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At first, it’s only Strawhat, which is… it’s fine. Law’s fine with it. The touching, that is. Strawhat is a very physical person, and Law can respect that. It’s fine.
Really.
Actually, from an outside perspective, it’s kind of fascinating to watch. The entire crew is shockingly tactile, once you start looking, and their (infuriating) antics often seem to carry a subtle kind of comfort.
We’re here, it’s ok, everything is as it should be.
It’s clear in every hollered joke, every unselfconscious laugh (there are many), and every touch, even the ones that don’t seem like they should be reassuring.
Some of them, he gets easily. Chopper, much like his own Bepo, is fluffy and clearly takes comfort from contact, and everyone else on the crew gives it to him in their own ways – letting him sleep on them, lifting him up, or sitting patiently while he cares for their wounds. The cook and the swordsman spar, and there’s a familiar groove worn into the motions. Nami alternates between knocking heads together when needed and casually bumping shoulders with the others as they pass by. Nose-ya and Robo-ya sit across a tiny table from each other, knees touching, as they work on some complicated looking device.
Others are less obvious: Robin puts a gentle hand on someone’s shoulder as she passes behind them. Black Leg-ya is always casually reaching out to fix other people’s clothes, re-doing buttons, flipping down collars. Nami cuts everyone’s hair but it’s Usopp who twists hers into practical braids and elaborate updos.
Strawhat mostly just grabs people indiscriminately, hanging off of them to whine about something or pulling them over to show them a cool fish he just caught or yank them into a dance. Law’s been finding himself on the receiving end of this more and more often, and that was. Fine.
It’s just now, he’s on the receiving end of… it seems like everything.
Chopper is the first to pick up the captain’s lead, plopping down on the deck where Law is reading with his own heavy medical reference book, and leaning against his knee much in the same way he does with Zoro. But it doesn’t stop there. In fact, it seems to have opened some sort of flood gate.
Nami punches him in the arm, casually, as she passes him to scold Strawhat for knocking into something she was working on. Brook leans easily over him to get something out of a cabinet, elbows resting on his shoulders for just a moment.
Sanji knocks into him while putting a platter of rice balls on the table with the rest of lunch – it could be an accident, but the cook is too good a fighter, and too familiar with his own kitchen, not to be aware of exactly where he and everyone else is within it. Usopp, later the same afternoon, picks Law to cower briefly behind, fists clutching at his hoodie and shaking less than Law would have expected.
Franky enlists his help with changing some robotic component of his out, gently but firmly poking Law in the back repeatedly to demonstrate exactly where on his own body he’s talking about. Robin recommends a book to him, going so far as to take his hand and tuck his fingers around the volume.
Zoro, perhaps, is the strangest of all, because there isn’t even a reasonable excuse for them to start touching. The swordsman just casually reaches out to where Law is sitting on the bench on the lawn, talking with Robin about the book, ruffles his fingers through Law’s hair, and then settles down within easy reach on the ground and just… falls asleep.
Apparently this is some kind of signal (which is weird, because Law has seen the first mate asleep in the same place – and many different places – multiple times without the same effect but whatever) because soon others are wandering over. Chopper first, curled up in Zoro’s arms next to his swords in a way that doesn’t look that comfortable but apparently doesn’t bother the tiny doctor, because he’s also soon snoring. Luffy bounds up, excited, then catches sight of what’s going on and visibly changes mental tracks. He nods approvingly, whisper-shouts something about nap time, and – after an impulsive hug that encompasses both Law and Robin with one arm – is asleep shockingly quickly, head pillowed on his first mate’s thigh.
Usopp and Nami wander up, bickering quietly, and Franky follows after them hauling an enormous, fluffy blanket. A soft lullaby starts up from nearby, and Law twists to see Brook has fetched his violin and joined them.
Not everyone sleeps – Law and Robin read, Nami props herself up against Franky’s bulk and scratches industriously in a ledger, and Brook keeps up his aimless, quiet music – but the rest doze off in the sprawling cuddle puddle, which Law has ended up a part of thanks to Luffy’s wandering limbs.
It’s frankly exhausting, but also – and Law hates to admit this part – a little nice. He’s used to living in close quarters with his own crew, seeing as there isn’t a lot of free space on a submarine, and he’s surprised to discover how much he’s missed feeling enough at ease to casually touch others in passing. He’s surprised to realize that he trusts this crew, that their camaraderie is more infectious than he’d initially realized.
Law rests the book on his chest, and allows his head to fall back to rest on Luffy’s shoulder. He falls asleep, warm and surrounded by the weird crew that has apparently adopted him as their captain’s new pet project.
It’s more than fine.