Warm Baths, Warm Beds, Warm Night
Walking together under the large umbrella that Smoker had brought with him, both he and Law made their way off the college campus.
"Where are we going?" Law asked, seeing the city lights on the other side of the peninsula through the rain. They were illuminated on the horizon thanks to the dark storm clouds behind the buildings they were coming from.
"Don't worry about that. Just know you'll be warm for the night."
"Hm… I don't get why you guys couldn't just get the custodian's keys to let me in… Or… isn't there some kind of master key?"
Without looking at the shorter man, Smoker responded. "The custodians don't have keys to your dorms. Spares are kept in the housing office, but that's closed along with the rest of the school. And no, there is no master key. That's just a silly myth." He said, with smoke flowing from his mouth due to the cigars he was smoking.
"Hmph…"
With nothing else to complain about, Law decided to keep quiet for a while. Taking a glance up at Smoker, he noticed how bright the butts of his cigars were as he inhaled from them.
Feeling the other's eyes on him, Smoker turned and looked down at the boy. "What?"
"… Smoking is bad for you."
"I'm a Logia capable of turning into smoke. I think I'll be okay." It was after he said that that Smoker noticed how wet Law was. "Uh, here, take this." he said, handing his umbrella to him.
"Why?"
"Just do it." The smoke-man responded, taking the boy's hand and forcing the umbrella into it.
"What are you-" Law was surprised when Smoker took off his heavy coat and put it over his shoulders.
"There. No reason for you to get sick on my watch."
"…"
After undoing the first two buttons of his collared shirt, Smoker reached over and took back the umbrella from Law.
Looking down at the warm coat draped over him, Law rolled his eyes. "… I didn't need your pity…" he mumbled.
"What was that?"
"… Nothing. Let's get to wherever it is we're going."
"Don't rush me, kid."
"Attracted to me! ME?!" Luffy exclaimed.
The amount of disbelief in his voice as he said it was immeasurable, and his eyebrows were high on his forehead.
Zoro picked his head up from off of his hand and turned to the boy. "I… I think so… I mean… I'm feeling something… uh, you know… downstairs…" he said with a blush that was visible in the moonlight he was seated under.
Luffy, now over his initial surprise, moved closer to the man and smiled at him. "Zoro, it'll be okay." Lifting his hands, he rested them on Zoro's shoulders and got even closer to him.
"Luffy-"
"I want to repay you for the kiss you gave me in front of Ghost Girl."
"But…"
"I won't do anything else, I promise."
Seeing the sincerity in Luffy's eyes, Zoro nodded. "Okay." He said.
With that, Luffy slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips against Zoro's. Not wanting to startle or scare the confused marimo away, he stayed in place like that for longer than he thought he could. Zoro not retaliating or pulling away was a sign that this was a good pace for him. "Maybe it was for the best that he stole my first kiss." He thought, smiling inwardly.
After what felt like an eternity, which still didn't seem like enough time to enjoy their kiss, he pulled away. And the heat he felt at his cheeks made him realize he was just as interested in his green-haired friend as he was in Law.
When he looked down, his cheeks felt like they were on fire at what he saw. "Zoro…! You have-"
"I know…" said man interrupted, embarrassment clear from his flushed expression.
He was very excited right now, even much more than before. His erection standing underneath his pajama bottoms proved that.
Knowing if he pushed too far he could make this a bad experience for Zoro, Luffy backed off a bit.
"Zoro, you should take the time to think this over. I can't, and I won't, force you to do this if it makes you uncomfortable or confused. I care about you too much for that."
"Luffy."
"Hm?"
"I want to… go a little further. With you."
"Really?" the gum-boy asked with wide eyes.
"Well… there are no other guys I get... aroused about… It's just you. So I know I won't accomplish much on my own."
"Zoro…"
"Please, Luffy."
"Okay then. Tell me if you get uncomfortable."
"I will."
Moving closer to the larger man again, Luffy looked down at his erection and wondered just how far Zoro wanted to take this.
Pushing the thoughts out of his mind that were full of questions, Zoro got further back on the bed and pulled down his pajama pants, then tossed them on the floor.
"Oi! What are you doing!?" Luffy said.
"Take down your pants too."
"Huh? Are we… going to-"
"No, no. Nothing that serious. We're going to… masturbate together." Zoro said. His blush having yet to leave his cheeks.
"A-alright."
Taking down his own shorts and underwear, Luffy's penis was exposed in the faint light coming in through the window.
Zoro made eye contact with the boy. "We should sit beside each other while we do it."
"Okay."
The two of them moved up to the head of the bed and rested their backs against the headboard. Their shoulders gently touched, and Luffy looked over to Zoro. He realized this was the first time he'd ever seen him naked before.
"Don't stare at me, Luffy…"
"Sorry… it's just… you're really attractive, Zoro."
"Thanks…" said man responded, slightly embarrassed at hearing that compliment from another man.
"Do you wanna start?"
"Yeah."
Taking a deep breath, Zoro took hold of the length of his member and slowly started stroking it. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the fact that Luffy was sitting right up next to him. Knowing he was there would help him along in this process.
He continued to stroke until he felt a hand touch him.
Opening his eyes, he looked over at Luffy. "Why'd you stop?" he asked him.
"I want to make this moment a good one for you, Zoro." The boy responded. "Let me do it for you."
"What about you?"
"Um-"
"I'll do it for you, too."
Luffy's toothy grin that followed his statement made Zoro feel a churning in his lower gut, as it so often did. Nevertheless, he took Luffy's penis into his hand and stroked it.
"Luffy…"
"Zoro, um… can we… can we kiss?" said boy breathed out.
"That should be okay." The marimo responded.
As soon as those words escaped Zoro's lips, Luffy leaned over and pressed his lips against the man's. In his mind, he was smiling. Because being with Zoro like this was... well, it was thrilling! Unlike anything he'd felt before, even around Law.
More and more, they continued kissing each other, stroking each other, breathing heavily against each other, and enjoying their moment.
Luffy had to pull away. Closing his eyes, he felt himself getting close to reaching his climax. "Zoro… I'm… about to-"
"Me too…" Zoro interrupted.
Panting even louder than before, Luffy came first, shooting his warm load all over Zoro's hand.
Feeling like he was losing himself to ecstasy, he started stroking Zoro faster so he could join him in the afterglow of their moment.
Zoro closed his eyes and threw his head back, feeling nothing but pleasure from his release.
With the rain pounding against the window being the only noise echoing in the room, apart from the heavy breathing of the two, they sat together without a word. Luffy did not want to say anything. He figured it'd be best to let Zoro do the talking. After all, this was a big step for him.
"Luffy…" Zoro finally spoke, bringing his head back down to stare at the smaller boy.
"Yeah?"
"Eh… um… Well…"
"Say it, Zoro." The gum-boy smiled.
"We uh… we made quite a mess, didn't we?" Zoro said with a blush, looking down at his hand.
"Yeah but it's okay."
When he realized something, the marimo tensed up as though Davy Jones had grabbed hold of his soul. "It's not okay…!"
"Huh? You didn't like it?"
"That's not it! We're… we're in the girls' dorm!"
Just as much as Zoro had, Luffy tensed up as well. "Oh crap! I forgot!" he said with wide eyes.
"We can't let Nami find out about this! She'll torture us mercilessly!"
"Oi! Let's start cleaning up!"
"Right!"
Quickly, Zoro jumped off the bed, making sure there was nothing on the sheets first, he found his pants and put them on.
Luffy hopped off the bed as well, and picked up Zoro's large shirt, then pulled it over his head. It was just large enough that he could hide his shortsless bottom.
"What are you doing?!" Zoro shouted when he saw him do it.
"I'm going to take a bath! I don't even want her to smell it on me! Who knows what she'd do to us if she found out…" Luffy responded, and then turned the light on. Remembering what was on his hand, he lifted it to his mouth and smelled it.
"Hey! Don't play around with that!" Zoro said. He jumped when the Luffy went from sniffing his hand to licking it. "Luffy!"
When he was done, Luffy looked Zoro in the eye. "What?! I didn't want to walk around with that on my hand!"
"… That was… my…"
"I know! Tasted good!" the boy grinned.
"… That's so weird, doing things like that…"
"No it's not!"
"Yes it is!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Whatever… Just go take your bath! And don't take too long in the bathroom. I'm going to take one too."
"Really? Well…" Before he offered for them to bathe together, Luffy disposed the thought. Zoro had just gone far enough with him tonight. There was no need to keep pushing him, unless that's what he wanted. Plus, everyone was here. The chances of them getting caught walking out of the bathroom together were pretty high. "I won't be in there for too long. Trust me. I don't really bathe that much, anyway." He said.
Zoro nodded and opened the door. Hiding his hand behind his back, he walked out into the hallway. There, he bumped into Robin.
"Well hello." The raven-haired woman greeted with a smile.
"What are you doing up so late?" Zoro asked nervously.
"Nami started a movie after she took a bath. So everyone who didn't go to sleep is in the living room watching it. I was just going to my room to get some blankets."
"Oh…"
Inside the room, Luffy listened carefully to their conversation. From the sounds of it, Zoro was just trying to get to the bathroom. Probably to wash his hand off. "But he could have just done that with a shirt or something…?"
Thinking about that for a second, he realized Zoro probably wasn't the type of guy to do something like that.
"Good night then, Robin." He heard Zoro say.
What was going on between was definitely was a process. He wasn't sure what would come of what they'd done together, but it was something he would figure out with his marimo in time.
Standing behind Smoker, who was fidgeting with the lock on the front door of his house, was Law. He was holding the umbrella so neither of them would get any more soaked than they already had on their way to this place.
A strong gust of wind had turned the umbrella inside out a little while ago, and almost blew him off the ground in the process. Luckily, Smoker had caught him and shielded him with his body until the wind passed. That's why he was now wet, too.
"Got it." Smoker said, pulling his key from the door knob and turning it.
Law gave him the umbrella and walked in ahead of him.
"Usually guests should wait for their host to go in first." The white-haired man said.
He entered his house, closed the door, and then closed the umbrella, leaning it against the wall.
"Yeah yeah. I'm not a typical house guest, and I didn't come here by choice. So the rules don't really apply to me, do they Smoker?" Law retorted monotonously.
"You sure are an ill-mannered little brat, aren't you?"
Not even bothering to offer a rebuttal, Law took off the large coat that had been put on his shoulders and put it on a chair at the table in the dining room.
Smoker, as soon as he saw it happen, hastily ran over and grabbed it up with a look of irritation plastered on his face. "It's wet! You don't just put something that's soaked onto wooden furniture!" he said angrily.
When Law folded his arms against his clingy t-shirt, he lost the scorn he'd directed at the boy. He realized he must have been cold.
Walking into the hallway, he switched his thermostat from the air conditioning setting to the heat setting, then went across the hall into the laundry room to put his wet coat on top of the washing machine. That was the best place for it right now. He could take it to the cleaners when the storm cleared up. Heck, it might even get dry with the heat on.
Coming out of the laundry room, he noticed his guest standing in the same place with his arms still folded.
"You… Well… I'd say take a seat somewhere, but you're soaking wet."
"Says the kettle. You're wetter than I am with those heavy clothes on." Law said.
"Look, kid-"
"I need a bath before I freeze to death."
"I just turned on the heat. You'll be fine."
"What, do you not have a bathroom?"
"… Come with me." Smoker replied, and then turned and headed to the end of the hallway.
Law kept his arms tightly crossed across his chest and followed. As he walked down the hallway, he took note of the bookshelves that were stocked with history books and fantasy novels, the large vases, the paintings on the wall, and the dim yet warm, homey feeling the lights gave.
He stopped when he reached the doorway which Smoker had gone through. It was the entrance to his bedroom.
"Why did you bring me to your bedroom?" When he asked the question, he was tossed a large t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms from the dresser.
"You're going to sleep in here. The bathroom is just across the hall. Don't wet my bed. In any sense." Smoker said, and then pulled two cigars from the top drawer of his dresser.
Law could see that in the drawer, there were multiple cartons of cigars. "… You're a strange man, Smoker." He commented.
And on that note, he turned and walked across the hall to the bathroom. Flicking on the lights, which were fairly dim, he was surprised to find that it was much bigger than he expected it to be. The most notable thing was the large bath tub, which was practically a Jacuzzi.
Smoker's salary must have been a considerably large one, he concluded.
After putting the clothes he'd been given to wear down on the counter, he pushed the door to where it was almost completely shut, then opened the closet door. There, he found an abundance of thick towels. Taking one into his hand, he put it next to his clothes and then started undressing himself.
It was strange, getting naked at a stranger's house. One who suspected him of dealing with Doflamingo no less. But, this man had been nice enough to give him shelter in the storm when he had none. He figured he could maybe… be a little nicer to him, and less confrontational.
When he was out of his wet clothes, he walked over to the Jaccuzi, which he had decided to consider it, and turned on the water.
He looked around at the many different shampoos, body washes, soaps, and bubble baths along the wall as it filled up. Picking out a cherry blossom body wash, titled "Sakura's Fox," he stepped into the tub.
Once he'd sat down, something hit him in the rear, causing him to turn around. Behind him was a jet. Three more started blowing from the other corners of the tub, making the water bubble considerably.
"Hmm…" he smiled.
It was nice being warm like this, considering he'd been cold and wet for the past forty-five minutes at least.
It was also relaxing. So relaxing, in fact, he slowly slid down into the water, submerging himself in it completely.
Childishly, he blew bubbles and turned around to let the jet blow into his mouth.
After about a minute, the need for oxygen caused him to come up out of the water. He jumped after he wiped his eyes, then saw Smoker standing and urinating at the toilet, completely nude. "Smoker!?" he exclaimed.
"Hey, eyes over there, kid."
"Don't 'eyes over there' me! What the hell are you doing?!"
"What a silly thing to ask. You've never been to a bathhouse before, have you?"
"Of course I have, but that doesn't- Oh no… No, no!" Law said, realizing what Smoker meant. "We are not bathing together!"
"Calm down." The man said, and then started walking over to the tub.
Law turned away and blushed as he did, trying to avoid seeing him naked.
"Oh, you're using the cherry blossom body wash! That one's expensive, you know?"
"So what…" the raven-haired boy muttered, sinking down so only his nose and eyes were above the water.
When Smoker got in the tub, he made sure to give Law his space. "You don't have to have the jets on if you don't want to." He said.
Bringing his lips above the water, Law scowled at the lager man. "What are you doing, old man? Why are you bathing with me?"
"Old man?! I'm only thirty-six!"
"Why are you bathing with me?" Law asked again.
"Well, I was wet earlier, too. Plus, this thing runs a lot of electricity and water. I don't like using it more than I have to. We're both men, it's not like you've got something I've never seen before. So stop being all standoffish and nervous."
"That's all you can say? That's your only excuse?"
"I also wanted some time to talk to you."
"About what?"
"About your employment under Donquixote Doflamingo."
"There's nothing to say about him because I don't work for him." Law said seriously.
"I don't believe that. You're a very shady character, after all."
"Then why did you bring me here? Have me right under your nose in your home?"
"Because I genuinely cared about your condition, and I also didn't want to leave you alone with Tashigi. But I also was following the saying 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'."
"So we're enemies, huh?"
"That's just an accurate phrase for this situation. Right now, all you are is a suspect." Smoker said, then moved across the tub in front of the smaller man. Taking his thick-haired chin into his hand, he looked him in the eyes. "If you have a confession, you'd better do it now. Because when I catch you in the act of dirty dealings, I'm going to put you away."
Law, feeling his heart beating a mile per second, looked away. "You're crazy…" he mumbled.
"It's not too late. I can save you if you admit your crimes."
Pulling his chin out of Smoker's grasp, Law turned and folded his arms. "Like I said, you're crazy, smoke breath."
"Smoke breath? Heh, that's a new one. You're quite witty, aren't you?"
"Urusai…"
"Why do you have such an abrasive personality? It doesn't seem to fit at all with your boyfriend's."
With knitted eyebrows, accompanied by a look of confusion on his face, Law turned and looked back up at Smoker. "What the hell are you talking about?! I don't have a boyfriend!"
"Really? That rubber kid isn't your-"
"No! He's not! I'm not interested in men…" the tattooed man said, closing his eyes. Honestly, why did people assume they were together?
He opened his eyes again when he felt a cold and wet liquid on top of his head. Smoker was grinning down at him and holding a shampoo bottle in his hand.
"Lighten up, kid. You seem very offended that I thought that."
"That's because everyone- no, it's none of your business."
Putting his hands on top of Law's head, Smoker started scrubbing the shampoo in his hair. He didn't know why he was doing it, he just knew this kid needed to smile. Maybe he wasn't so bad under his rough and tough exterior.
"I want you to smile. All I've ever seen you do is frown and glower. Do you even know how to smile?"
"Even if I did," Law began, allowing Smoker to massage his scalp with shampoo, "It'd only be a twisted up frown in disguise."
"Why's that?"
"Because I don't like you, smoke breath."
"I don't believe that. If you didn't, you wouldn't be here with me now."
"I'm only here because you and your goons wouldn't let me go spend the night in Mugiwara's room!"
"Would that make you happy? Being with him and his three other roommates?" Smoker asked, picking up a handful of water and pouring it over the boy's head.
Spitting out the water that had gone into his mouth, and wiping his eyes so they wouldn't sting when he opened them, Law responded uncertainly. "… I don't know. Probably not."
"Be grateful for being here, where you won't be an inconvenience with a nasty attitude. At least with me, you're just a nasty attitude."
"… I am grateful."
"What?"
"I said I'm grateful. It… it was nice of you to bring me here... out of the storm."
"That's more like it."
Wrapping his hand around Smoker's muscular arm as much as he could, Law pulled him closer. "Give me one of your cigars." He whispered.
"Why? Weren't you the one who said smoking was bad?" the smoke-man asked, blowing smoke in the boy's face purposely.
"I don't smoke very often, so it's okay for me to have one every once in a while." Law replied, then slowly pulled one of Smoker's cigars from his mouth and put it into his own.
Smoker looked down at the other as he took long drags from his cigar. After a while, he stopped him by grabbing his small arm. "That's enough."
"Yeah." Law responded, handing the man his cigar back. "I'm done bathing… or soaking."
"Not gonna use the body wash? It's a nice one."
"No, I'm about to go to sleep. Use it yourself." Getting up out of the tub while holding his hand over his privates, Law walked over and picked up the towel he'd gotten from the closet, then started drying off. As he put his clothes on, he blushed when he looked over his shoulder to see Smoker watching him. "What?" he asked defensively.
"Don't wet my bed." The man responded.
"You wish." He said, and then left the bathroom.
…
Lying comfortably under Smoker's sheets, Law kept his eyes open. He was tired, but he also wondered just where his smoky host would be sleeping tonight.
Assuming it was on the couch, he got out from under the sheets and headed to the living room.
Reaching the end of the hallway, he stopped when he saw Smoker sitting on the couch with a book in his hand.
"You're still awake?"
"Yes."
"What do you want?"
"Where… are you going to sleep tonight?" the younger man asked.
"Here on the couch. I've slept in my office many nights before, so this is nothing."
Shocked that someone was willing to sacrifice their own comfort for his sake, Law looked to the floor for a second, then back up to Smoker. "You should sleep in your own bed."
"That's where you're sleeping-"
"Then sleep in it with me. There's more than enough room for two people."
"The couch is-"
"You're the one who went on about me not inconveniencing anyone, yet here you are inconveniencing yourself. I'm not going to be able to sleep knowing someone is uncomfortable because of me."
"That's not-"
Walking over to the couch, Law took the book from Smoker's hand and then headed back to the bedroom. "If you want this back, you'll have to come and get it." He said.
"… You are one complicated kid." He heard the other man say.
Stopping when he got back into the bedroom, Law looked down at the book, trying to read from it. Before he could though, a hand came over his shoulder and pulled it out of his grasp. He turned and saw Smoker standing right up behind him. "You came."
"I was in the middle of reading this. You're a rude guy, you know?"
"Whatever." Law said. Getting up onto the bed again, he pulled the sheets back and got under them again.
Smoker was next to do so, making sure to keep his distance from his guest.
"Good night, smoke breath." Law muttered after a while, and then turned to face the wall.
"Night, rude brat." Smoker said, and then continued reading his book.
Walking into the room while drying his soft head of short, green hair, the shirtless Zoro smiled at Luffy, who was nestled under the large blankets on the bed.
"Luffy, are you awake?" he asked.
Said boy sat up on his elbow and yawned before speaking. "I was waiting for you to come back."
"You didn't have to."
"It's okay. I wanted to." Luffy smiled. He was glad Zoro hadn't taken too long, because he wasn't far from dreamland.
Flicking off the lights and closing the door, Zoro headed over to the bed and then climbed under the sheets with his nakama, who had laid back down on one of the fluffy pillows.
The rain was still pounding against the window, which created a nice mood for going to sleep in. The occasional striking thunder was an added bonus.
But even with that, he still felt… strange.
"Luffy?"
"Mm?" the gum-boy moaned.
"Come over here and sleep next to me." He said.
Sitting up again, Luffy opened his eyes completely. "Zoro…"
"I… I've grown to like sleeping like that with you."
With a tired smile, Luffy crawled over to the marimo and buried his nose in the man's scarred chest. "Zoro, we should decide where to go from here."
"We can talk about it in the morning when we're wide awake. Fair enough?" Zoro responded, wrapping his arms around Luffy's smaller frame.
"Yup!"
"Good night, Luffy."
"Night night, Zoro." The boy said, and then closed his eyes.
In the midst of the violent storm, he knew nothing could make him feel more comfortable than being wrapped in Zoro's warm embrace.
Don't be shy, readers! Let me know what you think! And thank you to those of you who have reviewed, and especially to those who continue to review.
