Heartbeat
Summary: "What are you doing?" Luffy asked, amusement shining in his eyes. "I'm listening to your heartbeat," the surgeon whispered back.
Warnings: AU, ooc, swearing.
Law stared blankly ahead at the wall of his bedroom, his hands resting over his ears in an attempt to block out the yelling coming from the other room. But no matter how hard he pressed his palms into his ears, the sounds still managed to come through, and he was left with no peace or quiet. A quiet sigh escaped him and he closed his eyes, thinking of the different blood vessels in the human body to try to distract himself.
"Arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venues," he murmured, focusing on the words that left his mouth. "The three layers of the arteries and veins. Tunica intima, the thinnest layer. Tunica media is the thickest layer in the arteries." The sounds of the adults yelling began to seep through and break his concentration, and he squeezed his hands over his ears even harder. "Tunica ad…adven…" He clenched his teeth in frustration as he fought to keep his focus and find the word he was looking for. "Adven… Tunica adventitia. The thickest layer in veins."
"…on't give a damn about what you–"
"Fuck you, you selfish piece of–"
He brought his legs close to his chest and buried his face into his knees, pushing his hands over his ears so hard that his ears began to ache and his arms began to tremble with effort. "Focus, focus," he whispered. "The heart. The three layers of the heart are endocardium, middle myocardium, and outer epicardium."
"…ar to God, you better get out of–"
"…h, yeah, that's real rich coming from–"
"The resting heart rate of an adult ranges from sixty to a hundred beats per minute, and during exercise the rate can be one hundred-fifty with a maximum of reaching two hundred, to two hundred-twenty beats per minute." He took in a shuddering breath, letting the darkness of the night envelope his small form as he wished to be elsewhere; in a place that was far away from all the screaming and yelling, a place where the silence ruled and sound wasn't allowed.
"…ght, just keep drinking your vodka and–"
"Oh, is that what this about? Well fuck you and your habit of–"
"Focus on your heartbeat," Law whispered. "Focus on your heartbeat." But it was impossible for him to hear something that didn't exist. He was as his foster parents called him.
Heartless.
He shook the thoughts from his head, shook away the negativity. No, he had a heart; it was physically impossible for a human to live without one. But…could he honestly say he had a heart, despite the fact that it was an artificial one? He wondered why the doctors at the hospital gave him an artificial heart that didn't beat. It left him feeling empty inside knowing he'd never hear the sound of something so simple resonate within him. The sound of life itself was absent from his body. A broken laugh tore from his throat.
I guess I really am heartless.
Eighteen years later, Law found himself curled up on the couch with his boyfriend of a year, Luffy. They had turned the television off a while ago and simply chose to sit in the silence of the room, listening to the birds chirping outside the windows and the leaves rustling in the wind. Law gave a content sigh as he shifted in his spot into a better position. "Thank you," he murmured.
"It's nothing," Luffy said, giving a smile as he ran his hands through Law's dark blue hair. He loved how soft it felt against his skin. Despite the fact Luffy wasn't the biggest fan of silence, he knew Law loved it; craved it because he wasn't given much of it as a child. So whenever he felt the surgeon was having a stressful day, he'd shut off everything off and they'd just sit there together in the quiet.
Law pulled away, earning a confused look, before settling himself on Luffy's chest with his ear pressed against the teen's shirt. The golden light of the setting sun broke through the curtains hanging in the window, making everything it touched glow with an orange-ish tint. "What are you doing?" Luffy asked, amusement shining in his eyes.
"Listening to your heartbeat," Law whispered back. The teen's expression softened and he wrapped his arms around the surgeon's shoulders, holding him tightly to his chest. Law found he loved Luffy's heartbeat, it was unique, just the teen. Instead of a constant, rhythmic beat, it was an irregular pulse. Atrial fibrillation, in other words.
"I love you, Law," Luffy murmured. "I love every single thing about you. Even that artificial heart you don't seem to like very much."
Law hummed. He really didn't like the fake thing in his chest, it made him seem less human because it gave him no beat. It made him heartless. It still haunted the back of his mind, but with Luffy…with Luffy around, everything seemed so perfect now. He snuggled closer to the teen and gave one more content sigh as he slowly let his eyes close in serenity.
"I love you, too, Luffy-ya."
A/N: I know Luffy calls Law 'Torao', but I have a headcanon where Luffy calls Law by his first name when it's a serious situation or he's trying to get a point across. :] So yeah. I don't know. Hope this was…alright. Blah. They really are in the process of making a artificial heart that has no beat. (In fact, I think it's already been made.)
Your shy ice elemental,
~»roo the psycho«