time from his collarbone up to the knot of his jaw. Kid stiffened, swallowing convulsively as a heady spike of pleasure stabbed through the haze of apathy he'd been wallowing numbly in.
Luffy tossed a third one in his mouth, eyes on his neck with a focus that had Kid's cock stirring in his loose pants as Luffy leaned in for a third taste.
"Can't just go around lickin' people without asking, Monkey-" Kid hissed as Luffy's tongue curled against his pounding pulse.
"You know, Traffy said the same thing!" Luffy told him conspiratorially. Pausing with his bottom lip resting against Kid's collarbone, Luffy looked up at him through his lashes as he murmured, "But Jaggy tastes so good."
Kid's jaw clenched as Luffy's tongue dragged back up his neck, slower this time, and he shivered slightly when Luffy breathed out against the edge of his jaw, "Can't help it-"
Kid caught Luffy by the jaw when he retreated this time, staring back at him intensely for a beat before he angled Luffy's head to make his throat more accessible. Kid leaned in, sucking and nipping his way up Luffy's throat as he let go of Luffy's chin so he could grab blindly for a dumpling off his pile.
Luffy was staring at him when he pulled back, eyes dark and hungry as they locked with Kid's again and Luffy recognized the feeling from the night he'd realized he wanted to kiss Traffy.
Kid caught the look on Luffy's face and smirked, tossing the dumpling in his mouth. He chewed with an appreciative noise, licking his lips when he was finished then growling roughly, "You're right, does taste good."
Luffy eyed him speculatively, wondering for a moment if Jaggy was the sort of person he could kiss then promptly resolving to just try and find out. Luffy started to sway a little closer, looking inquisitive, and Kid's eyes widened with the beginnings of alarm then-
"ALL PRISONERS TO THE YARD IMMEDIATELY."
Kid was still in shock over what he was pretty sure almost happened as the confrontation progressed on autopilot, absently following the damn monkey's lead when that loser hippo guard got out of line mostly because his brain was still rebooting and he could still feel that tongue on his neck.
Blinking in the darkness of the giant hippo mouth a few moments later, the human-ish head inside knocked out cold, Kid felt like he might be losing his mind as the level of surreality in his life hit new levels. There was a suspicious rustle of fabric and Kid glanced at Luffy, asking, "What're you- Mmmph!" Kid startled when Luffy pushed a dumpling into his mouth, fingertips dragging down Kid's tongue as he pulled his fingers back.
"Victory dumpling!" Luffy declared, beaming with a triumphant guileless flush on his cheeks that disarmed Kid with a horrifying ease.
Kid bristled like a cranky cat and Luffy smiled fondly at him when Kid seethed, "Don't just shove things in my fuckin' mouth Monkey, the hell-"
"Huh? It's just a dumpling!" Luffy protested, head cocked quizzically and his face the definition of guileless confusion as Kid's face flushed hot enough that it almost hurt.
"Just a dumpling-" Kid repeated incredulously, fishing his own spare dumpling out and catching it between his first two fingers. He grabbed Luffy by the face, thumb braced at the center of his chin with the dumpling at his lips and his last two fingers were caught at the knot of Luffy's jaw. "See how you like it-!"
Kid smirked and stuffed the dumpling into Luffy's mouth, panicking immediately when Luffy's lips closed around his fingers, teeth caught on his knuckles before he could get them away. Kid's mouth opened as he took a breath to protest but Luffy's tongue swirled around his fingers eagerly and Kid's soul left his body.
"Thanks Jaggy," Luffy hummed around his fingers, smirking as he used the tip of his tongue to push Kid's fingers back out of his mouth slowly.
Between the hum of adrenaline in his veins and the approving and admiring stares of the other prisoners after the defeat of Hippo Guy, Kid was feeling better than he had in weeks and he'd quickly forgotten to feel weird. That is, he'd forgotten right up until he'd tossed a dumpling in his mouth a couple hours later and remembered how much better it had been with the taste of salt from Luffy's skin to ease the bland nothing taste of them.
He snuck a glance at Luffy from the corner of his eye and swallowed reflexively when he realized Luffy's hungry eyes were locked on his neck rather than the dumpling in his grasp.
Kid felt like he couldn't catch his balance and he flinched when the tangled knot of panic and devastation he'd been ignoring threatened to drown him from the inside out as he missed Killer viscerally enough that everything faded back to numb and apathetic in comparison. He sighed, heavily like a deflating balloon, then he tossed his cloak on the ground, curled up, and pretended to be asleep until he was blinking awake as the conversation from his dream echoed in his mind.
Y'know blondie? For someone they call the kid killer, y'sure don't seem that scary. I aint never eaten somethin' I didn't have to steal from folk that act like they're better'n me just cause they don't gotta steal. All the street rats avoid the scrapyard cause they say it's the kid killer's turf but ya didn't kill me at all- Ya fed me.
I fed you? Fuckin' hell, what are you some kinda stray fuckin' cat?
Nah, but listen- Everybody's gotta have at least one person to watch their back, someone they rely on who aint gonna change their mind when the goin' gets good. You got the first back I ever felt like deserved watchin' so I'm gonna watch it. I'm pickin' you, you're gonna be my one person. It's okay if you don't see it yet, I'm your one person too- Cause aint no one puttin' up with your mean ass long enough to realize you're awesome other than me and you're too damn lazy to go out and actually meet anyone else anyway-
You're fuckin' nuts kid, I aint watchin' your back.
We'll see, I'm still gonna watch yours. See ya this afternoon!
What? Don't fucking come back- What the fuck-
Later Blondie!
Kid was still sitting on the ground trying to force the past back into the past where it belonged at the time they would usually be shouldering each other out of the way while they raced out of the cell. Kid heaved a sigh, scrubbing at his face with his hands as he tried unsuccessfully to convince himself to get up to trudge through another Killerless day in hell and he wondered idly if there was a punishment beyond not eating for refusing to leave the cell when not injured.
He'd assumed Monkey had raced out the cell door as usual the second it opened, startling when fingers sunk into his hair to scratch lightly at his head while ruffling his hair into an unruly mess.
He glared up at Luffy and froze when the world seemed to come back into focus, starting with Luffy's huge beaming smile. "Hey Jaggy! Betcha I can get my first block down to the boat before you-"
Kid was already running as the color flooded back into his reality and a grin lurked at the corners of his mouth as Luffy bounded after him, shouting about cheating and hoping he'd fall on his dumb face.
Halfway through the morning, Kid had to admit, to his horror, that he was almost having fun running around with Straw Hat Luffy. Just as his soul was beginning to leave his body again, Luffy's voice split the din of the yard, loud and annoyed as it echoed off the rock.
"Knock it off!"
Kid stiffened, head snapping up at the angry growl. He'd left the younger captain at the mining wall to keep him occupied while he took a piss so he didn't have to decide what to do with the realization that he'd almost told him he'd be back in a minute and promptly froze when it occurred to him that he had no idea if he was telling him to wait for him to get back or if he was trying to prevent being followed to the outhouse.
His eyes scanned the yard for that ridiculous straw hat and whatever trouble he'd gotten himself into in the three minutes they'd been separated.
"Go away!"
The second shout drew his gaze straight to him and Kid's sharp stare landed on the weird oozy looking prisoner clearly harassing the stupid monkey. Irritation settled over him like a shroud, face twisting into a scowl when he caught sight of the tongue on the guy and he was hit with a wave of revulsion that had a territorial aftertaste he didn't wanna think about. Giving up on the outhouse with a disgusted curl of his lip, Kid's legs started moving before his mind caught up when the creep plastered himself to Monkey's side.
"Stop touching me!"
The third snarling shout pierced the air as Kid approached them, a dark furious aura seeming to extend out from him ominously as he came to a stop about an inch from the unwelcome oily man. He glowered silently for a moment, catching the nearly imperceptible tilt of the head that indicated his presence had been noticed with a tiny smirk as he lifted his arm to scratch the back of his head casually before letting his elbow fall heavily onto Tongue Guy's skull with an echoing crack.
"I was handling that-" Luffy bit out, half wild eyed like he always was when they were out in the yard. Kid frowned at him skeptically as the memory of that nasty tongue so close to the rubber neck he couldn't eat without thinking about replayed on the back of his eyelids on a loop every time he blinked.
Luffy's eye twitched and he glared heatedly at Jaggy as he growled, "I was!"
"Fuck's sake Monkey," Kid hissed through his teeth, trying desperately not to shout as he snarled, "I cannot believe I gotta tell you this but ya can't just let people fuckin' lick you in front of the whole goddamn prison-"
"Whaddaya mean let?" Luffy's head tilted and he looked up at Kid in curious confusion, like he had no idea why it might be a bad idea for hundreds of prisoners to suddenly realize how lickable he was all at the same time. "I told him to stop-"
"You needed to stop him with more than words- God, you don't know anything, do you? Stupid monkey-" Kid muttered, shaking his head and glaring around at all the prisoners who'd stopped to stare. He glared extra hard at the handful of guards who'd also stopped before taking a fortifying breath.
"Oi, assholes! Listen up!" Kid hollered, dropping a hand on Luffy's head and sinking his fingers into the tousled black hair with a territorial ruffle. Luffy bristled and shook his head, leveling a feral glare at him as he tried to step away expecting to stretch and got yanked to a stop instead. "Anyone wanting to touch my Monkey goes through me, got it?"
"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Luffy growled at him, kicking one of his shins with an angry huff. "I don't need your shitty protection, Jaggy!"
"Oh no? Alright then, when I see you bent over one of those slabs over there with that nasty tongue up your ass next time- I'll just keep walking!" Kid snapped flatly, eyebrow raised in challenge.
"Wha-" Luffy's eyes went wide and his cheeks tinged pink, mouth falling slightly open in shock. "What?!"
Kid blinked at him blankly for a beat before asking, "What, what?"
"Nobody's gonna try and put their tongue in my ass you weirdo," Luffy yelped, flush on his cheeks deepening to a pretty scarlet. "That's not a real thi- Nobody wants to do that!"
Kid almost laughed out loud, mouth twisting with amusement as he snorted and told him, "Well that's just not true stupid little monkey."
Luffy looked ready to protest again so Kid, leaning in closer and lowering his voice so it wouldn't carry beyond the two of them, murmured with a smirk, "Because I've been called a lot of names in my life but, you know what? Not once have I ever been nobody."
Luffy's wild eyes snapped up to his looking startled. "Wait, does that mean- Are you saying that you-"
Kid threw his head back and cackled instead of answering as he walked away, knowing Luffy would follow. He grimaced slightly, the laughter leaving a sour aftertaste in his mouth when all he wanted to do was follow it up with an incredulous look at Killer. He had yet to catch a glimpse of any hint of his partner since he'd ventured out into the yard to look. A tiny voice in the back of his head tried to ask what it meant if Killer wasn't in the prison and Kid threw himself back into the labor to push the thoughts back to the silence where they didn't make him feel like he was dying.
Luffy stared after him for a moment, disgruntled, then shrugged dismissively. Weird thing to say, but Jaggy was weird so it probably didn't matter that he didn't get it. Luffy shook his head emphatically and decided, taking off to catch up, that he was not going to think about it.