Tea'sing All The Way Through

by Defenestrated-Nutter

The coffee shop that had become Law's second home just closed and he was forced to find another one to survive. In between all the madness that is college, he found himself tangled with his barista's personal life, his dog and his really bad food puns as if he didn't have enough of his own problems already. Au. Lawlu. Slow-built.

1. Chapter 1

Hey there guys! So, I've been reading fanfics for nearly four years now and it felt like a good damn time to start giving something to the community as well. So, yeah, here it is I guess, my very first attempt to write a fanfic. Hopefully, it's something reasonable.

This story happens in an alternate universe, so the characters have normal lives and there are no superpowers. It is Rated M as further chapters will contain things like character's death, self-mutilation, and somewhat depression, so read at your own risk and be warned.

I don't own anything related to One Piece aside from this fic and probably a few more in the future, we'll see. Also, please be warned that English is not my first language, so there will be a few mistakes, although I will do my best for them not to happen.

And without further rambling, I hope you enjoy this first chapter ^^

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The day Law discovered his new favorite coffee shop was a day just like the others. The sky was a bit cloudy and the sun was already out of sight. He was making his way towards his apartment building and decided to make a shortcut that ended up not being a shortcut at all. He grabbed his phone to know where the hell he was before he could get even more lost as if the three years since he moved and started his current college life weren't enough for him to get fully adapted to the town and he still got lost more often than not. That was basically because he was only on his own apartment, at college, or inside the coffee shop that had welcomed him since the beginning and he never actually decided to go for a walk, to go explore on his own his surroundings.

Well, that was until that same coffee shop decided to close and made Law walk around town to find a new spot with free WiFi and a coffee strong enough to have an actual effect on him. And goddammit, wasn't that just an impossible task.

Every coffee shop he entered had some sort of problem. The coffee was bad, the place was loud. The baristas were annoying. The place sucked. The internet was shit. Every single one had to have at least one of these flaws, if not more. It was probably Law's problem more than anything else, but it wasn't like it was his fault he had high standards when it came to coffee shops, he was used to be a regular customer at one of the best ones in town after all.

So yeah, the day Law discovered his new favorite coffee shop was a day just like the others, and it was totally unintentional too. The moment he found out he was on Cocoyashi Street was also the moment his phone warned him about a nearby WiFi network named Bell-mere. He looked around, hoping for it to belong to a coffee shop and there it was, right in front of him. From the outside, it didn't look like a coffee shop at all, and Law was sure that if it wasn't for the WiFi warning he would've, for certain, walked right past it without acknowledging the place was even there. He decided to give the place a shot, after all, it couldn't be that loud or crowded since most people probably don't even know it's there. And he also needed a coffee, badly.

When he opens the door, a small bell jingles just above him, causing everyone sitting inside to look at him. And well, that's actually a good amount of people he's talking about, considering Law was expecting a small and deserted place. He walks towards the counter where only a man was in front of him in line, being served by a young red-haired woman not older than Law himself. The woman smiles politely and gives the man his order before looking at him with an expectant and curious look as if trying to remember if this was the first time Law has come in or not.

Law orders just an espresso, the strongest she can manage to make, and asks for the wifi's password. She looks at him funny, then looks at the bag hanging from Law's left shoulder and snorts before turning around to make his order. When she turns around again, she hands him his coffee, along with a small yellow piece of paper with the password written on it, and takes the money avidly.

He nods and walks towards the corner where he gets himself installed. From his place, he has the perfect view of the street where he was just a few minutes ago, but he doubts he will be looking through it much. He grabs his computer from his bag and places it on top of the dark wooden table, connecting it to the plug he saw when he was still by the counter, just in the wall behind him. Law can sense the woman still staring at him, but he forces himself to not look back at her with one of his glares. For the first time since he started looking for a new coffee shop, he had actually found one that he more or less enjoys, so he doesn't want to start the relationship with the barista -that he's sure is more than just a regular barista, she has attitude- on the wrong foot right on the first day and before he even tastes the coffee.

As it turns out, the coffee is good, if not way better than the one he was used to order just a few weeks ago, so he calls that accident a win. And that was how Law discovered his new favorite coffee shop where he will spend most of his free time, cry out of frustration and stress when he needs to work his ass off for college, spend most of his money in coffee, and probably lose a lot of years of life while doing so.

Law officially becomes a regular after two weeks of going there every single day and after staying in the corner for a good couple of hours straight, his eyes glued to his computer's screen and surrounded by a pile of papers and books. He finds out that the red-haired woman is named Nami on a day where he was unusually chatty and she had no more customers to attend, and ever since then she does her best to chitchat with him whenever he approaches to order. That never lasts long though, as he grabs his coffee mug and basically sprints to his table in the first chance he has. Luckily for him, she never tried to initiate a conversation with him after he's settled down, quickly losing interest on him. Once or twice, she tried to sell one of the baked goods on display, stating they were made by her sister and the best in town. And damn, didn't they look good and mouthwatering, with bright colors and funny shapes. After that, he caught the habit of always telling her they look good whenever he sees a new variety on display, which is basically every day if he's being honest, but never actually buys one, much to Nami's dismay.

"My sister likes to experiment new things," Nami had said once when she caught Law staring at one very good looking muffin. He didn't buy it though, and the change of Nami's polite smile to a sulk was totally worth it.

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On the Monday of the third week, it was raining heavily and Law got soaked to the bones the second he walked out of his class. He didn't bring an umbrella in the morning, mostly because he doesn't exactly own a proper one that actually covers at least half of his body and he didn't have enough time to buy one on his way to college, as he was already running too late.

He opens the Bell-mere's door, the bell jingling above him, and goes directly to his table before ordering. He opens his bag and takes everything out, hoping his computer is still working properly and his books still dry. He's lucky, and couldn't thank the gods mentally more even if he tried to. He puts his bag in the back of the chair, adjacent to the one where he usually seats, to see if it dries a bit before he has to leave and then makes his way to the counter. It's only when he gets there that he sees that Nami and her judging expressions badly hidden behind her polite smile isn't anywhere to be seen. Instead, there is a guy on the other side of the counter, looking at him funny, and not in a Nami-kind-of-funny-stare that she used to have when he first entered through the Bell-mere's door. No, his funny stare is way different, as if he's trying hard not to burst up laughing right in Law's face and be polite and welcoming at the same time. Law has never seen the guy there before, hell he has never seen anyone taking orders other than Nami before. He wonders if the guy's new, or if perhaps he's just covering Nami's shift, or if he was on vacation.

Law tells him his order, his voice rough due to the bad weather, the cold and the unexpected bath, but he decides to ignore it. He puts the money on top of the counter and waits for the guy to finish his coffee. He wishes the baristas there wore name tags, like everywhere else, so he could know to whom he's referring to mentally. Maybe he should tell that to Nami the next time he catches her working since he already knows she and her sister own the place. He wonders why she decided to not use name tags, she seems smart so she probably has a reason for it.

Law stares at the guy's back as he does his order. He seems experienced with the machines so Law isn't too worried about his coffee tasting differently than the one Nami does. When he turns around, he hands Law his coffee with a big toothy grin that makes his face bright weirdly and then grabs the money from the counter. Law turns around, coffee in his hand, and almost trips in the puddle he made while waiting.

"Would you like a towel or something to dry off?" The guy asks. His voice so high pitched that Law's surprised when that actually doesn't annoy him as much as it usually does, but the way he clears his throat right after tells Law that not his usual tone of voice

"Yeah, if you might," Law mumbles and glares at the water under his feet. "Sorry about the puddle," he adds and scratches the back of his neck when he turns around and sees the trail of muddy footprints that goes from the door to the table and then to where he's standing. "And the trail"

"Don't worry about it. Go sit and I will bring you a towel in a minute." The guy says and disappears into the door that Law supposes leads to the kitchen area since he has seen Nami bringing the baked goods from there whenever a variety is out on display. Law does what it is told and goes sit, he's careful not to make any more mess than what he has done already. He's also thankful for the fact Nami isn't there to give him a lecture and make him clean everything. Law takes off his soaked hat and hangs it near his bag, as for his coat, he puts it in the back of his chair. His hair is dripping wet, wetting his sweater that managed to remain dry due to the coat's protection.

The guy comes back then, stares at Law's messy and wet hair for a bit before handing him a small towel and turning around to start cleaning the floor with a mop. Law would've felt bad for him, if it wasn't for the smirk splashed across the kid's face as he cleans the mess, obviously amused by Law current state. He talks to a few people while he cleans, the shop being more crowded than usual. The figure of some of them resembles Law's, small towel on top of their shoulders and all, even though Law's sure he looks a lot worse. He wonders how many times the kid had to clean the floor that day, how many times that floor has seen a muddy foot trail.

When the guy returns to his place behind the counter, he catches Law staring at him and returns it with a lopsided smile. Law gets caught off guard and decides that it's time to get his work done, quickly redirecting his stare from the guy to the computer's screen in front of him. He has an important essay that he still needs to finish and to revise, so that's what he does. He sits there, in his peaceful corner, occasionally looking at the rain that hits the big window next to him, the noise it makes being surprisingly relaxing and helping him get focused. He avoids looking in the guy's direction every time he hears the bell tingle and, within an hour, Law basically forgot about his existence, forgot that there were other people around him. The heat of the place helped him get dry in no time, but he's sure his hat and bag in front of him are still quite wet. He can see how messy his hair is in the reflection on his computer screen every time it gets darker, and his clothes feel weird against his skin. Law feels exhausted and his eyes start to hurt by the time he's halfway through his essay. He looks at the now empty coffee mug on top of one of his anatomy books and considers ordering another one, but he has already abused caffeine during the previous night as he needed to stay awake and ended up abusing caffeine and not sleeping at all.

Law doesn't hear the guy coming in his direction, or neither does he see or acknowledge his presence. In fact, Law only snaps out of his bubble when he hears him laughing with two other customers in the table beside him. By that time, a sweet smell fills his nostrils and, when he looks to the place where is empty coffee mug was supposed to be, he's surprised to see that it has been replaced with a small blue plate and another mug. He glares at the brown waffle and the coffee mug, that he's sure contains more milk than coffee due to its appearance, for a good two minutes before looking in the counter's direction, where the guy had already returned. The guy doesn't look back at him, Law's sure as hell he's avoiding looking at him and is pretending to be busy cleaning the machines, it's quite obvious. So, instead, he glares at the food in front of him again and just wonders the reason why it's there in the first place. Law didn't order anything aside from his first coffee two hours ago, and he's sure the guy isn't that incompetent to have mistaken another customer's order and thought it was his, so it terribly confuses him. Then, he sees a small yellow paper near his waffle plate, the same kind of paper as the one Nami used to write the WiFi's password the first time Law entered through Bell-mere's door.

He stares at it before grabbing it to read. He honestly doesn't know what he's supposed to do or think with the information written on it.

I know youve just ordered a coffee but that was two hours ago and you look pretty waffle

He looks at the guy again, but he's still shamelessly ignoring Law. He decides then that he prefers Nami as his barista. At least she knows how to respect the boundaries he has made and knows when to stop pushing him to eat. In fact, in protest, he refuses to eat or drink. He ignores the food completely and starts working again, typing angrily on his keyboard. But, in the end, he isn't able to resist that delicious smell of chocolate for more than ten minutes, and he eats the goddamn pastry like a caveman that hasn't seen food for days.

By the time he feels the guy finally looking at him, he has a grin cutting his face in half. The plate is now empty and the mug could be refilled one more time if Law wanted to, which he doesn't. He won't fall into temptation one more time, he won't be making a fool out of himself for the guy again.

Law decides then that it's time to go, it's time for him to sleep and clean his mind. He packs everything inside of his bag again, it being more or less dry by now. He hasn't realized it had stopped raining until then, so it was safe for him to go and only come back when he sees a redheaded instead of a brunet on the other side of the counter.

Law brings the plate and the mug with him to the counter and then puts both things on top of it. The guy asks if Law liked it or not, to which he only responds by asking how much it is for him to pay. It shouldn't make the guy's grin grow bigger as it did.

"On the house," the guy says, "you didn't order it after all"

Law stares at him for a bit and he suppresses the then why did you put it on my table that wants to get out of his mouth, mostly because he's sure as hell he would just receive an if you didn't want it why did you eat it? in response. When the guy looks unfazed by Law's stare, he decides to look for the price tag on display and leaves enough money to pay the way too fancy Chocolate-Hazelnut Waffle with Frangelico brown butter syrup and the coffee inside of the tip jar before leaving. He decides then that he likes Nami the best for sure, she would've never given him free food, insist on him buying something other than his usual coffee sure, but free food never.

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A week passes before Law sees the guy again but, unfortunately, he sees him two days in a row. The weather is reasonably good enough but Law couldn't be more stressed with all the college shit he still has to do due that week. He has a headache by the time he stands in the surprisingly long line to the counter and, the backpack that he brought along with his usual computer bag adds a lot more weight to his back. Law looks around while waiting, keeping his mind occupied. The place is crowded and has more people than he has ever seen since he started coming. Even his table was occupied by an old looking couple, otherwise, he would've already thrown all his shit to his usual corner. He couldn't be more pissed off but, by the time he leaves the line with his coffee on his hand, the table is already empty so he doesn't waste time and makes his way towards it before anyone else can.

And it happens again. Two hours later, his empty mug is replaced by another one and a plate, only this time, Law catches the guy doing it.

"I didn't order anything," Law says looking away from the words on his computer.

"I know," the guy just simply responds and walks away before Law can say anything else, leaving the plate and coffee behind. The coffee is good but it isn't as strong in caffeine as he would like it to be, but he guesses it's for the best really, it helps him get a bit more awake but doesn't send him to the grave earlier. Today the plate contains a small square piece of cake instead of a waffle. It's brown and has a white cream and what seems to be diced walnuts on top. It looks good, but Law still tries to resist despite the temptation, although it doesn't last for longer than last time. The only difference is that, now, Law doesn't look in the guy's direction as he gives a bite on the cake, feeling the carrot flavor and what appears to be raisins inside of his mouth. The cream tastes like some sort of cheese and the whole combination is moist and surprisingly good.

By the time he has to leave, he packs everything inside of his bag and backpack, including the guy's note that just simply says, I know I'm not your friend or anything but as the good employee as I am I carrot about my customers and you look like hell. He takes the plate and mug with him again and then puts enough money to pay the coffee and the carrot cake inside the tip jar before he leaves.

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The next day, when he enters through the Bell-mere's door again, he isn't surprised to see the guy at the counter again instead of Nami. He may be a bit annoyed because he knows he will get interrupted after two hours of work, but he's not at all surprised by the fact the guy is there anymore. Law hasn't brought his computer this time. Instead, his backpack is full of books and notes that he has already written when he was at home. He has no exact reason to be there actually, he doesn't need internet for the work he needs to get done and his apartment is sure as hell quieter and more comfortable. And yet he's still there, sat on his own and private corner with his coffee mug already half drank, carefully positioned in between two piles of notes of medical genetics. Law can hear the guy going in and out of the kitchen every five minutes, sometimes he's quick and brings new baked goods to put on display while others he takes more time and comes back still chewing something, his cheeks white with flour. The coffee shop is quiet and all customers are already served so the guy basically just needs to come out from the kitchen when he hears the bell tingling and every once in a while to make sure everything is alright.

Law finds it hard to concentrate on the papers in front of him and it's starting to get him frustrated, which must be reflected on his face because the old lady in front of him just keeps on looking at him with a sympathetic smile.

By the time he sees the guy making coffee when there's no one in line and then choosing something that Law can't see from the display to put on a blue small plate with already a note on, Law couldn't be more relieved. He sees the guy making his way around the counter and makes space among all the notes spread on top of the table for him to be able to put the food on. He leans against his chair and waits for him to come, his arms crossed him from his chest.

"Taking a break?" The guy asks when he's close enough for Law to hear him talk without it being too loud to disturb the other customers.

"Yeah, I guess," Law says and watches as the guy puts the plate in front of him and switches his empty mug for the full one. "So what am I eating against my will today?"

The guy actually laughs at that, softly. "Well, it's Caramelized Macadamia Camembert. It's brand new, just came out of the kitchen," he explains, holding the empty mug with both of his hands in front of his chest. "And I don't remember ever making you eat against your will. I wouldn't do such a thing."

"Don't play dumb, you know it would be hard for me to resist," Law says, leaning to the table, and the guy just snorts in response. He brings the plate closer to him and takes the note out so he can eat without dirtying it. He puts it carefully next to the book he was taking notes off, just for the guy not to think he's dismissing it. He will read it when the guy is back on the other side of the counter. "So, you're telling me I'm the guinea pig?"

"More or less, yeah. Nojiko likes to hear criticism on her food, not the bad ones though." The guy says and smiles sheepishly, but frowning momentarily with the last part.

"And doesn't that make my day," Law mumbles and then proceeds to try the cheese in front of him. It's weird if he thinks about it. He's was just there, burning his brain off with genetics, and then the barista brings him a well-ornamented plate where the principal ingredient is cheese. But, well, it does taste amazing and the caramel on top gives the cheese a bittersweet flavor that actually works well. "You can tell her it's good."

"Yeah?" The guy basically beams, making Law to want to beat the shit out of him for all the energy and excitement his body is irradiating. "Good, okay I will tell her that, hum-" he stops, motioning vaguely with one hand.

"Law," he says before taking one more bite and fighting a smirk from taking over his mouth in the process.

"- you liked, yeah that," the guy says and bites his bottom lip, hard. His eyes are all shiny and his cheeks are flushed, and it's weird and mesmerizing at the same time. The guy then takes a few tentative steps back, Law's empty coffee mug still being firmly held in between his hands. "I'm gonna tell her and- I'm Luffy by the way," he adds, awkwardly.

Law nods and watches as the guy, or Luffy apparently, does his way back to behind the counter where he was supposed to be in the first place and then proceeds to enter the kitchen, to tell said sister Law's opinion probably. Law finishes his food minutes later and starts working again, he decides to ignore the fact that Luffy only comes out of the kitchen when the sound of another customer entering Bell-mere's can be heard and, by that time, he's even more flushed and his hair is in such a mess that Law wonders if he and Nami's sister were making out in the kitchen. He doesn't let his mind wander for long though, because it's in that same kitchen where are made the baked goods he's been eating lately. He prefers to think nothing happens there.

He leaves not long after and avoids looking at Luffy's face as he puts the money in the tip jar like he always does. He sticks the piece of paper where it can be read, Hey I camembert the last time I saw someone as focused on something as youre in your papers to be honest, inside of one of his books before shoving it inside of his backpack.

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The next time Law enters the Bell-mere's it's been three days and he's way more than pissed off with his life and the world in general. He hasn't slept the night before and has already told Shachi and Penguin to go fuck themselves more times than usual. He orders a bottle of water just because he needs to order something if he wants to be sat there and not really because he needs it. Luffy looks at him with a weird look because, of course, he's there again, of fucking course.

"So, you don't want anything else?" Luffy asks, confused, after handing him the bottle that Law is almost sure he won't even drink. Law doesn't respond and just hands him the money. "Okay, so we have new things today," he tries again, his voice sounding unsure, "anything you might want in two hours?"

"No, I don't want anything more than this," Law grunts, shaking the water bottle in front of Luffy's face, just to make the guy understand better. Law knows he's being a douche but he couldn't care less. "And I don't even know, I mean, why do you keep insisting on put food in front of me?" He snaps before going to his corner, hopefully irradiating enough bad vibes to everyone stay the hell away from him.

Luffy doesn't say anything more, but Law can feel him staring and that only pisses him off even more. He contemplates the idea of going somewhere else, another coffee shop where the coffee may not be that good but where the ambiance and internet are good enough. Coffee is not his priority today, not when he already drank way more than what he should've for the day, hell for the whole goddamn week.

He knows that his bad mood is a combination of the lack of sleep, stress and the coffee addiction he knows he already has, but there's nothing much he can do right now, other than try to resist the urge of ordering a coffee and be stuck with a bad headache for the rest of the day. He opens his computer and starts doing his researches and taking notes that he can order later when he gets home. His bad mood gets better as the times passes by productively and he even drinks a bit of the water he brought just for the sake of it. He feels a bit bad then when his mind reminds him more often than not of how much of a douche he was to Luffy when all he was doing was his job. Law decides he will apologize to him when he has to leave.

Only, he doesn't. Because Luffy comes to him first, even though Law shook the bottle of water in front of him like a lunatic and stated he did not want anything else other than that.

Law doesn't see him coming, only notices him when the guy is right there, moving away some of the books so he can put a plate and a mug on top of the table without ruining anything. Law stares at him as he does so, without helping him, and stares at him some more when he walks away without saying anything.

This time there's no coffee inside of the mug, in fact, there's what Law assumes is tea, which he's actually thankful for. As for the plate, there's nothing more than a good looking crepe with a single orange peel for decoration. Law wants to smile then, because Luffy seemed to have ignored all the shit he had said, but he also wants to scream and punch the wall for the exact same reason.

Law turns his computer into suspension and puts it aside. He grabs the small yellow paper before anything else and reads it, the want to smile then taking over his want to scream and punch.

You didnt let me answer your question before so, yeah I guess the reason Im doing this is cause Im a crepe. And Im also annoying and insufferable most of the time, but apparently so are you so can we get oolong?

Law eats the crepe and drinks the tea. He looks in Luffy's direction more times than what he wants to admit but the guy never looks back in his direction, too busy taking orders of a big group of tourists that decided to enter. Law watches as he seems to have some issues understanding their orders, but a huge grin never leaves his mouth and the group formed by a majority of old ladies seem to be delighted with the joy and energy he constantly irradiates. It's a cute image to see while sipping a cup of tea actually.

When the whole group is served and sat, occupying the opposite corner where Law seats, Luffy has the break he seems to be needing. He grins in the group's direction before turning his head to Law, who has only been looking at him the whole time, even after he finished his crepe and tea, which is ridiculous really, he has work he needs to get done.

Luffy's grin fades a bit when he catches Law staring at him, only to come again in full force when Law waves at him awkwardly.

Law hopes that counts as some sort of an apology.

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It takes Law a whole week to see Luffy again behind the counter with his uniform and a way too big smile on his face to be considered normal. Law knows quite a few people who would think the guy is just being overly polite, but it's not that the opinion of those people really matters to him. After all, Law is almost sure that fucking smile -or grin, or smirk, or whatever the hell the guy's mouth decides to twitch into- isn't faked. Well that or the guy should be fucking working in Hollywood instead of working in a place where it doesn't matter how friendly or professional at doing said job one is, there will be just those customers coming in every once in a while that bitch about everything, just because they're frustrated and stressed about something and want to release anger on someone they don't know. Figures.

Not that Law is saying that the guy is a professional at what he does because he isn't. Sure, he can handle those weird looking coffee machines that look like fucking train engines and talks to everybody as if talking to a close friend, which makes the ambiance of the Bell-mere's a lot nicer; but he's also way too clumsy, even though he keeps insisting on carrying three or more plates full of pastries on top of his hands, talks way too much even though he probably just met the person he's talking to in that exact same moment, and Law always sees him chewing whenever he leaves the kitchen, which is every five minutes if there isn't a line that needs to be attended. Not only every five minutes, but Law has also seen him picking up pastries every now and then from the display when he thinks no one is watching and he always bends to pretend to pick up something from the floor so he can eat without being seen. The guy may be a good actor, but he sure as hell isn't discreet.

Plus, he still does that weird thing where he just puts food in front of Law without saying anything and practically forces him to eat with just a pointed look between Law and the food, like some old grandma feeding her skinny little grandchildren. And it happens every time the guy is behind the counter, which has been more often than not, aside from the past week where Law actually had a break and decided to save some money and sleep instead of drugging his sleep-deprived brain with caffeine. Anyway, Law's sure there must be some kind of rule that states that anyone that works in a place that serves food is prohibited to force people into eating their shit. There must be, so no, not professional at all.

And speaking of breaks, Law's not entirely sure why he's sitting in his corner spot at Bell-mere's right now. He guesses it may have been instinctual since he's so used to coming in almost every day, but he suspects the headache that has accumulated on his brain due to the lack of caffeine during the week, because he actually slept more than five hours straight per night and didn't need help to stay awake, is the most probable cause of that involuntary act instead of his regularity as a customer.

He hasn't brought his computer though, and he's not exactly in the mood to grab one of the books that are inside of his backpack and start writing notes for the future college shit he doesn't want to acknowledge is coming, so he decides to use his phone and the eighty-five percent of battery it has to do some random searches on the internet. It's not like he has other things to do. His options are really just to screw around on his phone or stare at Luffy from his corner as the guy fights to remain calm while one very rude old lady talks nonstop about how this place used to be a good store where she usually bought her favorite fruit before two crazy women, also known as Nami and her sister, decided to turn it into the coffee shop it is today. It's kind of hilarious to see actually, considering the old lady barely stands taller than the counter and, since Luffy isn't that tall, he basically has to lay on top of it while explaining to her that the crazy women are actually the daughters of said store's owner so they have full permission to do whatever the hell they want to do with the place. The old lady does not look impressed by his explanation and leaves muttering about how kids these days have too much audacity towards elderly people.

Law doesn't know why, but he feels a bit, well, uncomfortable, when Luffy catches him staring at the lady leaving and just shrugs as if responding to a question that Law didn't ask that he also has no idea of what the fuck just happened. Law feels stupid for it, he was supposed to be searching randomly, not staring. But it wasn't like everyone else inside the coffee shop wasn't staring either. So he proceeds to focus his attention on the phone he's holding between his hands and ignores everyone around him.

Two hours later, Law isn't sure when exactly he had finished drinking his coffee or why he ended up reading some serious philosophical shit about the ethics of organ transplantation and opening a total of sixteen tabs about the subject. But hey, Law does feel a bit more open-minded when it comes to ethics and utilitarianism so he calls it a win. So, for coming back to reality for whatever reason, Law catches Luffy putting the plate and another coffee mug in front of him without being caught off guard. The guy heads back to his place behind the counter with Law's empty coffee mug before Law can try to persuade him to stop bringing him food he hasn't ordered and taken the plate back with him, although he knows it would've been useless since the guy would most likely ignore him for the fiftieth time. But at least Law could've said he tried. And anyway, isn't the client always right? Yep, not professional at all.

He grabs the mug and sips, the coffee is hot and, if the inside of his mouth and his throat weren't used to hot as lava kind of coffee by now, he would've probably burned his tongue or something. He glares at the two small cake squares with yellow cream and orange sections on top for some good five minutes, hoping the plate could just disappear if he tried hard enough. Then he sighs heavily when nothing happens and brings the plate closer. He swears he's fatter, he feels heavier every time he stands from whatever surface he was sitting on, and all the goddamn blame is on Luffy. Law will blame him too if he becomes diabetic.

Law may be succumbing to insanity or maybe is the sugar inside of his system, but he has started doing this thing where he eats whatever Luffy puts on the plate for him before he reads the yellow paper because he actually enjoys trying to figure out what word related to the food of the day must be written on it. He damn knows he's succumbing to insanity, and he sure as hell will blame Luffy yet again if he ends up in an asylum. Anyway, if he ignores how insane and stupid the little game he has come up with mentally and that no one else will ever hear about is, it can turn out to be two things: or he guesses the word in a blink of an eye without even trying and high fives himself mentally after he reads the paper and finds he's right; or it ends up being incredibly, ridiculously hard to guess and he has to give up and read the paper to know what the hell was the ingredient he didn't guess.

This time though, the word seems obvious since the cakes squares practically scream 'orange' from afar. Sure, there could be some hidden ingredient that Law's tasting capacity didn't catch, like that one time when the fucking word was thyme, like how the hell should he had guessed that if the thing was mixed with the fucking cake batter, it's not like he's a fucking master chief. So, when he grabs the yellow paper and sees that he has won his own game, he snickers.

Orange your eyes like super tired? I mean dont get me wrong but or you stare at your computer or at your phone and you look tired

But he still stares at it for way longer than what is probably necessary, only this time he isn't trying to make the paper disappear. He's just, well confused. He has slept more during the week than what he probably has for two years. He's rested, even his fucking eyes are puffed due to the abnormal amount of time he has slept over the past few days. Sure, he still doesn't have proper sleeping levels, he would need to fucking hibernate if he wanted to have them, but still.

If Luffy can't see how well rested Law is, well then his eyes are the ones that are tired.

He hears the bell jingling and, as he looks up to see if he knows the face of the person since he had become quite familiar with the faces of other regulars like him, he's surprised to see the small old lady back again and, by Luffy's expression once he comes out of the kitchen, he's surprised too. Law wonders why the woman is back. If she came back just to argue then or she's annoyingly persistent, or she suffers from Alzheimer.

Law looks at Luffy then, who is already in his position behind the register with a big toothy grin splashed across his face, as if in whatever epic battle that happened between the two of them he ended up winning victoriously. The old lady starts making her way towards him. She takes her time, but it's not like there's anyone other than her that's going to order. He hears her demanding "surprise me young man", which somehow manages to make Luffy's grin grow brighter before she goes and sits at a nearby empty table right next to the counter where she can observe Luffy doing his job, her judging expression not even slightly hidden under all her wrinkles. That attitude gets a little under Law's nerves, but Luffy seems unaffected by it as he proceeds to carefully study the pastries on display before he grabs a purple colored cream cake and cuts a slice.

Moments later, the old lady has the plate and a teacup in front of her. She glares at it for a couple of minutes until she finally moves closer, as if studying a rare object and then, well, she just digs in and looks surprised that the cake does taste as good as it looks, if not better. Law wonders if that was his expression when, a couple of weeks back, Luffy first put food on top of his table and confused the hell of out him. And the cup of tea, Law knows that cup, has received one himself not long ago. What was the name of the tea again? Oolong or something.

Law doesn't really think much about how he just puts the name of the tea in the damn google search bar of his phone because hell it has to have some meaning.

He's only mildly annoyed to find out it helps with the stress management.

She doesn't receive a yellow paper though, which Law is somehow pleased about, it makes him feel important.

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Two days later, it's a good and sunny day outside. He passes by two tourist buses parked in the park right beside Cocoyashi street and, when he enters through Bell-merè's door, he's surprised to see the ridiculous amount of people that have actually managed to fit inside the place. The line to the register is the longest Law has ever seen since he chose the coffee shop as his go-to so far. Law literally enters and almost hits the last person with the door. Ridiculous.

To make things worse, his little corner is occupied by a green haired punk and a woman whose face sure as hell seems familiar, Law just doesn't know from where. He decides to stay on the line then, waiting for them to leave so he can sprint and dump all his shit on top of his table as a clear signal of already occupied for anyone that gets the idea of sit there. That action will force him to leave the line and will probably throw him to the end of it again, but at least he knows he will have a place to sit after he receives his order, which the other people waiting won't be able to say the same.

However, the line moves forward pretty quickly and they don't seem to be heading out anytime soon, looking like they will probably stay there for a good amount of time even, much to Law's displeasure. He starts glaring at them then, hoping that if he puts enough power in his glare they will turn their attention towards him and maybe get scared and just leave his damn spot. But neither of them even glance in his direction, no matter how hard he glares, how hard he frowns or how hard he hits with his foot on the floor. They just seem too fucking focused on drooling and gossiping about whoever is behind the counter, which can only be Nami or Luffy.

He contemplates the idea of just go there and tell them to fuck off, but that would be rude and Law isn't a rude person, most of the time at least. And if Nami is the one behind the counter, he doubts she would ever let him in again if he ever does force someone to move from his corner spot and go sit somewhere else. He wonders how much it would cost him to make a deal with Nami to reserve that spot as his and his only, at least for the two hours that he usually spends there. And then he remembers that he's in college and can barely keep afloat with all his life savings and that Nami would probably say yes and then ask for a small fortune.

When the absurdly tall guy that stands in front of him decides to give up and go somewhere else, a wise action those two little shits should follow, Law can see who's behind the counter without making a fool out of himself trying to look sideways. He's surprised to see both Luffy and Nami working together, mostly because it's the first time it happens as far as Law is concerned, but that is actually the only explanation to why the line is moving so fast so he shouldn't be.

At that moment, as Law is barely in the middle of the line, he can almost imagine what had happened. One of them behind the counter, all alone and without any further customers to attend, then and out of a blue, a big wave of people talking in a very angry sounding language just appears and splits itself between the three coffee shops of the street. He can imagine Nami sending text after text to Luffy demanding help as the first customer does their way to the counter, can imagine her rising from her fancy high chair to start doing the orders as fast as it was humanly possible to not lose customers to the competition. And he can also imagine Luffy's case, him coming out from the kitchen with his mouth full as the sound of the door's bell fills the place, only to go back inside and tell Nojiko to call Nami for help. He would harshly swallow whatever was inside of his mouth until he could grin without having cake decorations on his teeth and then proceed to try to figure out the customers' orders.

Law is pulled out of his imagination when the chick behind him, probably not older than Luffy, shoves him with her elbow. He turns around and glares at her, receiving a few rounds of Oh my god I'm so sorry I didn't mean to!. He rolls his eyes and proceeds to ignore her, looking back at the counter where Nami is taking orders with her polite smile and her perfectly applied makeup, not that he knows shit about makeup, he just knows that if the girls don't look like pandas or pumpkins then they must have done it right. She opens the cash register and takes care of the money like she was born for it and then repeats the orders in her usual demanding tone to a way too busy Luffy so that he can make them in his usual speed light.

However, in contrast to Nami's perfect figure, it's Luffy, with his air looking like a dark birds' nest, and coffee stains and what appears to be chocolate covering most of the front part of his uniform. It's only when he has his back turned that Law can see how tense his shoulders actually are, and it's when he's picking something from the almost empty display that Law can see his small frown and his colored cheeks like he's trying hard to focus and not forget anything from the orders Nami just keeps on demanding. A blue-haired woman then emerges from the kitchen with her arms full of diabetic nightmares and fills the display once more before returning to the kitchen and Law, never seeing her before, guesses she must be Nami's sister, Nojiko.

Said sister that prepares the pastries Law has been forced to eat and that makes out or does what God knows what with Luffy every time the coffee shop is mostly empty.

He then looks at his spot again and dammit, those fuckers are still there, giggling not so discretely and gossiping with one another. He realizes then that they're most likely talking about Luffy, considering that their eyes follow every move of the guy and he wonders if that attention is what is making Luffy uncomfortable and flushed.

In the end, Law's time to order arrives sooner than expected and his spot is still occupied. Nami doesn't try to coerce him into buying a pastry when he orders the strongest coffee to go because they both know it's a lost cause and hello, there are impatient customers behind him that need to be attended. Nami gives him a sympathetic smile after telling him to step aside and wait for his order because she knows his spot is occupied and still doesn't do anything about said fact. Aren't regular customers the VIPs of coffee shops? Shouldn't they be treated with love, affection, and empty seats? Apparently not. Maybe Law should offer Nami a book with the essential things a coffee shop should follow to become successful. Yeah okay, the place sure does look successful, especially today, but that's not the point.

When Luffy turns around to give Law his order, his face changes into an expression of recognition of Law's pissed off face, because he's sure as hell pissed off. Then he looks between Law and his coffee to go and he pouts slightly, his face turning into a confused one. And Law, well, he responds with a head movement towards his occupied spot like the pissed off neanderthal he is. Luffy follows his not so vague head movement and immediately looks away, giving Law his order with his cheeks way redder than before. Yep, those guys are totally the reason why Luffy is so tense, those fuckers.

Luffy moves to the next order because he has work he needs to do and Law is practically shoved aside by the guy that was apparently behind him in line, the other girl must've given up too. Law leaves then and, for the first time since Luffy started taking his order, he exits the Bell-mere's door with an empty stomach, craving for sugar and without a yellow paper between the sheets of one of his books.

He walks down the Cocoyashi street and then randomly chooses between the two coffee shops at the end of it because he also has work that he needs to get done. He ends up entering a weird looking one and goes put all is shit in a nearby table before he heads towards the counter to order something to eat. The place has a few tourists too, but nothing compared to Bell-mere's and Law is immediately attended without having to wait in any line. He receives an unimpressed glare from the barista due to the fact that there is a coffee cup from the competition among all his things on top of the table. Law glares back at him for a bit before ordering a blue cupcake from the display and then asks for the WiFi password. Turns out the unimpressed face from the barista can actually turn into an even more unimpressed one. It doesn't suit his face one slight bit, it only makes him look way uglier and unwelcoming, no wonder the place only has a few customers.

He sits and works for two hours, as usual, drinks his coffee and eats half of the cupcake because it wasn't anything near Bell-mere's quality ones and he tells himself he doesn't feel guilty for ordering a pastry in another coffee shop.

It's only when he's about to leave that he realizes how rudely he demanded the cupcake he didn't even completely eat in the end, and that he must've been that customer that releases all the frustration, anger and stress in the poor barrister that, even though he wasn't the nicest person either, had nothing to do with Law's problems.

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The next day, Law is back, and both Luffy and Nami are behind the counter again, even though there is no line forming the wall of China today. He doesn't think twice before he dumps all his shit on top of his table located on his spot, he will not risk it this time, even though he would have to be pretty unlucky if anyone actually sat there while he was ordering, considering most of the tables are empty. When he's making his way to the register, he notices Nami staring at him funny and Luffy looking like he's trying hard to suppress a grin. He glares at them both, only because they're traitors that, for some reason, he keeps on choosing over all the other baristas.

"Hello there my dear happy customer, what can I sell you today?" Nami asks at her place by the register, her voice filled with sarcasm.

"You know what I want," Law responds simply, making her sigh dramatically and roll her eyes hard. Next to her, Luffy snickers, but Law doubts Nami has heard, otherwise she would most likely glare at him in return.

"Oh come on! Don't you want anything with your coffee? We have new things today, delicious things may I add," Nami says and points to the display that Law still refuses to look at. He won't fall for that, that's salesman basic shit, making you look at good looking things so your desire to buy and consume increases to the point of their satisfaction. Law crosses his arms in front of his chest in protest, refusing to break eye contact. One has to be persistent and firm to deal with this kind of people, otherwise, they will just keep on trying to sell you everything they have. When Nami realizes Law isn't going to look at the display, at least not in her presence, she sighs again, this time a defeated kind of one. "Do you know how bad it is for you to drink coffee this strong without any food along with?"

"Don't care," Law responds before turning his attention to Luffy that seems pleased to know he's the only one that can force him to eat. "Just make me the damn coffee."

"Still don't know what's with your attitude..." Nami mutters and her polite smile and friendly expression are completely gone. That, ladies and gentleman, is how Law knows he just won the food battle. And also that, dear future customers of Bell-mere's, is how you're going to be treated if you end up going there a bunch of times and show Nami you will still come no matter how badly she treats you.

"Still don't know why you keep on insisting on forcing me to buy cupcakes," he says in the same bitter tone. Luffy hands him his coffee and he takes it, then starting then doing his way to his table, feeling pleased with the thought that he just won two battles in a row with Nami.

"Still don't know why you insist on using that hat either," Nami says, loudly enough for everyone inside the Bell-mere's to look at him and judge both him and his hat. Such a party pooper.

Law doesn't respond, he knows it must look like he doesn't have anything to say back but that's not the case, at all. He just doesn't want to encourage such childish behavior. Instead, he turns his computer on and starts doing the work he didn't finish the day before because the internet of the other coffee shop was ridiculously shitty. He types fast and writes notes and tries to stay focus on the words on his computer screen and not on the conversation that is being held between Luffy and Nami not far away from him because he is not a nosy person. He just happens to hear most of the conversation anyway, but he tried not to and it's not like he carries earplugs around with him.

He ends up learning that Nami and Luffy are childhood friends. Learned that a guy named Zoro got drunk the other night and that it apparently happens quite often, that one Sanji guy keeps flirting with Nami even though she isn't and never will be into him, and that Luffy apparently has a dog named Chopper that lives with him and his brother Ace, who just destroyed their new microwave again while trying to make popcorn.

Come to think of it, Law does pay attention to the conversation, but that's their fault, not his. They talk way too loudly for anyone to consider the conversation private. He doesn't know how the information he unintentionally heard may be important, or how he can judge Luffy and Nami as people based on their friends behavior, so he decides it doesn't matter and proceeds to push it all the way to the back of his brain, to a corner where there isn't anything that may be important to Law's exams.

When Law finishes his work and closes his computer, he intends on leaving right away so he can at least try to fix the mess he lives in. But then he sees his empty and alone coffee mug and he knows he's craving for something sweet, so he decides that maybe he'll try one of those delicious new things Nami talked about, but there is absolutely no way in hell he is going to be the one ordering it. It would be like declaring defeat after facing Nami as well as he did. Nope, no way. He looks in Luffy's direction and tries to subtly catch his attention without catching Nami's instead. He should've brought a pastry and another mug by now, two hours had already passed and Law is still there with nothing aside from his empty coffee mug in front of him.

Not professional.

Law stares and stares even harder but the power of his eyes seem to be fading away since every time he stares or glares at someone they just seem unaffected by it or won't even notice. He wonders if that's is due to the ridiculous amount of sugar in his system.

Nami is sat near the register, in the high chair that Luffy certainly doesn't have available when he's alone behind the counter, and Luffy is in front of her, talking excitedly and with a lot of hand movements. Law can only see his face beside Nami's head but if Law can see his eyes then Luffy can see his too. He brings one arm up and starts waving slowly, trying to catch only Luffy's attention and not the whole place's, and that actually does the trick as Luffy's eyes connect with his, although he doesn't stop talking though.

He then wonders if Nami knows what her only employee is been doing lately. She probably doesn't because hello, money is involved and she sure as hell would throw a childish tantrum if she knew Luffy is giving him free food, even though Law always puts enough money to pay for everything inside of the tip jar, but it's not like that money goes to the register so that means a loss. Law makes a hand gesture that he hopes Luffy will get as where is my food at and the guy suddenly grins widely and that of course catches Nami's attention, who turns around like the girl from Exorcist and glares at him for no good reason. What a way to be subtle.

Law, like the genius he is, decides to disguise and pretend to be writing something on his computer. Only, his computer is in front of him closed and he ends up making a fool out of himself. When Law looks towards the counter again, he notices Luffy laughing hard and Nami looking at him with a blank expression and wide opened eyes that mess with Law system more than what any facial expression as ever done, and he has seen some weird facial expressions during his short life, considering he's friends with Shachi and Penguin.

"What the hell does he want?" Nami asks- no, demands, quite loudly, like Law can't hear her perfectly fine. Law sees Luffy stop laughing and looking at her, he bites his lip like he's unsure of something.

Luffy's goes inside the kitchen and comes back with a blue plate and grabs something yellow colored from the display. He starts making his coffee and then writes the usual pun because, even though Nami must be drilling holes on his head with just her eyes, some things never change. He then makes his usual way towards Law and Nami's head turns to follow him. She looks nothing more than purely confused and a bit shocked and maybe slightly offended.

"You must be suicidal to still force me to eat with the witch watching," Law mutters as soon as Luffy is close enough. He receives a grin and he almost laughs in return, not because of Luffy, but because of the red-haired woman that he can see in the background behind Luffy, looking at both of them like they're aliens and just crashed her coffee shop with their spacial ship.

"Well, these macaroons sure are to die for," Luffy responds with a grin and puts the plate on top of his closed computer gently, right in front of him. He switches the empty mug for a full one again and stands there, awkwardly, pretending to not be feeling Nami's stare that is starting to turn more into a glare by now. Law wonders if she as put two and two together, she's not dumb after all. "Besides, you did order this time."

"I don't remember saying a word," Law teases because why not, if the guy is going to get murdered once he goes back behind the counter, Law may as well have some fun with his still living body, as weird as that just sounded.

"But you did hand gestures, the same thing for me," Luffy says and winks dramatically before his face changes and he comes closer, his left hand cupping his mouth, "and since you ordered it, you'll have to pay for it this time. You know, not in the tip jar but at the register, yeah?"

"And why should I do that again?" Law asks and shoves all his books inside of his backpack so he can have some more clean space, he was never a fan of disorganization, it makes him more stressful, even though everything in his life is a messy pile of shit.

"Because I'm a wonderful person and, contrary to what popular gossip says, I'm not suicidal and I do like living."

Yes, Law bets he does. "I'll think about it."

Luffy nods in response and gives him one final smile before starting to do his way back towards Nami, already standing on her feet, arms crossed firmly under her breasts. Yeah, she has put two and two together. Luffy continues to walk to the counter, but his last steps are cautious and he sure as hell looks tense again. Nami grabs his arm and practically drags him inside the kitchen. Law doesn't know how the mug Luffy was holding didn't fall in the process.

He waits for them to come out again but, after three minutes of weird noises and hissed voices that Law can't understand coming from the kitchen, he gets tired and decides to focus on his macaroons. He's sure Luffy will be alright, maybe a bit traumatized, but he will survive. Probably.

The macaroons look funny but delicious. They're a vibrant shade of yellow and have small bits of popcorn on top. When he bites one, the flavor of popcorn and butter fills his mouth and it's surprisingly good, considering the whole idea behind it. He guesses the word may be popcorn or corn. Only, it isn't but yeah, close enough.

Dont listen to Namis fashion advices, I think your hat is a-maize-ing

As if Law would ever follow or be affected by them really.

In the end, and after ten or so minutes, he gets tired of waiting and pays to a shocked looking Nojiko that looks at him and waits for him to order, only he's there to pay. She then looks at him funny when he just gives her enough money to pay the Buttered Popcorn Macaroons and the coffee Luffy had brought him. That look always gets under his nerve because he can sense she knows something he doesn't and it is the same fucking look Shachi and Nami have constantly splashed across their faces, but he just tells her that her food is delicious before he leaves, and it's awkward as hell. She has no fault really, she was forced to come out of the kitchen because, hello again, someone has to take care of the customers, Nami and Luffy are certainly not doing their job properly.

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As the finals come closer and closer, the tenser, sleepier and in a worse bad mood Law is. But it's not like it's his fault really. The fault is on the lack of sleep, the bad fast food he's been eating lately because well, it saves him time if he just buys it, and let's not forget that his brain is constantly working which is overly exhausting, to say the least. But hey, as Shachi says, let's look at the bright side of it all, in two weeks, they'll be officially on spring break!

And "they" are obviously the few ones that can manage to survive and keep sane. Law's sure neither him or Shachi belong to that group of survivors anymore, they will just die as juniors.

So yeah, he's tense and tired and he sure misses that amazing week he just had where he could actually sleep and eat well and be productive without killing his brain cells, it seems like it's been ages since then. He spends most of his time inside of Bell-mere's now, getting fatter and more addicted to caffeine every day that passes. It was supposed to be spring already outside, or at least the start of springtime, with flowers blooming and sunlight warming everyone, but it sure looks more like winter than anything else, with all kinds of humidity and storms that come and go in one day.

His apartment is a mess where he can barely even see the floor with the number of papers and books that are spread. He has to do the laundry as soon as he can manage, otherwise, he will have to start using dirty clothes. He has to take the trash outside and he has to change the bed sheets and- and he basically needs his brain to stop worrying about daily shit so he can fall asleep.

The clock on top of his bedside table tells him it's half past five in the afternoon. If it was another day, he would be at Bell-mere's, filling his stomach with a combination of caffeine and sugar, burning his eyes with his computer screen, and frying his brain with way too much information in one go. But he was too damn tired and couldn't bring himself to make the effort to go and sit for two hours in the same seat until his ass was squared shaped or numb. Instead, he had decided to go to bed and sleep until he had to go for another round of endless classes in the morning.

But, obviously, his brain had decided to make a not so quick checklist of all the things he has to do and Shachi, being the annoying ass he is, started sending him non-stopping texts that Law didn't read and calling every two minutes because the guy isn't smart enough to realize he's trying to ignore him. Law had even thrown away his phone after putting it in silent mode didn't resolve the problem and Shachi just kept on insisting. Apparently, he owns an earthquake simulator, who would've thought. It wasn't vibrated since then though, but that's probably because it broke when it hit the floor and not because Shachi put two and two together and decided to go annoy another person.

He has been having a hard time falling asleep lately and, by the time he actually does fall asleep, it only lasts some good twenty minutes when hard knocks on his front door disturb and wake him up again. He decides to ignore the door the same way he did with his phone because he's sure the person on the other side is no other than fucking Shachi, but, after five minutes, he's fully awake and in an even worse mood than what he was before he went to sleep. Worst than not let him sleep, is wake him up before he's at least half rested.

"It better fucking be the fucking end of the world," Law mutters under his breath as he makes his way towards his front door. He takes heavy and loud steps as he does so and he really does hope the people that live below him were taking a nap too, and that he just woke them up, since those fuckers make way too much noise at night and they're lucky Law has never seen them in person, otherwise, they would've been murdered by now.

He opens the door without even checking, that's how sure he is that it's Shachi, and glares at him harder than what he has ever done in his life.

"Yo, Law!" Shachi beams and grins on the other side and God, doesn't he want to punch the hell out of him right now, to break his nose and throw him down the staircase so he can break his neck too.

"What the fuck do you want?" Law demands, but he sounds way too sleepy even to his own ears so it doesn't have the desired effect, which is to make Shachi go the fuck away and leave him alone.

"Oh, nothing much," he says as he brushes Law aside so he can enter his apartment. He does his way to the couch and lies on it like he fucking owns the place, with his shoes still on his feet and all. Law doesn't remember ever telling him to feel at home, not to him or to anyone for that matter. His apartment is not anyone else's, it's his own and his own only. Law closes the door harder than he should've, and then follows him, but he just stands with his hands grabbing the back of the couch and glaring down at Shachi.

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright since you never texted or called me back, which, by the way, is harsh man," Shachi says, putting his hand on his chest dramatically before turning on the TV with the controller that Law had lost almost two weeks ago. How and where the guy had found it, Law doesn't know.

Law sighs, loudly and heavily, on purpose so Shachi can hear just how annoyed he is right now, but he ignores it the same way he has been ignoring the glares. Not that it would make much difference if he didn't really, but still, Law doesn't get why Shachi always ignores the fact that he's ignoring him, like he's doing right now. The guy has a hard time realizing when he's unwanted.

"I'm fine so you can get the fuck out of my apartment now."

"Yeah, you're fine, but your mood sure isn't," Shachi says, rolling his eyes. Law wonders exactly how much time it would take for someone to notice the guy is gone if he just killed him right here, right now with his bare hands and then proceeded to get rid of the body with sulfuric acid.

"Look, Shachi, I don't know what the fuck you want, but I'm exhausted and I was sleeping so it would be awesome if you could leave me the fuck alone."

"Oh, did I wake you up?" Shachi says and looks up at him.

Law is having a hard time keeping a straight face and suppressing his anger from building up. "What do you think?"

"Sorry about that," he responds, but he doesn't look sorry at all, which only makes Law sigh and get more frustrated with the kind of friends he's been hanging with. The reason why he surrounds himself with such stupid people it's a mystery to him. "But it's not like it's my fault! You could've sent a simple text saying 'sleeping' or something, but no. I was worried."

"I was ignoring you, you stupid!" Law says, bitterly, and Shachi looks scandalized for a moment before his attention is turned back to the TV once more. Law decides then that it's pointless to try to make Shachi get out, even if that is what he wants the most.

He grabs Shachi's legs and takes them off the couch so he can sit next to him. He won't be falling asleep so soon, hell, he probably won't fall asleep at night either because that's just how fucked up his brain is. He may as well have company, and thank God said company has his mouth shut and is watching a show Law has never heard about in his life in a channel he didn't know he even had. But the show is actually kind of interesting, a bit way over sexualized, but still interesting. Something about weird and funny ways that people can die in a very detailed and graphic way. The bad part of it though is that it's over too soon, and that means Shachi's mouth will start working again and he's probably going to ramble about something that Law has absolutely no interest on like he always does. His headache is going to harder to handle and will torture his brain way more. Shachi starts talking about the death he thought was the best in the episode, that Law doesn't agree with, and it somehow turns into a slightly traumatizing dream Shachi has had in his teenage years and it's only in the end that he says what had brought him to Law's apartment in the first place. It takes longer than what Law had expected, considering that it's Shachi he's talking about.

"So yeah, you're coming with me, and Penguin, and Jean to this party and you're going to relax for the first time in your life and have fun with us."

"Okay, first of all," Law starts, putting one lifted finger in front of Law's face that just rolls his eyes, but doesn't interrupt him. "I went to parties before, it isn't going to be the first time in my life, and you know that. And second of all, I won't go."

Shachi frowns at that and crosses his arms in front of his chest probably, trying to be somewhat intimidating but failing miserably once his mouth turns into a small pout, like a child. "Oh come on! You're no fun! Why not?"

This can't be his luck, it just can't. Nobody's that stupid. "Did you miss the part where you woke me up because I was exhausted and sleeping?"

"Exactly, you were! You're not anymore, so it's okay! Also, the party is not in five minutes so you still have time to take like four naps like the old man you are!" Shachi insists and sits up, his legs folded underneath him. Law could easily strangle him right now. "Please- Don't make me bring Penguin and Jean here to help me coerce you!"

"I think you mean to force me, not coerce," Law says. He doesn't get why Shachi is insisting so much. It's been three goddamn years since he started insisting on bringing Law with him to every single party that always happen to be at very inconvenient times and that Law had no interest whatsoever in going, and this one is no exception. Normally, he gives up after a few nods and glares from Law but today though, he's insisting too much, even for a pushy person like him. That can only mean one thing.

"You want me to be the driver, don't you?" Law says in the most death tone he can manage at the moment. He hopes that it along with a hopefully blank expression will show Shachi just how much he doesn't want to go.

"Yeah?" He asks, uncertain. He better fucking be uncertain right now. "Look, you know Monet? We share a bunch of classes?" Law looks at him, trying to think, but he has no idea who that girl might be, he has never heard her name before, or at least never paid enough attention to memorize it. But Shachi must've thought his silence meant that he knows her, or it isn't that important if he knows her or not, because he just keeps on going. "Well she's throwing this party, a huge party may I add. And rumors say there will be a good amount of alcohol and drugs. I really want to try those candies out, you know. But I'm not stupid, I want someone responsible for being in charge of me and my car, like you! Jean and Penguin will appreciate that too."

"Then you guys better find another responsible person, because I'm not going," Law says and turns off the TV when the commercials start to annoy him. He stands and opens the front door, holding it open and motioning to Shachi to get out like he should have done a long time ago. "Now leave."

"Don't be like this, Law! You spend all your free time here, closed!" Shachi says, not moving a muscle to stand and get out. He obviously isn't paying much attention to Law's life, otherwise, he would've known that he actually spends most of his free time inside of Bell-mere's rather than inside of his own house, not that Law is going to be the one telling him that, being the weirdo Shachi is, he would probably go there so he can see what has caught Law's attention, which has only been his spot, the coffee, and the fast internet, nothing more so it's not like he would find much anyway. But still, he's weird enough to go there and stare at everyone just because. "And I'm missing our buddy time! We don't do anything together lately."

"So, me taking care of your drunk and high ass is your idea of buddy time?" Law asks and there's a little change in Shachi's expression that tells him he didn't even think about seeing things from Law's prespective, like he never does really. "Get out."

Shachi stands and starts making his way out. He passes by Law and looks at him with what Law considers a bad attempt of puppy eyes. He closes the door as soon Shachi is outside and then goes take a shower when the guy starts begging on the other side of the door. He hopes he annoys the neighbors just bad enough for them to kick him out of the building.

By the time he gets out of the shower, his headache has lessened, but he doesn't remember ever feeling more awake. He contemplates the idea of going to Bell-mere's now, but then he remembers it's almost eight and that he wouldn't buy a coffee so if Nami is the one behind the counter, she would obviously tease him about finally order something other than coffee. And it's not like he can be there without ordering anything. If Luffy was the one behind the counter, well it wouldn't really matter.

He decides not to go.

.

.

.

When two in the morning arrives, Law finds himself staring at the ceiling with his eyes fully opened and adapted to the darkness of his room. He was supposed to be asleep like hours ago but no, he's counting the few dark spots on the ceiling caused by the humidity of that spring that could only be considered spring in Drum Island.

He ends up going to that fucking party, because he's an awesome friend like that, contrary to what popular demand says about him, aka Shachi and Penguin when Law refuses to do something they want him to do. But it's not like he could fall asleep with the thought of the only three people that had managed to tolerate him in the entire campus dying of overdose or alcohol poisoning because, of course, they went without him and, obviously they didn't find another responsible person to go with them, because, let's face it, Law is the only responsible person they know. Law wonders if those pastries are turning him into a soft-hearted person he sure wasn't a few months ago.

He dresses some mildly clean clothes, because he's going to babysit and not to impress, and the possibility of ending up with them full of vomit or spilled drinks is huge. He calls Shachi to know where the fuck that party is located and the guy beams at him over the phone, talking fast and been barely understandable over the loud music of the place. Plus, he has most definitely drunk more than what he should've already, the fucking idiot.

He calls a taxi and proceeds to tell the guy behind the wheel what he managed to understand from Shachi's slurred speech. He doesn't ask any questions, just nods like he knows the place already too well, maybe because he has taken there more people than what he can count during that short period of time. Law doesn't have an idea of how many taxi drivers the town has, but let's be honest, if that party is anything near Shachi's description, he probably has been there already that night.

Law pays attention to the roads and takes mental notes from the places they pass along the way because he's going to be the one driving Shachi's excuse of a car with three drunk and high idiots in the backseat back to his apartment so they can crash there for the rest of the night and Law can keep an eye on them. He's really such an amazing friend.

Soon enough, they enter in a weird looking neighborhood and Law can hear the loud music even before he can see the place. He wonders why the hell the people living there still haven't reported the noise to the authorities, it could've saved Law's time, although he would probably need to go to the police station to pick up the idiots either way. But then he notices that all the houses look inhabited. They look too damn good and showy to be abandoned though, so it probably means they belong to those rich and ridiculous families that have four or five different houses just for vacations.

Then, cars badly parked on top of the sidewalk appear in Law's eyesight and, the last thing he knows, the taxi driver is kicking him out in front of a weird and huge white house that is so much illuminated that Law's sure the aliens can see the fucking house from their place in space.

He pays and calls Shachi again to know where inside that mansion he is, to save him some time to try to find him. He picks up in the fifth call when Law is seriously ponderating to just go back and leave their sorry asses all by themselves. He can only pick up the word pool from Shachi's speech and well, that's probably all he needs really, a house just has one pool, or so he hopes.

He enters through the closed but not locked huge front door that both resembles a castle and a factory and that Law doesn't understand how that can that be appealing as a front door to anyone, but, then again, what does he knows about doors. He finds Shachi and Penguin by the pool, or better, inside the pool, and Law's thankful Shachi answered his phone before throwing himself inside. They seem to be having a great time with some chicks wearing their reduced bikinis, but Law doubts being in a pool fully clothed, drunk and probably high counts as having a great time. Sure they have boobs in their faces and that's all both of them only care about and the pool is most likely heated, but still.

"Yo, Shachi! Penguin!" Law calls, trying to be louder than the excuse of music playing. He manages to catch everyone's attention but he ignores them all when both Shachi and Penguin beam and try to swim towards him, failing miserably and ending up coming towards him by jumping in the water. The few chances they had with those girls, well they are long gone. "Time to get out before you both drown."

They groan but, as Law keeps with his authority and sober figure, soon enough he's helping them both getting out. He gets soaked in the process, but at least he has prevented two drownings. He takes them far away from there, into the ridiculously huge garden, the farthest he can manage from all the light and noise and people, but since the fucking house is like a crowned power station, the difference isn't much.

"Where's Jean?" Law asks and only Penguin seems to have listened to him, but he apparently has no idea how to form proper words. Law wonders exactly how much they had drunk or consumed already. "Okay, I'm going to call him and he better pick up for your own good."

He grabs his phone again and calls Jean, whom surprisingly picks up in the second call and sounds, well, way sober than those two soaked idiots. He tells him he needs help to get them into the car because he can't carry them both at the same time, and Jean actually doesn't sound as annoyed for them to be going so soon as he was expecting. Law guesses he wasn't having the time of his life Shachi as had promised, and he doesn't blame him.

Law helps Penguin and Shachi sit on the lawn because one never knows if their knees may collapse and then waits for Jean to arrive. Law's only mildly pissed with their behavior, you would think two guys studying medicine would be smarter, but no. When Jean arrives and sees his friends sitting and almost falling on top of each other, he seems a bit pissed too. He's also drunk, Law can see it on the way his eyes are watery and by his questionable walking technique as he does his way towards them, but at least he can still think and talk and be, well, useful.

Law grabs Shachi's left arm and puts it on top of his shoulders. The guy just giggles and burp in Law's ear like the civilized person he is. His breath smells horrible and his soaked clothes feel weird against his side, but Law's a good friend, he just has to remember that until he arrives at the car to prevent dumping Shachi right there in the lawn and cause him a concussion.

Jean follows behind him in a not so stable way, but then again, he's grabbing an already passed out Penguin and practically dragging him, his legs brushing against the pavement, but, to be honest, Penguin does deserve to have his knees skinned. Law doesn't exactly know how, but both he and Jean manage to get out of the party in what could be considered record time and without having that many problems to get through all the bodies dancing inside.

"Do you know where Shachi's car is?" Law asks, stopping and looking back at Jean, who looks ready to pass out right there with Penguin on top of him. Law hopes he doesn't, having to carry three bodies is way too much bad luck, even for him.

Jean shakes his head in response as he comes closer to where Law's standing. "I didn't come with them."

Great, Law thinks, fucking great. He shakes Shachi by his shoulders and asks where he has parked his car, but the guy is useless and isn't even able to open his eyes properly. Law sighs out loud and curses in a completely new language before he shoves Shachi against a nearby car and pins him there, then starting to search for the car's keys in all of Shachi's pockets without even bothering with asking in which one they are because he knows Shachi wouldn't remember. He finds his wallet and his now completely useless phone because he and Penguin decided to have a swim fully clothed and with all the things still inside their pockets just because they're geniuses. When Law finally finds the keys he's beyond thankful and surprised that they still work when he lifts his arm in the air and starts clicking the button to open and close the car doors. After that, it doesn't take long for them to spot a car whose lights keep going on and off down the road and so they start making their way towards it. He lets Jean put Penguin in the backseat first before he puts Shachi. Then, Law enters the car and waits for Jean to crash beside him in the passenger seat before he pulls out of this fucking weird neighborhood.

Law tries his best to remember the way he came from just an hour or so ago. He doesn't want to get lost and have to drive around until he finds the right way. He doesn't have enough patience for that and neither has the car's gas tank enough fuel. Jean falls asleep within five minutes of driving and he really hopes the guy wakes up when they reach his building. There's no way he can put the three of them inside of the elevator all by himself.

He looks through the rear view mirror more times than what he wants to admit to, checking if the idiots in the back are still breathing. Law doesn't want to know how they would end up if he hasn't shown up to save their drunk asses. They would probably fall somewhere in the ground and stay there until the morning's daylight woke them up, that is, if they managed to get out of the pool in the first place. Law has such stupid friends, he needs to find new and smarter ones, that's for sure. Well, looking for the bright side, it's not the backseat of his car that is getting soaked with alcohol and water with chlorine.

The drive to his apartment takes longer than what he first anticipated and, by the time he tries to wake Jean up, it's already past four am, so he's really glad it's Saturday. Jean does wake up, although he doesn't really do much besides smashing the button to keep the elevator's door open and holding Shachi's arm with more force than what probably was necessary to prevent him from falling as Law goes back to the car so he can drag Penguin with him.

Overall, they all get into Law's apartment in one piece. Jean helps Law getting Shachi and Penguin on the floor and setting the coffee table in a corner where it doesn't bother anyone before he crashes on the couch and passes out, leaving Law all by himself. Law sighs again before he goes to his bedroom and brings everything that could be considered mattress, sheets, quilts or blankets with him, along with all the pillows he owns. He spreads everything on the floor, putting extra pillows near the couch in case Jean rolls out of it and falls on the flour.

He takes of Jean's shoes and jacket before he undresses both Penguin and Shachi from all their soaked clothes they have glued to their sorry bodies and takes off their shoes too, only leaving their underwear on and hoping it is awfully uncomfortable down there in the morning. He dresses them some old shirts and sweatpants he doesn't use anymore but still has stored, just in case a situation as this happens, his apartment is cold most of the time after all. Then, he drags them both, one by one, to the pile he just made in the middle of his living room and, carefully, puts them in the recovering position, just in case one of them decides to throw up and to prevent them from choking and suffocating on their own vomit and die a horrible death just like the ones from that stupid show Shachi made him watch. He puts blankets behind both of them so they won't roll back onto their backs, and they better not throw up, they better fucking NOT throw up, for their own good.

He goes to the kitchen and puts Shachi and Penguin's useless phones on top of the counter. He ponderates putting them in a plate full of rice, but it would be useless, if those phones are still alive it's a miracle, so they can decide what to do with them in the morning. He then grabs a bunch of water bottles and forces them to drink a bit before leaving them in convenient places for when they wake up and feel like they have just crossed a desert. He checks them one last time to see if there are any indications of alcohol poisoning, but when he can't see anything he just makes his way towards his own room to see if he can finally get some sleep. He leaves the door open, just in case.

He's such a responsible person.

.

.

.

When Law wakes up again, it's almost eleven in the morning but he still feels deadly tired. But worst than still being tired after waking up is waking up starving, so he gets up and goes to the living room where the idiots are still snoring loudly in the same position Law had put them before going to sleep. He hopes every muscle of their bodies is too numb to be functional ever again.

He opens the curtains and lets the surprisingly sunny day illuminate the room. The three of them groan when the unrequited strong light hits their faces, and then try to cover themselves with all the blankets available but there's no way Law will let them go back to sleep. He cares for their headaches as much as they cared for his own when he had to go drag them out of that fucking party, which is basically saying he doesn't care at all.

"Rise and shine fuckers," he tells them, loudly, "we're going to get breakfast."

He goes back to his bedroom to get dressed and, when he gets back, they're all still laying in the same spots so he starts distributing some kicks. He makes them drink water before he throws their shoes at them and then pushes them all out of his apartment and inside the elevator. Law doesn't give them new clothes, they will go with the very ones they have dressed and slept into for all he cares, and it's not like it's that cold outside today. He makes them enter inside Shachi's car before he enters himself. They grunt and groan with all the noise around them but he couldn't care less, he's starving and maybe this way, next time, they will remember this painful experience and think twice before they decide to go wild. And it's not like breakfast won't do them any good anyway.

"Where are we going, Law?" Shachi asks from his place in the backseat. Law looks at him from the rearview mirror. Jean is sitting beside him, glaring at Law like all the shit in the world is his fault. Law smirks at him and then proceeds to honk when a crazy person in a bicycle almost throws himself in front of the car. That action has the exact same results as Law was hoping for, he's having too much fun with their misery.

"Get breakfast," he simply responds and, soon enough, he's parking not far away from Bell-mere's. He could've made them walk, punish them a bit more, but, unfortunately for him, that would make him have to walk along with them too and the tiny bit of sleep he managed to get the other night between all the times he got up to check if everyone was still breathing or if anyone had thrown up wasn't enough to fill even half of his energy bar.

"Come on, I'm not getting younger here," Law tells them when they take way too much time to get out of the car. He then holds the Bell-mere's door open since that thing is fucking heavier than what it looks like and closes by itself if no one's holding it. Once they're all in, he motions for them to go sit down on his usual corner and to grab some nearby chairs, since his spot only has two. He makes his way towards the counter where an also tired looking Luffy seems surprised to see Law with company.

"Good morning there!" Luffy greets him as soon as Law is close enough, his face all bright up, "although your friends don't seem like they're having such a good one."

"That's what they get for being annoying pains in the ass," Law mutters, but he's not there to talk about how stupid his friends are, he's here to talk about breakfast. The coffee shop looks calm, that's good. That means no customer will interrupt him or complain about how much time is taking to order. "I'm going to order big this time," he warns him.

"I'm all ears," Luffy says, grinning and seeming pleased with himself.

"I'll trust Nojiko with my friends' breakfast. Tell her I need food that contains bananas, eggs, every berry that you guys have in the kitchen, dried nuts would be good too. Oh, and tea," Law tells him and rises one finger for each thing he asks for. He ends up with his hand in the air like he's expecting a high five so he quickly puts it down before Luffy could have the same idea since he totally looks like a guy who would give Law a high five just for the sake of it.

Luffy nods a few times like he's trying to process everything and his eyes keep looking straight into Law's. It's weird, but not weird enough for Law to look away, after all, Law has never lost a staring contest and this is not going to be the day he does. "Okay, gotcha," Luffy says, after a few awkward seconds. He was the one that looked away. "And for you?"

"Just coffee," Law responds almost instantly, smiling at him.

"You know drinking just coffee alone isn't going to help your hangover much, right?" Luffy asks with a smirk. Yeah, Law knows but he also knows Luffy is going to bring him food either he orders it or not, so what's the point of ordering it in the first place. Plus, he can steal bites of the food he just ordered for his friends too.

"I'm not hungover," he ends up saying instead and Luffy huffs and mutters of course you're not in response before he turns away to go inside the kitchen. Law should have felt offended, either it was due to the fact the guy didn't believe he isn't hungover, or the fact that he thinks Law doesn't have the capacity to be hungover. But he doubts Luffy said it with any malice, and he's feeling too tired to be offended anyway.

He turns away when he realizes his order must take a bit too long to be done and goes sit between Shachi and Penguin that are looking at him with weird expressions. "What?" He demands when he catches Jean also looking at him like he's from another planet. He's been receiving that look way too many times lately.

"I didn't know you had other friends aside from us three," Shachi says and he looks a bit pained, pouting slightly and closing his arms in front of his chest like he's sad Law didn't tell him he made a new friend. Which, by the way, he hasn't. Besides, Law does have other friends than them.

"Luffy is not my friend," Law tells them.

"Oh, and they're on first name basis already," Penguin says and makes an overly surprised expression as he looks at Shachi, whose expression then matches his. "How long did it take us to be on a first name basis, Shachi?"

"Months," Shachi concludes and then both of them start nodding furiously at one another, their eyes wide open. God, they're so weird. And that only happened because they were too damn annoying for their own good and kept on insisting and getting under Law's nerves instead of acting like normal people. "That can only mean one thing, right Penguin?"

"Yes indeed, Shachi."

"That is...?" Jean asks after a few moments of silence, sounding annoyed but looking curious at the same time.

"That Law's finally improving his social skills thanks to our influence, obviously!" Penguin states and then the three of them start laughing hard and annoying everyone inside the place. Law groans and has the sudden desire to hit the wall with his head until he breaks his skull, he should've let them both drown in that fucking pool.

"Oh don't act like that!" Penguin says and punches him in the arm.

"Yeah! It's great that you have more than just three friends!" Shachi then adds and earns another round of laughter. Law wants to scream near his ear that he fucking has other fucking friends, but even that way he doubts those words would reach his small brain. "Plus, that barista guy seems cool."

"I don't think he considers me a friend really, or at least he has said so a bunch of times already," Luffy says, suddenly appearing out of nowhere and making them all jump in surprise.

"Oh speaking of the devil," Penguin says, grinning, leaning a the table and then pointing to the two trays Luffy's holding. "Now gives us the goodies!"

And just like that, their table is full of food that Law sure as hell won't pay for all alone. There is a plate with crepes that contain half of a banana inside and that are covered with whipped cream and a pinch of cinnamon. Right next to it there is a clear glass with strawberries, blueberries, and what appears to be almonds and granola on top of yogurt, along with four bowls and small spoons for them to be able to eat it. A big plate full of brown colored cookies and two different kinds of muffins occupy the center of the table and, next to it, there's a plate with toast and blueberries on top and, from all the food available, that is the only one Law isn't going to try out.

Luffy leaves after making sure everyone has a cup of green tea in front of them, except for Law that has his usual coffee mug with the yellow paper on the saucer. Law doesn't have time before Shachi picks the paper out of his reach and reads, I hope this breakfast will bring you guys some sort of eggsxcitment for the day! out loud.

"Oh, he's such a cutie!" Penguin says with his mouth already full with one cookie.

"Why haven't you told us about this place before, huh?" Shachi says and shoves a yellow colored muffin inside his mouth. "I'm totally coming back every day now."

"That's exactly why I didn't," Law mutters to himself, but he's conscient the three of them have heard him, if the round of laughter that follows is anything to go by.

In the end, Law finds out that the crepes also have cinnamon and vanilla, and that the cookies have canola, chopped walnuts, and dried apricots. That one kind of muffin tastes like banana and cinnamon while the other has strawberries in the middle, and Jean tells him the toast also has beaten eggs, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Overall, the food is ridiculously good and all of their bellies sure are ready to explode.

Law tries to be sneaky as he puts the yellow paper in the pocket of his jacket but he's sure Shachi has seen him, though he doesn't make any sort of comments about the subject. They take the now empty plates and cups and Law's mug to the counter like Law told them to do so, and then they form some sort of circle around the register, trying to split the abnormal big bill. There are a bunch of customers behind them that keep on complaining and demanding them to hurry the hell up, but Luffy just laughs when Shachi drops a huge quantity of coins to the floor and when Penguin starts drooling with the pastries on display, so fuck the other customers really. When they finally leave the coffee shop, there is an entire line formed only by angry and impatient customers that glare at them as they make their way out and Law only feels slightly bad for Luffy that will have to attend them.

Law drives them back to his apartment so they can all grab all the shit they left behind and return the clothes Law has handed them. Law gives Shachi his car keys so he can be the driver from now on and, once everyone is out, Law proceeds to organize all the dirty clothes he has spread around his apartment so he can go to the laundromat just across the street. He skips lunch, but it's not like his stomach has any space left for anything, and spends most of the afternoon surrounded by washing machines doing laundry.

---

Feel free to leave a PM^^

Remember to surround yourself with friends whenever you can.Remember that when you do good things to others you attract good things back to you.Remember to smile every day, at everyone, with and without reason. A smile is the best thing you can put on your face.