"Come up on the boat."

"No."

"Why not?" Kid whined, childish annoyance roused at how easily Law had denied him.

"I don't want to."

"It's dangerous down there, the marines could show up at any time."

Law waved a hand, dismissing his argument. "I tied their anchors."

"They could cut the lines."

"By the time they think of it, you'll be out of reach. Besides, they're harmless without their captain's fruit power." Law was studying his nails, of all things. Did mermen even have human nails?

"Are you sure he's dead?"

"I drowned him myself. Really, Eustass, why do you want me up there so badly? You've seen what I am."

So much for trying to work around it. "I wanna beat your tail."

"You want to what."

"Your tail. The…the…" Kid racked his brain for a way to describe it. "Mind control."

The utterly lost look on Law's face was almost cute, head cocked and eyebrows drawn together as his jaw fins settled flat against his neck.

Kid tried again. "The…hypnotism?"

That did it. Understanding smoothed the lines of Law's features. "You want to stop it from happening? Why?"

"I can't have it distracting me when we fight." Wasn't that obvious?

"When we fight? What makes you think I'll be helping you?"

Oh, shit. Kid had forgotten to tell him. "You're joining my crew."

"I don't think so, Eustass," Law hissed, bristling. He crossed his arms over his chest, raising himself as much as he could in the water. The first scales of his fish half were visible above the water, and tiny waves revealed more with each swell. Kid's eyes were automatically drawn there, gaze fixating on the place where deep blue blended seamlessly into tan.

If I hold him in place by the earrings, he can't swim away. I could pull him up here and…

He'd rip my throat out as soon as I got close. There; that was himself talking. He forced his eyes up to meet Law's hard gaze. "Why not?"

"I'm not going to be your little pet, Eustass." The merman's tone was laced with venom.

"The fuck you get that idea from?" Kid couldn't remember saying anything like that.

"Why else would you want me? I'm useless on a ship." The tip of his tail surfaced briefly, flat fins slapping against the water before sinking back below. "Or did you forget?"

"No, you idiot, that's what I want you for. Those chasers are a bitch to take down, and if you can just chew right through them-"

"That isn't something I intend to do again. They taste awful."

"Well, you can swim around and scout for other ships-"

"And risk being seen? You'd have slavers swarming you in a minute."

"So what? I'd send their sorry asses to the bottom of the-"

"Just like you did at Sirrock?" Law raised an eyebrow, lips quirking in an amused grin.

Kid scrunched up his face, scowling at the reminder. "Look, half of that was your damn fault."

"And what makes you think it won't happen again? Really, Eustass, you have no real reason to trust me."

"You saved me twice." And yeah, Kid wasn't happy about it, but he was running out of things to counter Law with. The bastard somehow had an answer ready for everything he threw at him, and it was starting to get on his nerves.

"Both times were for my own purposes. If I do join you, there's nothing keeping me from betraying you at any point. You have quite the bounty, after all."

"You won't." At least that was one thing Kid could be utterly sure of.

"Oh?" Law narrowed his eyes. "Why so certain?"

"You're too smart. If you really meant to turn on me, you'd have just joined, without telling me everything that could go wrong."

Law didn't have a snappy retort for that, and Kid grinned wide. "Gotcha. C'mon, join my crew."

The merman finally seemed to take his proposal seriously, settling back in the water. It still didn't take long for him to answer, though. "No."

Kid's smile fell, morphing into a scowl. Usually, this was the point where he'd toss the guy over his shoulder and drag them back to his ship, but that wouldn't work with Law. He paused for a moment, trying to find a possible way to get the merman on the boat. He thought of just picking him up, but remembered how heavy that damn thing in the water was. No way he'd be able to do it quickly, with Law fighting him. "Fuck, fine. Have it your way."

This wasn't over, though. He'd cut his losses now, but only so he had time to think of something else to try later. Speaking of which... "Hey, got any plans for the next few months?"

Law blinked, eyeing him with suspicion. "Maybe. Maybe not. Why?"

"Follow me to Sabaody."

Law huffed, jaw fins flaring out. "Don't order me around. I already told you, I'm not joining your crew."

"You don't have to join. Just stick around. Make things a little less boring, y'know?"

"You have a ship full of people to entertain you, Eustass."

"Yeah, but none of them have a tail." It was a half-assed joke, really, but the merman clearly didn't take it that way.

"So it's the tail, is it?" Law said bitterly, arms tightening across his chest. "I figured. Really, you could've just kidnapped a mermaid instead of wasting time on me."

Really, Kid should have learned from the first time he'd tried a joke, but he wasn't known for that. "Gods, it's not about the fucking tail. You're smart. You're fast. You're strong, you're cool, and I'm curious, okay? Not everybody's after your goddamn tail. Fucking hell. You gonna be all prissy about it? I'm not just gonna sit here and take it. I got a crew to lead and a ship to fix, and I can't do it if you keep showing up to bitch at me all the time."

He kicked his legs out and slid down in the boat, resting his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes, beyond done with the merman, conveniently forgetting that he'd been the one to call Law over to talk in the first place.

There was a beat of silence, and another. Then..."Eustass, open your eyes."

"No."

"Eustass, open up."

"Fuck off." He'd said he was done, hadn't he? Why the fuck was Law still bothering him?

"Eustass," the merman said, with palpable exasperation. "Look."

Kid cracked an eye open, more out of needing to see where Law was so he could flip him off properly rather than real curiosity.

Then his other eye opened, entirely of its own volition, and he stared.

Law was on his back, hands behind his head, laying horizontal to the water's surface so that his tail stretched out alongside the boat. Every few seconds, the fin would dip down and paddle the water to keep him afloat, but otherwise his gleaming coils were exposed to the air.

Even in the relaxed position, Law's eyes were bright with tension when Kid looked up at him.

"Compromise?" the merman offered with a tight-lipped smile.

It was hard to stay angry with all those pretty, dancing colors staring him in the face. God, how could anything be that shiny? He just had to reach out and touch it, to prove to himself that it was real.

Kid caught himself with a hand halfway over the boat, fingers stretched out like claws towards Law's tail. The merman hadn't moved, but his smile had gotten tighter, lips straining at the edges. "It isn't going to work, Eustass. Believe me, I've tried."

"I noticed it," Kid argued. "I stopped. It's working, damn it."

"You may be able to notice when it's happening, but that isn't all. What if it's someone else? Your crew? What if you can't stop it in time? What if you don't notice, what if you don't stop, and..." Law's voice trailed off, expression oddly vulnerable.

Kid remembered that look. It was the same look he'd had on when he'd been spread out in the boat with them. "Then say something. When it happens, tell me to stop. We would've listened!"

"Trust me, they never-" Law abruptly went still, eyes narrowing, and Kid got the feeling that he'd said more that he'd intended to. When he spoke again, his tone was cold. "But that is irrelevant. The issue is that it happens at all, and is therefore a distraction that you cannot afford."

Kid wasn't about to let that little slip go free. He leaned over the edge of the dinghy, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on Law's. "We've fought fishmen before, I can beat 'em. Slavers, too. You said you've heard of me; you know I can kill them before they even get close to you."

"Because you have such a wonderful track record when it comes to that."

Okay, that stung a little bit. "I got this bounty for a reason, y'know."

"I'm plenty capable of dealing with them myself."

"Or using other people to do it for you," Kid added.

Law shrugged, utterly unapologetic, shoulder fins rippling in the water. "Or that."