Feline Prowess
Chapter One: Astray
Summary: Law thought he was going insane. Why? Because he was falling in love…with a cat.
Pairings: LawLu, MarcoAce
Warning: mild swearing, slight ooc. AU, mentions of witchcraft.
Disclaimer: I do not own the cats that live with me; they own me. And on that note, I do not own One Piece; One Piece owns me. XD
It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal… one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly.
-Theophile Gautier
Law was lonely.
Not that he'd ever admit that aloud. But he was. He found coming back to his empty house after a long shift at the hospital was starting to actually make him depressed. The silence never used to bother him before, and for most of his life he loved being alone. But now…Sachi had a girlfriend, as did Penguin, and it was all they ever talked about. His friend Kidd also had a lover – Killer was his name, if he remembered correctly – and Robin was out of the country with her fiance.
All of his friends had fallen in love.
And Law? Well...you could say he's always been in love with his work.
He gave a thick sigh as his house came into view. It wasn't anything special, just a one story house with an attic and basement. He didn't need a fancy house, he wasn't all that interested in showing off how much money he makes a year.
A stray raindrop managed to make its way under his umbrella, pulling him out of his thoughts. He stepped up to his front porch and pulled out his keys to unlock his door when he saw something move in the corner of his eye. Looking to the side, he noticed a thin black cat wearing a small straw hat that fit comfortably on its back. He blinked, not remembering seeing a cat in his neighborhood before. Especially one with a straw hat.
'It must be taking shelter from the rain,' he thought. He quietly walked over to the small creature and gently pet its damp fur. The cat itself looked quite healthy and Law thought that maybe, maybe adopting a cat wouldn't be such a bad idea. He liked felines, after all. Looking down at the shivering animal then back to his front door, he came to a silent decision.
He unlocked the door and set his umbrella off to the side before walking over to the small black creature that occupied his porch. He then scooped the animal up into his arms, not failing to miss how the deep sleeping cat nudged itself against his warm chest, and brought it into his house.
If the cat proved to be too wild, he could always just let it back out. But if happened to like where it was, well… The thought may have brought a smile to the surgeon's lips.
It was an hour later when the cat finally stirred from its deep sleep. Law watched with curiosity what the animal would do first. The cat's large dark brown eyes– wait, brown? Law wasn't an expert at cats, but he was pretty sure domestic cats eyes were limited to green, blue, yellow, and the occasional copper and pink. But no, these were dark brown eyes. 'How unusual…'
The next thing he noticed when the cat began to look around at its surroundings was that there was a small scar lining the fur beneath its left eye. It looked old, and Law wondered if it got the wound in a fight with another cat.
The thin animal suddenly got to its feet– er, paws, and began to look around at its environment quickly. The surgeon could see the cat's breathing begin to pick up and he got up from the couch to stand in the kitchen doorway. "Hey," he said in a quiet voice. The cat's eyes snapped to him immediately. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." The cat's eyes narrowed at that, and he pretended not to notice because if the cat did that then it was like it could actually understand what he was saying. "You were on my front porch. I brought you in because you were cold and wet."
He reached his hand out to let the animal sniff him, though he didn't know why. It wasn't like smelling a human was suddenly going to make the animal jump into his arms. Maybe he just wanted the cat to get used to his scent? Yeah, that was it. It wasn't because he was eager to pet the little fur-ball again, nope. Not at all.
The cat inched closer, its eyes darting up to him then back to his hand. It stretched its neck out until its nose was an inch away from his fingers, and it sniffed lightly. Its eyes flicked back to his face and it just stared at him. He stared back into its eyes and suddenly he couldn't but feel a little…awkward. He looked off to the side and apparently the cat seemed to like that response because instead of running to the door, it promptly sat. Law blinked. 'It…wants to stay?'
Elation. Law never thought an animal could give that to him. Without thinking he reached out and let his fingers caress the animal's black fur. It was so soft, and he heard warm purrs emanate from the cat. The corner of his lips twitched in slight amusement as the cat arched into his touch and Law swore he saw the cat give a smile.
But then the moment was ruined the second his fingers came in contact with the straw hat resting on the animal's back. The creature's eyes suddenly hardened, and it jumped away from his hand; letting out a small growl as its fur began to rise. Law was taken back by the sudden change, and he pulled his hand away incase the cat decided to try to claw him. "I see you're quite protective of that hat of yours," he mumbled. "Okay, then I won't touch it."
The cat opted to ignore him as it ran right past him and into the living room. It looked around in a curious manner before rushing off to another room. Law simply shook his head and gave a sigh. Maybe he wouldn't be able to keep this cat after all. If it had a straw hat on, then it was possible it already belonged to someone.
The cat returned a moment later and ran straight for the door, jumping and clawing for the doorknob. And the slight elation that Law felt for a moment quickly disappeared. He gave another quiet sigh and walked over to the door, opening it for the cat to leave. "See ya," he mumbled. The cat suddenly looked up at him and he couldn't help but give a sad smile. He would be alone again for another night.
The cat continued to stare into his eyes and then it looked back outside. It seemed to be thinking about something, what that something was though Law didn't know. The cat looked back to him once more before it did something Law didn't expect.
It backed away from the door, and pushed the door lightly with its paw.
Law furrowed his brows at the act. "You don't want to go outside?" To answer this, the cat pushed on the door again, and Law slowly closed it. Was the cat just testing him, to see if it could be given its freedom whenever it wanted? Law didn't know, but he did know that a small smile managed to slip onto his features. "Thank you," he said, and the cat looked surprised by the words.
"Now, I guess I should give you a name. I can't just call you cat." He stared at the cat before his eyes flickered to the hat on its back. "I'll call you Mugiwara-ya." As if understanding the English language, the cat looked at the hat on its back. "Are you hungry?"
And the answer he received…
Mugiwara's eyes suddenly went wide and he put all his focus on the human before him when he opened his mouth and let out a rather large meow. And another meow. Aaand another. He raised his paw and set it on Law's leg, meowing all the while. Law couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. "Okay, okay. Unfortunately I don't have any cat food right now, but I do have some fish if you–"
Meow! Meow! Meeoooow!
"I'll take that as a yes," he smiled, moving to the fridge to grab said food. Meow! Meeeooow! Mee– Law turned to see why one of the cat's meows had suddenly cut off. He blinked. Mugiwara apparently had the sudden urge to lick his tail, but was having a hard time getting ahold of it. This resulted in him 'chasing his tail' around the kitchen floor.
Law chuckled at the sight.
He only had Mugiwara for ten minutes and yet he felt as if all his loneliness was suddenly gone.
A/N: Now, I know what you guys are going to say: YOU HAVE SO MANY STORIES YOU NEED TO UPDATE, WHY ARE YOU STARTING ANOTHER ONE?! I'm sorry, I can't help myself! DX Anyway, this is going to be under fifteen chapters, and I already have most of them planned out. They're not going to be overly long chapters, maybe a little longer than this one or about the same length.
Anyway, cover picture belongs to minland4099 on deviantart. Please review, guys! Please?
Your shy ice elemental,
~»roo the psycho«