Breach of Contract.
"You're joking." Law curled his lips, forcing a smile out of his face that was so, so close to crying. He pointed at the person who had just came through the door: the person he had to marry, the child of the couple whom his parents had worked with to build the most advanced White City, the city with no ailments; the city of immortality.
"Please, tell me you're joking." He turned to his lawyer, still pointing at his future spouse. That was what his parents had left on their will. Because while they believed Law was a prodigy in the field of Medicine, they also believed he had a horrible habit in taking care of himself, so they entrusted him to their most trusted partners, and if they had also passed, their child, which so happened to be the biggest pain in the ass Law had ever met in his life.
There was no way he was marrying Eustass Kid.
Law returned defeated, head down in thoughts and processes. Abiding the contract was one mean to an end, admittedly the quickest, but it wasn't the only way. He would just have to carve his way into the White City like everybody else, he supposed. Blood, sweat, and tears.
He straightened his posture like a king once he opened the door he had travelled for, knocking on the rectangular glass plane above the door knob as he stepped in.
"Law!" The man sitting on the bed perked up like a little puppy smelling a treat. It had always surprised Law how youthful his guardian had stayed after two decades of raising a problem child such as he was. Rocinante, or who he had gotten used to calling Cora-san, never seemed to have aged a day since the first time they met.
Law took the wheeled stool by the bedside, rolling his way closer with the best smile he could reflect Rocinante's, which, to be honest, was hardly befitting of any comparison. Law just couldn't smile as truthfully as him. His heart never felt like it.
"How are you doing?" He asked, laying his hand close to the bandaged hands. It was burnt, first degree, because Rocinante wanted to make pudding for evening's dessert; only one of the many reasons Law couldn't fully outgrow him. Rocinante was ageless, sweet and adorable. It was definitely strange how Law had to use such words on a going-fourty guy, but it was nothing less than the truth.
"I'm feeling great!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! Look, look. I even managed to finish this." Rocinante pulled out something from his sidetable, wiggling the demented-looking plush doll in orange over-alls on Law's face.
"What… is it?"
"It's a polar bear, can't you tell?"
He frowned at the doll now in his hands. It honestly just looked like a potato sack with random threading.
"No, no. I see it now. Here's the…" Law wrinkled his nose. "Are these the arms?"
"Those are ears!"
"Ears. Right." He chuckled, letting the doll walk over the blankets by lifting it by the "ears". "It's definitely a bear."
"I told you. And you pre-med biology."
Law laughed lightly. "I was overwhelmed for a sec."
"Do you like it?"
"Yes. Very. Can I have it?"
"Do I have any other child here that's obsessed with fur?" Rocinante smiled at him, patting his head as he always used to when Law was much younger. "I made it for you."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Rocinante smiled wider before leaning back to the stacked pillow pressed against the headboard. "So how did it go?"
"It was… good."
"Good?"
Law let out a sigh, the doll in his hand momentarily forgotten as the thoughts he'd had left before coming into the room flooded back. He definitely would've prefered to discussing it another time, but he would have to eventually. Sooner or later, he supposed. The song will remain the same.
He seated the doll by Rocinante's lap, leaning the soft body against the blanketed thighs. "I met the other person on the contract," he said, trying to smile a lot less bitterly than he was feeling.
"What happened?" The older man leaned forward, showing concern on his very form. There was something about it that amazed Law endlessly, how such a large, tall man look so fraile and fragile. His guardian was easily a head taller than him, and yet Law could not help but feel utterly protective of him. Rocinante, more than anything else, was Law's naked, beating heart on his sleeve.
"Were they terrible? Would they hurt you?"
"It was Eustass Kid."
"Eustass… the tall, freckled redhead?" Rocinante withdrew, wrinkling his nose. "Isn't he your boyfriend? Or am I remembering someone else again?"
"He was. We broke up."
"Oh. You didn't… tell me about that."
"I've been meaning to." Law threaded his fingers, chewing on his cheek.
There was silence afterward, Rocinante picking up the doll and playing with it idly as Law continued to stare into space. That was a chapter in his life that was filled with too much pain and regret.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, I'm fine."
What he said before was the truth: abiding the contract was not the only way, but it was the quickest. As much as Law hated to admit it, he was on a race against time and he was obviously losing, biting dust at the butt of the race. Law had thought he was prepared to lose everything, to meet the conditions whatever they may be, but marrying his ex-boyfriend apparently was on a different league entirely. He couldn't do it. Even if there was a small chance that their previous relationship could be brought back, Law couldn't do it. Not even for Cora-san.
"You can check me out of the hospital." Law lifted his head up, frowning at his guardian and showing his utter displease at the very mention of the thought. "I can work, Law."
"You can barely walk a meter on your own without hurting yourself."
"You think it doesn't hurt me that you're even considering marrying someone you don't know?" Rocinante scowled at him, voice rising. "Though in this case, someone you probably hate!"
"You can hardly feed yourself!"
"I sew you a bear!"
As if to emphasize his point, Rocinante shoved the monstrosity into his face.
Law coughed. He didn't know whether he should laugh or cry at that argument, but he relented. Law eased his body, brought his shoulders down, and breathed deep.
"I just… I can't see you in a wheelchair."
"Rather in bed all day? Really, Law. At least try to make a valid point."
He smiled bitterly, taking the potato sack from Rocinante's long fingers. "I'll figure something out."
"I've waited enough, Law. Get me out of this hospital."
"No."
"Get me out." The older man scowled. "I mean it, Law. Now."
"I said no!"
Rocinante straightened his back, leaning away from the headboard. "Law, get me out!"
"No! It's my fault you're in here and I'm not letting you come out the same state you came in!"
"That wasn't your fault!"
"It was!" Law stood up from his seat. "Now shut the hell up!"
Rocinante looked at him disappointed. Heartbroken. He didn't mean to say that.
"Cora-san, I…"
"I'm tired." Rocinante whispered, sliding back under the sheets as properly as he could, and turned his back on Law.
"I'll… come back tomorrow."
Law walked out with his head hanging low, feeling more defeated than before he came. He bit his lip as he brought the "polar bear" close to his face, taking a deep breath as he typed his ex-boyfriend's number into his cell.