Another Day, Another Time
Chapter. 3 – A Hint of Red
A/N: You guys have no idea how happy you've made me felt reading the reviews, although I'm sure some of you might want to choke to death me for taking so long to update this story….But please don't, I love you guys! Oh, and I've decided to change this into an M-rated fic!
Special thanks for the super long and awesome reviews from Mezaron, sarge1130, Exo-Toxicimpulse, Fishicakes and LawLover! You guys had me squealing with glee!
Slowly guided up each and every steps of the stair, Law found himself utterly speechless by the patience of the man he had fervently teased and vocally abused. Although it was undeniable that Kid had intentionally kicked him out into the rain a few minutes earlier, but it came as a pleasant surprise to the raven-haired man as he felt how gentle Kid's grip was when holding his own. But Law also felt that it Kid was nearing his limit, if the occasional benign tugging of his arm indicate anything. Curiously he followed, as he carefully kept his mouth shut. If there was a word Law would use to describe the whole experience, it'd be surreal. He felt a chill ran down his spine from the wet fabric of his clothes clinging tight to his body, the cold sturdy metallic stairs beneath his feet, and the warmth emitted from the hand guiding him. Occasionally, his shoulder would brush against one side of the walls, showing just how narrow the stairs were.
"We're here." Kid breathed out, as he let go of Law's hand.
Distracted, and not entirely registering Kid's words, Law nearly tripped by the sudden disappearance of the expected steps. He couldn't help but noticed that Kid didn't attempt to prevent him from falling in any way, as he regained his balance. He felt rather embarrassed by the foolish act, but embarrassment turned into irritation as he heard Kid was not so subtly snickering away.
"Yeah, very funny…laugh at the blind man, would you?" Law chided sarcastically.
"Hey, at least it got you your voice back."
"Shut up!" Law snapped as he sent his deadliest glare towards the direction of Kid's voice.
"Yo, stop staring at my chest."
Kid was enjoying the turn of event. As long as Killer was out of the picture, he felt like he could toy with the poor guy. Well, he did felt a bit guilty though. Kid knew that he shouldn't be messing too much with the raven-haired man as he was still in shock after the thug duo came to fetch him. But oh, the sweet, sweet temptation of revenge was too much to bear. It felt almost orgasmic to not be on the receiving end of the joke for once.
Law's expression turned from irritation, to horror as the chime of the front door's bell rang indicating a customer entering, or God forbid, Vergo and Bellamy had returned to get him. He started he hyperventilate and naturally, throwing Kid into a state of panic as well.
"Hey, hey, hey! Look at me! Relax, breathe! Don't break down on me now. It's fine, whoever they were they won't get you here. You're safe here." Kid decided to not be an asshole for once in his whole twenty-four years of life, and to be frank it felt incredibly awkward for the red head. He tried as best as he could to be soothing and convincing for the sake of his new roommate.
"Aren't you afraid mister Eustass?" Law looked up at him, his expression genuine with concern. But those eyes, those striking grey eyes pierce into Kid's very soul as they stared, although Kid knew that nothing lay beyond them.
"Yeah, well. I can handle them, my life so far isn't exactly a smooth sail and those bunch are nothing compared to the shitheads I used to tangle with." Except if those people were really from the Don Quixote family, then we're royally fucked. Kid decided to keep that little information to himself, he had some sort of a big brother complex, and he had took in quite a lot of wayward boys under his wing, some even took the privilege of giving him the nickname 'The Captain'.
Realizing that they were still standing very close to the staircase, Kid decided to move thing along. Even though he didn't know much about blind people, he certainly knew not to put them near the edge of the stair. With his patience –or lack there of –and Law's sharp tongue, he wouldn't need a psychic to tell him that he might just be the one sending Law tumbling down the steps. Carefully, the red head placed his palm on Law's shoulder to coax him into moving towards the old couch in front of the TV and sat him down. Then what? Okay, Kid was running out of idea, and Kid could here the faint sound of buzzing from downstairs. That was good, meaning it was an actual customer instead of the two coming back, Killer could handle it for now, as he got a much pressing matter at hand. Kid looked back at Law who was now sitting with his back slumped against the couch, with his fingers subconsciously picking on the old cracking leather. It was then when the red head realized what an idiot he had been. The guy was still drenched from top to toe.
'Ah, crap. Killer would kill me if the couch got soaked.'
"Um, hey. I think you should take a shower, you'll catch a cold, otherwise."
"A shower? Here?"
"No, out in the rain, dumbass." Kid retorted, his voice thick with sarcasm. "Get yer ass up! You're leaving butt prints on the couch."
Law snorted at that remark, and smirked as he did as he was told. That little gesture sent relief flooding down Kid's system. At the very least, the poor bloke is not a depressed sack of dung knew there were people out there who possess the ability to play with other's emotion, but this particular Trafalgar fucking Law freaking jump rope with it.
"I'll go get you a change of clothes. You go wait in the bathroom first." Kid said, as he walked away.
"Mr. Eustass?"
"What now? Can't you- Oh, right."
"You're an idiot."
Kid fumed silently, as he guided Law by the back of his neck towards the bathroom.
"It smells foul in here." Law cringed as his nostril was assaulted by the unholy scent of neglect and possibly mold. His red headed host replied to his comment with a stream of warm water straight to the face. Gasping and coughing, Law tried to block the current in futility with Kid using the showerhead as a weapon, while barking out profanities.
"Be fucking grateful that I even flushed! Now shut your cake hole and strip!"
"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you."
"What? NO! Not like that!" Bewildered, Kid shoved the showerhead he was holding to Law, and stormed out of the mess he had brought himself into. No, it wasn't entirely his fault. Killer was to blame. Yes, that fuzzy little blond was the one who convinced Kid to dragged Law's sorry ass back into the shop to begin with. The redhead was planning to make his best friend pay for this torment, but first he needed a change of clothes, he was also soaked due to the episode in the shower.
'You'd like that wouldn't you?'
Dammit. No, this had got to stop. Kid bolted into his room to grab a towel and rub it against his hair with more strength than necessary. Trying to rid his head of the dripping water, but it was mostly to wipe off the deliciously impure thoughts he was starting to develop. He needed to keep his head straight. What would that forever level headed blonde hermit said in times like this?
'Practice safe sex, Kiddo'
"FUCK IT!" Kid screamed out, "Wait, no! Un-fuck it. Do not fuck him at all."
Sweet Jesus, even in his head, he could hear Killer snickering away.
Just below Kid's room, Killer was humming along to the faint thumping of Kid's frustrated pacing and stomping. "Today was a splendid day." Indeed, if it's not for those two. Outside, he could see the men from before peering inside from across the street. They were just standing there with no indication of making a move, but for Killer it was clear as day that it was a sort of warning to not mess with them. Their suspicion was yet to be proven it seemed, but it was a good idea to send Law and Kid upstairs to avoid any unwanted attention. Whatever Law's tie to the infamous Don Quixote family was, Killer doubted that the raven-haired man was just a mundane escapee. Even from their short encounter and few exchange of words, Killer had taken a liking to Law and those two men outside just confirmed that Law was some sort of victim to whatever crazy scheme they played. The blond would not stand still it if Law were to be dragged back to the mental institution by those men. His intuition was always on the dot, all he could do now was to warn Kid to be careful in handling the matter if it came to the worst-case scenario.
Up on the second floor, the red headed brute had calmed down considerably, if still somewhat flustered. He sat on the floor just outside the bathroom, listening to the stream of water from the shower and chanting a string of cuss words as some sort of calming mantra to himself. He hoped Killer wouldn't mind lending Law one of his favorite silk polka dotted shirts. It was not like Kid had any other choice, as none of Kid's shirts would fit Law. Sitting crossed-legged on the cold tiled floor, Kid was staring at the silhouette of the man he had provided shelter for absentmindedly when suddenly Law called out from the bathroom.
"What is it, you're done?" Kid yawned. "Open the door a bit and stick your hand out, I'll hand you the towel."
As if ignoring Kid's words, Law opened the door wide, stepped out of the bathroom and extended his hand for the promised towel as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Well?"
As night began to fall, Law sat on the couch sulking, his cheek still hurts from when Kid punched him earlier, and the redhead left without a word afterwards. Talked about irresponsible, Law had to literally grope around in the dark to find the clothes and towels which were carelessly dropped as Kid left him to his own devices. The raven-haired man could hear the shop buzzing with drunks and high-pitched laughs. Both Kid and Killer seemed to be busy at the moment, and all he could do was listen and wait for either of them to come. He already had enough of bumping around and collecting bruises to get to the couch, Law wouldn't want to add falling down the stairs into the list.
"Hey."
Killer who seemingly just appeared from nowhere dropped on the other side of the couch, and Law could feel the pitiful piece of furniture creaked and sunk at the additional weight.
"What are you doing here, I thought you're busy with the shop?"
"Kid could handle it for the moment, I'm taking a break." He paused, "And to check up on you."
"I don't need a fucking babysitter."
"You're welcome."
Law didn't say anything to follow the sarcastic remarks. He could tell that between Kid and Killer, the later is the brain of the operation and with his near monotonic voice, less fun to tease. Ensuing the death of Law's attempt in conversation, a weird slurping noise started. The blond was apparently sucking on a boxed beverage through what it sounded like, a straw. A boxed juice, perhaps? 'That's very cute.'
"Can I ask you something?" Killer said, in between his slurping.
"Depends on the question." Law corked one of his his eyebrows as he turned to face the blond. He knew it won't do much on his vision, but he learned that facing people when they were talking to you was supposed to be a sign of respect and showed that you were actually paying attention.
"What did you do to Kid earlier?"
"Pardon me?" The question took Law by surprise. Wait, what did he do?
"That idiot was furious when he came back down after he escorted you here."
"Was he, now?" Seriously, Law was wrecking his brain. What could he had actually done to make Kid –Oh, that. Law sincerely didn't think about it as such a big of a deal. Besides, they were all men here, and it was not like he had never seen anything like that before. How childish of Kid to be embarrassed by such a menial thing, like a naked body.
"Well, if you're not inclined to share, I'd just assume he was just his usual pissy self."
Law hummed, although somewhat doubt that Killer was convinced by his own assumption. But the man was smart enough not to probe too much into some other people's business, and to Law's that was a very remarkable trait, that he being a curious bastard, certainly lacked. Law felt a movement on the couch and as it creaked once more, indicating Killer was just getting up before the darn thing collapsed under their combined weight.
"Mr. Killer," Law called out carefully, "If that's your real name."
"No, it's not, but carry on."
The blond stood halfway between the stairs leading downwards to the hell that's about to break loose any moment now, but decided to answer one last question.
"What does Mr. Eustass looks like?"
It was such a simple and innocent question, but Killer found himself hesitating to answer it, as the blond himself could find a word that could fit the peculiar specimen named Eustass Kid. Law was silently waiting for an answer, and the noise from the shop grew louder with each passing minute Killer wasted on his break.
How would you describe Eustass Kid to a man who couldn't see for himself? Would it be his shitty personality, his unkempt appearance, or his bizarre sense of style? Should he tell Law that Kid was the type to pillage a friend's closet to dress a stranger, or that Kid wouldn't think twice to devour the last slice of pizza? Despite all that, Killer knew that the tulip haired brute was more than just what was shown on the rough exterior. So how would he describe the best man he had ever known his entire life?
Lost for words, Killer decided to go for the most obvious feature of the man.
"He has red hair."
With that single sentence hanging in the air, Killer left for the battlefield they called a shop. Leaving Law to wonder and picturing for himself, filling in piece by piece of the puzzle named Eustass Kid.
A/N: Yay! I really enjoyed writing Law's different approaches in talking towards Kid and Killer. Hope you guys have just as much fun reading it!
Thanks for reading and have a good day!
P.S. I have a little bit of surprise planned for the next chapter!
