New story here! I'm hoping this fic gets some attention since my other one still in progress is so sad that there's not much love for it, but that has nothing to do with this one. The romance is a little less than the drama, since it focuses mainly on Luffy, and being a slave is a busy life after all. Some angst involved, but not overwhelming. Enjoy~
Song listened to: This Is Me (The Greatest Showman). It actually fits with the story!
A slave boy with black hair walked back to the slaves quarters under the castle, his head down, exhausted. Luffy walked as quickly as he could without his cheap shoes making any noise. People didn't like noise in the castle, and especially when it came to the slaves working there. They were to be quiet and not speak to anyone, or they'd risk being hit or abused in some way, physical or otherwise.
Luffy, the slave with black hair, knew his way around the castle quite well. He had been here since he was four after all. All he could remember was working here. And he was good at it. He'd been trained to be this way. Some of the slaves were still children, who did light labor, like cooking or cleaning. They didn't do the difficult yard work, or serving the members of the royal family which usually ended up with verbal or physical abuse. Luffy was still young, and had proven to not be good at yard work or cleaning. So now his job was to serve as a messenger and deliverer.
It was a great deal of exercising, going around the castle. He was the only slave allowed to run, since they family like things to be quick. But he still kept quiet as he walked. There was no reason for running at the moment since it was the end of his shift and he would go to sleep for a few hours before he returned to his work.
Though Luffy was quite meek and always looked blank while he did his work, he was the life of the workforce after hours. He was the one who got away with sneaking food from the kitchen at night. He took so little, and the cooks never snitched on him since he brought them food as well. Luffy was loyal, but also mischievous. He'd be able to get the others to sing and laugh with him, making sure everyone went to bed happy. He didn't like seeing people sad, and he saw it quite a bit here. So he did his best to help the others to not be sad sometimes. Everyone looked forwards to Luffy's end of shift because he was the one to cheer everyone up and get them all midnight snacks.
He reached the cellar door and crawled through the small entrance. There were multiple entrances around the castle to the underground. This one was the one only the children used, since it was cramped. Adults couldn't fit through there, and even though Luffy was sixteen, he was still very slight and could fit easily in there. It was also thanks to his size and knowledge of the castle that he could sneak through the right exits into the kitchen. No one would suspect someone climbing up the laundry shoot and into the hall near the kitchen. He loved sliding down it and enjoyed eating quite a bit. There were no large meals for the slaves. They were given the bare minimum, which was why most of them were relatively thin, besides the muscled ones who did the heavy labor. Luffy was skinny and short, and quite flexible and dainty. He was everyone's favorite.
But that night, Luffy wasn't feeling well. He hadnt felt well all day, but he continued his work like usual. Slaves werent allowed to fall ill. So he suffered in silence. Everyone were concerned when Luffy arrived and went straight to bed. He fell asleep quickly. The others weren't angry with him since they didn't get their food. They could tell Luffy didn't feel well, and gave him space. Literally.
Everyone slept as far from Luffy as they could. They couldn't risk all of them falling ill. The doctor of the slaves would check him over tomorrow. For now, he gave everyone a face mask. They were made of cheap fabric and string, but they had been washed and were reusable. No one resisted and slept the rest of the night with the masks on.
When Luffy awoke, he was sweating quite a bit. His head and throat hurt. But he had to get to work, so he stood up, but his legs were shaky. This wasn't good. His job was to run everywhere. If he was unable to even stand…
Luffy had to sit back down and his throat was on fire. Everyone was waking up, and he was saddened and felt guilty for being the reason all the slaves had masks on. The doctor sat up and walked to Luffy, and told him he was going to check him over. Luffy nodded grudgingly. He didn't want to be sick. He had already taken his once a year sick day to care for one of the children who had fallen ill. He wasn't sure what to do.
The doctor asked him to open his mouth multiple times and took his temperature with the cheap thermometer the slaves were given. 102 degrees fahrenheit. The doctor came to a conclusion:
"You have something called strep throat. You cannot work today. It is very contagious and you need bed rest," the doctor said slowly, trying to drill into Luffy's head that it would be bad to work around the royal family. "If you get one of the masters sick, it will not be good, Luffy. You must not work today. Especially don't touch any food you are not about to eat."
"But I already took my sick day! I have to work!" Luffy said, panicking.
"You have a fever! You cannot run or you will make it worse! Do as I say as your doctor," the man said harshly. Luffy was a stubborn boy, but he needed to know.
"I will get in trouble if I skip my messaging," Luffy said sadly. He had never been hurt before and he was scared to. He had always worked his job diligently and had never stepped out of line. Therefore, he had never been injured by the royal family. "Maybe I can ask Master if he will let me work outside today."
"Luffy, no! It is hot outside! It will make you sicker. Just stay in bed today. Understand?!" the doctor shouted at him. Luffy was too stubborn for his own good when it didn't come to work duties.
"I don't want to be hit!" the boy shouted fearfully. "I don't want to make them mad!"
"Sobeit. I will take you to Master and explain to him what is going on. He will no doubt let you go if you tell him you could be contagious. Put this mask on now," he said curtly. It was days like this that he despised being a slave. Everyone didn't like it, but it was never going to change, so they accepted it. But the doctor was unable to help his patients most of the time because they had to work. Luffy nodded. Maybe Master would let him off since he'd never been sick before.
The walk through the tunnels was hard for Luffy today. He was exhausted and felt horrible and clammy. His body obviously wanted to sleep, but he knew he had to work. He had to be supported by the doctor, who was shorter and older than him. None of the slaves were very heavy, but the old doctor was still having trouble practically carrying poor Luffy.
The walk was long and laborious for both, and when they exited the hatch in the hallway where Master's den was that he worked at in the morning and spent most of the time in. No one knew what he did in there all day. The doctor knocked on the door and waited for the okay to open it. When the door did open, both he and Luffy got on their knees and bowed.
"What do you want? Why aren't you working?" Master demanded curtly. He recognized both of the slaves, but no one knew the slaves' names except each other. The two were "doctor" and "messenger".
"The messenger has fallen very ill. His sickness is quite contagious, so I would be grateful for you to pardon him for today and tomorrow and allow bedrest," the doctor explained, both still bowing their heads on the ground.
Master thought for a moment. He knew if the messenger boy got someone else sick, it would be justifiable to kill him, but he was good at his job and followed orders (that he knew of) well.
"Very well. He has two days bedrest, but once he is back to being healthy, he had double shifts. Understood?" the man said. The doctor thanked him very much and escorted Luffy back to the door leading down and put him in bed, having him still keep the mask on as he slept. The doctor hoped two days would be enough. But Luffy had never gotten sick before, so hopefully his immune system would give him a break and help him become well again quicker.
Zoro walked down the halls, very bored with life, when he saw the messenger boy being helped to the cellar door. He had red cheeks and was obviously very sweaty and out of it. Zoro almost went over to ask them if he was alright, but they were slaves, and that would be wrong. It was bad enough he already had a crush on him.
Luffy was in bed rest for the two days he was given, fed plain chicken soup that the cooking children made carefully and lovingly for him. They wanted him back on his feet for both him, and then fun he gave them. The two nights were very plain for everyone. They constantly checked on him, masks still on and mittens on when they touched him. They wanted to avoid a breakout of illness as best as they could. They knew Luffy felt bad about it, but they waved off his apologies. He'd never gotten sick before after all.
The morning he had to work again, he knew it'd be a long day. He'd work during the night as well, though he didn't know if there was anything to do, or if being sleep deprived was just his punishment. Oh well. He'd do it without a word, not wanting to get injured.
He dressed in their uniforms, which were coarse purple clothes that were itchy. Only the special slaves were given other clothes. The laborers wore sleeveless shirts and shorts. The family didn't want them to stop working due to heat stroke. Luffy was given a sleeveless shirt as well, though it had the gold pattern across the garment like the others. He wore tight shorts, those purple and designed as well. He forgoed shoes most of the time. They were loud as they clicked on the tile and carpet. So he tied them to his belt loops as he ran. They were cheap slip on shoes, so they werent an inconvenience.
The thing he hated dressing in the most was the choker wrapped around everyones' necks. It was leather with a string running through it. When they did something wrong, the string was pulled, which tightened the leather around their necks, choking them as the first type of punishment. Luffy had never even had that happen to him, thankfully.
He crawled through the tunnel and exited near the dining room, heading for his first stop. The second he reached the Master's den, Luffy bowed and asked respectfully, "Anything to deliver or retrieve, Master?"
Master simply told him to go get Zoro for him. He didn't elaborate and Luffy didn't ask. "As you wish," Luffy replied and ran away and up a flight of stairs. He never tired of his work. He was used to it from years of doing it everyday as long as the royal family was awake. He was glad Young Master didn't make him stay up until early morning.
He reached the hall with all of the bedrooms and sped down and to the first large door occupying the quarters. He knocked quietly on the door, but loud enough for him to hear him. The door opened slowly and Luffy bowed. Zoro said nothing.
"Master wants to see you, Young Master," Luffy told him respectfully. "Do you have anything to deliver or retrieve?"
"No. I'll be there soon. Are you still sick?" Zoro asked, trying to keep the concern out of his voice. He was glad Luffy bowed the whole time he spoke and couldn't see Zoro's red face when he saw him.
"I am no longer ill. I apologize for not working for the two days," he said. Luffy was slightly surprised that the young master had asked him something personally, but the slaves knew they had to answer any question asked of them.
"That's good," Zoro replied. "You are dismissed." Luffy thanked him and ran down the hall the the Mistress' room. She was no doubt prettying herself. She usually liked him to bring her wine in the morning. It was every day she asked this.
He knocked the door just as loud as he had for Zoro's, who was discreetly watching the boy from his room. Luffy heard the woman tell him to enter. Again, he bowed respectfully. "Do you have anything for me to deliver or retrieve?" He already knew what she was going to ask.
She replied as she was at her vanity table putting makeup on. "Wine," the Mistress said simply. Luffy bowed deeper before he ran out, even though she never looked. He could make disrespectful faces to her and she wouldn't even notice. Not that he did or would do such a thing.
As soon as Luffy ran back the way he came, Zoro pulled his head back into his room and he watched as Luffy zoomed past to the stairway and to the kitchen.
Zoro wished Luffy wasn't a slave. Then he could actually talk to the messenger. He knew it was wrong to like him as he did, but he couldn't help it. Luffy was respectful, good looking and had a nice laugh and smile. He knew Luffy was a cheerful person when he wasn't working.
When he was younger, Zoro had explored the slaves' tunnels and watched in secret as the messenger was the life of the party and has a nice laugh and blindingly bright smile. That was when he first started liking him. He'd never had a real conversation with the boy, but oh, how he wanted to. So Zoro had had a crush on him for over five years, but was never brave enough to do anything about it.
Zoro was never around happy people in the castle. And he was only allowed basic communication with certain slaves or he'd be reprimanded. Luffy was the only slave to speak in short conversations with those other than his fellow slaves.
The day was a long one for Luffy. He knew tonight wouldn't relieve him of stress by sleeping, and wasn't looking forward to it. He knew what he had to do to stay awake and only hoped he wasn't caught. He had seen many drinking coffee, and was told by another slave that the hot brown liquid was what people drank to stay awake. Last night, he'd asked the cook children to walk him through the process. They all were against him doing such a thing, but Luffy told them he would be fine and hide in the big washroom while he drank it.
Even when everyone was asleep, Luffy ran from room to room in case anyone woke up and they wanted something. He hoped nobody came accustomed to his night time shift.
It was midnight when he finally approached the kitchen. He only kept one light on, and it was dim. He went through the motions he was told of to make the drink. Once he did, he decided he didn't want to go into the bathroom and instead sat behind one of the massive dinner tables on the floor in the dark.
The drink was disgusting to him, but he had already started to fall asleep and had many more hours to work that night. He had to stay awake and competent to do his job. He hadnt heard or seen another walk into the dark room.
Zoro was hungry and walked through the dark castle and down the stairs towards the kitchen. He was surprised to see the light was on and he could hear a strange sound. He stood there watching for a moment. When he saw the mess of black hair, he knew it was the messenger boy. He was brave to enter the kitchen without permission.
He watched as Luffy went to the table and sat down on the floor behind it out of view of the door. He heard a quiet disgusted sound, and then the boy was silent. Zoro could smell the strong scent of hard coffee waft from the kitchen. If Luffy was up this late, then it made sense for him to try and stay awake, for if he fell asleep on the job, he'd be in trouble. That bothered Zoro. He hated seeing the chokers on the slaves. It was cruel, but it was what it had always been to Zoro. He saw no way to stop it with his father already disappointed in him.
Zoro knew this was the only time he'd be able to talk to Luffy freely without risking being seen by unwelcome eyes. He approached the kid and spoke.
"You are awfully brave to cook after hours," Zoro said lightly. But apparently that was the wrong thing to do as Luffy jumped in surprise, accidently knocking the cup that still had some coffee in it on the floor. He gasped, terrified he'd be punished. He didn't think anyone would come to the kitchen this late. When he stole food every night, he did it quickly with no lights on. Why did he stay? Why didn't he go to the bathroom after all? Damn.
Luffy stood up and bowed to Zoro, breathing quickly. Zoro told him he wouldn't hurt him.
"I apologize for making a mess. I will return shortly," he said and sprinted away to the broom closet near the kitchen. He returned with a mop and some water, though the spill was small. He then wringed the mop and emptied the bucket down the sink, retrieving a washcloth from the closet and wiped the water up, the spill now gone. He bowed again.
"Why are you awake?" Zoro asked curiously, his face pink. He was finally talking to him!
"Sleep deprivation is my punishment for the two days I was absent." Zoro frowned at this. He didn't like the ways his dad did things. Luffy was a diligent and loyal worker and shouldn't have been punished in any way for something he could not control.
"Is being a slave awful?" Zoro asked. Luffy shook his head untruthfully.
"It is a great honor to serve a royal family," he said immediately. It was obviously something he had to say. He wasn't allowed to speak badly of his owners. Well, in front of them. The slaves bashed them as much as they wanted after the long days of working for them.
Zoro sighed. "Did you eat enough dinner today?" he questioned. Luffy needed to eat if he had to stay up so incredibly long. Luffy told him he was fine but his stomach rumbled and told Zoro differently.
"Pardon me," Luffy said, thoroughly embarrassed. He had not counted on this. Both being caught and being spoken openly to.
"I will make you something to eat," Zoro said, though he wasn't very good at cooking.
"I am fine. There is no reason to sully your hands to make me food. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I just need to stay awake for tonight. I won't return here without permission."
"I will make you food if I want to," Zoro said. Luffy shook. This wasn't going well. He was going to be hit. Oh, how stupid he was to do this! "What is your real name?" Zoro asked as he pretended to cook, but only got a box of cornflakes and some milk in a bowl. He brought the food back to Luffy, who was sitting at the table stiffly, with a cup of water. Luffy stared at the bowl for a moment.
"My name is Luffy," he answered. He still didn't touch the food. He couldn't grasp why Zoro was being kind to him. Slaves are not worth kindness. Well, that's what Luffy had been taught.
"Eat," Zoro commanded shortly.
"Yes, Young Master," Luffy said quickly, picking up the spoon and neatly eating. He knew Zoro would be offended of his usual eating habits he used in private.
Zoro frowned. He didn't like how nervous his crush was acting. But he couldn't be surprised based on how the slaves were treated. "You can call me Zoro."
Luffy froze. Was this a test? He'd gotten caught breaking rules. What was the right answer here? "Master would not like that," he replied, hoping that was the right thing to say. He was very uncomfortable and wished to do what he did everyday. He wanted to run.
"I am a master, too. I want for you to call me by my name."
"Yes, Zoro," Luffy said nervously. He finished the simple meal and carefully drank the milk from the bowl. He was rarely able to eat good food unless it was the mastrers' scraps, and didn't want to waste anything a master had made for him. He got up slowly and walked back into the kitchen to clean the dishes and silverware he had used.
When he came out, he just wanted to flee already. He was increasingly worried while Zoro was in the room, though it seemed like it should be the other way. "I must get back to my work," Luffy said and bowed, then ran from the room like the plague. Zoro frowned. He had wished Luffy would relax around him, but he seemed to have made it worse. Crap.
He moped back to his room, seeing Luffy zoom by once, but he didn't know Zoro was there. He had finally spoken to him, and Luffy seemed to have been uncomfortable with that. Zoro knew Luffy had been here almost his whole life, and yet he'd never really spoken to him. He knew Luffy had rules and do's and don'ts drilled into his mind. Zoro's actions had no doubt confused him. He sighed.
Ta da! I hope it's a good start. The last two chapters are soooo dramatic and suspenseful, so hang in until then! Gonna be 7 chapters and around 26,000 words since, like usual, I like writing longer fics.