Sitting in an empty train at 7 in the morning, with the sun just barely peeking through the windows and the rays of light falling on your half-lidded and tired eyes sounds as much fun as it is. Not very much.
It was nothing short a familiar, daily routine, and while it was boring sitting here waiting for the right stop, he'd still take it over class time. At the very least he could sit and think looking out into the scenery, with the sound of the wheels turning on the tracks and the handles on the roofs clanking ever so often. Maybe even idle chatter of the other passengers, to which he'd listen in on the conversation because he had nothing else to do.
It was, in fact, quite so boring and quite so peaceful he has fallen asleep here on multitudes of occasions. Which was no surprise. He was asleep half the time in his classes.
Even right now he could feel the weight of his eyelids becoming too much for him and the drifting in and out of a dream like state was starting to have longer and longer intervals.
But, before he finally slipped into his deep trance that is called sleep, the train stopped almost suddenly and Luffy, the student who will most likely going to be late for his classes, was thrown sideways onto the seat. He was glad the seats were somewhat cushioned so he didn't slam his head into the couch equivalent of a brick.
He groggily got back up, as if he was awoken from a five hour sleep, when really it was five seconds, and looked around.
There was nothing around, except for maybe other confused and thrown sideways passengers, and since he wasn't sitting near the front there wasn't much way to tell if something was in the way of the tracks. Maybe a wheel popped off? Something malfunctioned in the controls? What was the sudden stop for?
Luffy wasn't so sleepy anymore, and quite curious to the happenings at the moment. He wasn't so sure though, how to find the answer.
He didn't really have to look far for too long, as the door to the car opened in front of him. In all the years he's ever seen a train car door slide open, this had to be the most unexplainably exciting door opening yet. He could almost be considered awestruck, before he caught himself being overtly enthusiastic over a simple car door opening.
Still, it was quite cool how it seemed mist or fog flowed through the crack of the opening. It was clear as all day out there, and yet this mystery steam made this all the more weird. Made Luffy all the more curious.
Through the fog, a single man stepped in. Quite a bit tall in comparison to him, Luffy observed, and wearing a strange spotted hat. Those were the first two telling details of this strange mystery person who, as evident by the train door closing right as he entered, was the only new passenger to board.
The biggests mystery that struck Luffy though was that… he seemed familiar. He felt like paying no mind to it, as he had a clusterfuck of other things he could dwell on, but it had to tug at his curiosity once again. The way he sat in his seat, the color of that very soft looking hair, that sharp, not deadly but still dangerous look in his eye. His glare directed towards everything, and the young student could swear that he saw some sort of sword or sheath of a blade.
The mystery person shot a glance at Luffy, and met eye contact. The other's eyes were hard to read from the distance, but his face softened ever so slightly at the shared stare. Maybe that was just Luffy's imagination playing yet another trick on him. It does that a lot.
This weird occurrence was finally laid to rest the continuation of the travel. No more mystery people, no more stolen glances. But, a lot of questions that will probably stay unanswered.
The young student had thought he had seen the last of that mystery man on the train that day.
A week went by in a slow flash, as everything else did in Luffy's life, and he was just about ready to give up and clear out the guy from his brain space. No use thinking about questions and dwelling on it when there was clearly no point in it. It was a one time thing.
Or so he thought.
He was at the station for the train to go home. A long, treacherously boring day like any other, and he was ready to up and bolt it home, get whatever work needed to be done, and then wander around aimlessly. He's been doing that for a little while now, just to finally get out again like how he used to.
As he was waiting for the train to pull up, he casually glanced around at all the people. It was for no particular reason, but then he stops and his gaze locks onto one person.
It was the mystery person! Right there, standing amongst the light probably-should-not-really-be-considered-one crowd.
His first initial thought would simply be to rush up to him bombarding the poor guy with questions, but that would be terribly rude. Plus, also probably weird if the dude would catch on he's been holding those questions for a week, like he was obsessed with him. It wasn't like Luffy to make seconds thoughts, or thoughts in general, but truly, he just didn't want to screw this up. It'd be a chance sorely missed if the mystery person up and walked away because he was weirded out or put off. He didn't seem like the guy who'd like Luffy's very outgoing and eccentric personality.
But, Luffy was pulled out of his train of thought, as an actual one rolled up, doors open for the crowd to enter in.
He tried as subtlety as he could to follow right behind the mystery guy into the car, but either didn't put enough of an effort in, or he was really perceptive, because he simply glanced at Luffy. Nothing that showed ill intent or any kind of feeling really, but still caught the student off guard.
He stumbled forward into the train, looking here and there to find the mystery person and possibly catch a seat next to him. Very obvious, but the other seemed to notice Luffy's game already, so it didn't matter anymore.
Luffy suppressed an urge to smirk as a small space between the mystery person and the wall was open. He was glad he had such a small flexible stature.
He sat down in the space, trying to be as innocuous as possible and probably failing. It was a slightly tight fit, but it was nothing compared to a full, bustling, and hot train car with no space for his, anything really. If anything, this fit was nice and snugly. Even if he was with a "complete" (once again, the dude had familiarity vibes) stranger, there was clearly no threat towards the student directly, and felt kinda safe.
For as much as he felt comfortable and safe though, he could very clearly tell the thick awkwardness that hung in the small space between them.
No matter, if he wanted to talk he'd just talk. He'd disregard any signs of discomfort and backstepping out of the confrontation and talk like he always did. Be oblivious and talkative and, as many people put it, annoying. It should be simple. It was simple.
Though, as he sort through how not to royally screw this up, he took this as a chance to study the other's features more up close.
He almost regretted letting his gaze fall upon this man, this close. Luffy could tell straight away he would not be able to pry his eyes away even if he tried his damndest. Because really, if he hadn't known better he'd have thought this mystery dude was sent from heaven itself. Irrefutable proof angels really exist.
Despite trying to make his eyes look like they've seen the pits of hell, Luffy saw right through it and to that golden gleam of pure shimmer. The coffee brown-almost-black hair complemented his eyes nicely, it looked even softer from here. He glanced towards his upper torso, near his shoulder blades, and could see what looked like black tattoos. They were on his fingers too, which he noticed earlier, but couldn't read what they said until now. The word didn't deter him at all, and subtly made him all the more curious of this strikingly attractive mystery man.
Only until he realized he described said mystery man with attractive did he have the will to pry his oogling eyes away from it's target.
He also came to realize, it did nothing to help his helpless situation, and made him backtrack a good mile or two. Didn't conjure up an opening phrase or sentence, and a wandering mind wanting to steal another peak at the body that was pressed right against his side. Sometimes he truly wished his mind wasn't a scattered about mess, even if wished just for a split second.
But, Luffy was no fool nor a coward, and so just decided, screw it. When has he ever taken the time to care about first impressions? He should just jump right in.
"Yo, I'm Luffy. You look weird, but like, good weird? Like weird in a good way! I may or may not cannot be talking according to some people I know, but anyway, mystery guy, what's your name?"
Simple. That was simple. Right?
The taller of the two men turned to look at Luffy, an unreadable expression locked onto his face. Even his eyes, which were a calm, honey like shine just a few moments ago, suddenly changed with a look at the (presumably) younger male. It was weird though because, Luffy was usually so good at reading expressions.
Luffy shifted in the stiff time frame that the mystery guy's eyes lingered and traced his admittedly slender frame. He tried to smile, he really did, but all that he was sure that radiated off of him was 'oh shit, I said something wrong. This dude isn't gonna spill his beans to me now.' He also tried to keep that feeling in check because if the cause of this feeling in the first place picked up on it, there was no doubt he'd turn his head back around and continue with his blank stare.
He didn't do that though, and instead very slightly smirked and said, "well, thanks for the backhanded compliment first off. Second off, the name's Trafalgar D. Water Law. Yes, it is a lot, but you can just call me Law."
Luffy just blinked up at him, in what would probably be considered shock. He regained his form though, and smiled once again, but this time it was much easier and not forced.
"That's a cool name! Traf- hm, Trafl-Trafallll… Torao," Luffy stuttered shamelessly.
Law sighed, but it was not an exasperated sigh. It was almost content, and yet again, somewhat familiar. It was a breathy output of happy air, as telling by the smirk that graced his lips once again, like he knew it was going to happen. Or, something like that. It didn't matter how cool of a name Law had, he was still mysterious. Luffy guessed it would always be that way, just on a hunch.
"You know," Law started, "I did say you could just call me Law…"
Luffy shook his head playfully. "Nah, Torao sounds way better. Your name is cool, but what does it do if all I can spit out is a nickname? It's now mine for the taking though, I have a feeling nobody else has thought of it!"
The other snirked. "Yea, and you'd be right. I don't think I've ever heard anyone besides you use that."
For some reason, Luffy felt good about that. Torao was now special, despite it just being a butchered version of a name, but damn did it feel good saying it. The name rolled off his tongue like a smooth wave, and hell he had to give himself some cred, it was an adorable name for an already adorable person. He was glad he came up with Torao. Law didn't directly object to it either, and even if he did, it was in the student's nature to override objecting statements purely for his own enjoyment. Unless it hurt a person, but clearly it wasn't hurting his new acquaintance.
Law, unfortunately, dropped his smirk though, as the train pulled up to his stop and the clanking of the train slowed down.
He stood up from his seat, looking somehow even taller than before, Luffy being directly under him, and then turned back to look at said shorter boy. Only the faintest of glances was shot towards the car door as it opened, not as mystically as last time, before Law just waved to Luffy. A soft gesture that solidified their connection.
"Seeya Stra-... Luffy-ya," was all Law said, and he stepped outside and the car door closed.
Luffy was left feeling the phantom pressure of a person right beside him, and the cutoff voice of a person who almost said something he shouldn't have been able to know.