AN/ Hello again my dear readers, and thank you for all the reviews! Your praises and critiques mean a lot to me, so you guys truly know how to keep me writing haha.
One guest pointed out – in the reviews - that the last chapter was a little strange, considering the past our main characters share. I can't help but agree with you a little, because like I said, it was the most difficult chapter I've ever written. But I hope that you didn't think they're just going to dance on roses from now on, because that definitely isn't the case.
I feel a need to explain a thing or two about chapter 11. One reason why I wrote – or could write - the chapter as I did, was that I took advantage of Doflamingo's split personality. It has been showed in the past chapters that he can have his "soft moments", such as when he let go of Law. But that doesn't mean his darker side is long gone. Pretty much the opposite. In the end of Chapter 10 – Mind Games, I showed you what's going on in Doflamingo's head. So I hope that you can trust me when I say that this fic isn't going to take a turn to a cliché, sweet love story -direction.
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It was early in the morning when Law walked down the corridors of Dressrosa, hoping that he could reach his own room without having to run into anyone. Too bad the luck wasn't on his side today - as if it ever even had been - because the second he turned around the first corner, he came face to face with two black haired women who'd most probably been looking for him. `Oh fuck.´
"Law! Where on earth were you?" Baby 5 shrieked after looking at him like she'd seen a ghost for the first five seconds. "I've called you a million times and searched for you everywhere! What the hell Law? Don't you know how to answer your phone?"
`Great. Just fucking great.´ As if last night's events weren't enough of a headache, he now had to deal with a hysteric Baby 5 too. He was pretty sure that the whole damn universe had decided to turn against him and wanted to stab his back with the knife of karma. Whatever he'd done to make the universe so mad at him, he really wanted to take it all back.
"You can go now. Thanks for keeping an eye on her." He said, lazily waving his sister off with his hand as he walked past her. "Let's go Robin."
"Are you feeling unwell? You look somewhat…" Law could have sworn that Robin's voice had a hint of worry in it when she spoke, but what he didn't know, was that behind him her eyes widened for a brief moment before she stopped speaking with a knowing smile.
"Oh." Was the only thing she used to end her sentence, and Law decided, starting from that moment on, to ignore her too. He didn't know what she knew or what she had figured out, and he certainly didn't even want to.
"What oh?" Baby 5 snapped at the other woman and then turned around to grab Law by his wrist. "And you! You aren't going anywhere. You owe me an explanation." Her glare was horrifying, but not as horrifying as the thought of staying there and explaining why he hadn't came back last night. So he shook her hand off and sighed heavily.
"Why are you so damn noisy this early already? Cut me some slack, will you?" He rolled his eyes over-dramatically slowly and hoped that the gesture would be enough to piss his sister off and get her to leave him alone. Apparently, the universe had mercy on him in this one.
"Seriously Law?" The woman snapped, shooting a glare and gritting her teeth at him. "A `thank you´ would've been enough. No need to be such an asshole."
Law wasn't given the chance to talk back to her as she had already stormed around the corner by the time he came up with anything worth saying. He wasn't exactly proud of himself; being such an ass to his sister when she'd done nothing but help him, but he seriously didn't want to reminisce last night's events, and much less tell her about them.
He sighed heavily and continued his trip to his earlier destination, well aware of the other black haired woman following him just a step behind.
Law had barely even stepped inside his room when his hands had already fumbled a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips. He then made his way to his small, french balcony, inhaled on the cigarette while holding the flame of his lighter at it's tip, and blew out a thick cloud of white smoke.
The light-headed and pleasantly hazy feeling his first morning cigarette provided him was just what he'd needed. The tension and irritation that shone through his faked composure slowly wore off, and he felt more and more like himself after every long drag. It was almost ironic to think that something that shortened your lifespan so drastically, was actually one of the things in your life that gave you the most pleasure.
"You know," Robin started after Law had finished his first cancer roll and was flicking the lighter at his second one. "it's conflicting how you're such a huge health and medicine enthusiastic and yet you're one of the worst chain-smokers I've ever met. I mean you, if anyone, know it shortens your lifespan. Drastically."
For a short moment, Law almost wanted to smile at the fact that the woman had unknowingly thought about the exact same thing as he himself had just a few seconds ago. But he couldn't smile. Not now. All he could do was contemplate on what he'd done a few hours ago and feel a heavy need to hit his head against his french balcony's railing until he lost so much blood that he'd be unable to think about anything.
Law couldn't believe himself. He seriously couldn't. He, who'd always been rational and calm in his decisions, had given in to carnal pleasure and thrown away every sensible thought his mind had contained last night. He'd done something so out of his character that it freaked him out; To the point of getting cold shivers and grimacing involuntarily whenever he thought about it. And that meant every second after he'd woken up in Doflamingo's bed earlier that morning.
Of course he could have blamed his drunken state, but deep inside he knew that he hadn't been that drunk. Maybe there had been a certain amount of alcohol running through his veins at that time, but it wasn't enough for him to blame the booze for his actions. He'd involved himself in something gay with a man who'd done nothing but been cruel to him, and whose noisy love making with other people had kept him awake night after night. As if – practically – having sex with another man wasn't already a horrifying thing enough.
Don't get him wrong. He had enjoyed it, and greatly to add to that. But to a person, who hadn't called it even with his own sexuality and who hadn't actually gone anywhere near to sex if masturbating didn't count, the fact that it was so easy to just give in to physical lust and let go of his sense of responsibility was utterly horrifying. And with a man like Doflamingo to boot.
The man who had practically raped him, after what he had went back to him, only to be thrown away without having a say in the matter. Was he seriously so utterly stupid and easy to deceive that some simple carnal pleasure was enough for him to throw his pride away and become one of the man's bitches? No. That wasn't the case. If it had been anyone else other than Doflamingo, he would've never even thought about getting himself involved with any of that gay stuff.
Law wasn't sure if that was an extenuating circumstance or if it just made it all worse; considering that no-one in their right mind should think like that about a person like Doflamingo. But well, it'd already been made very clear to him that his own mental state didn't fall far from Doflamingo's, so enough about his sanity already. Insane or not, he really had no idea how to deal with all the shit that had happened.
"You fucking stupid idiot!" Law hissed at himself, and his face wrang in pain as his thoughts - once again - had started to run wild, mocking and torturing him from the inside. He had to sink his nails into his own palm - hard - to get a hold of reality and rid himself – momentarily - from his self-hatred.
Then he suddenly remembered that the woman had talked to him earlier.
"We all die eventually." He said nonchalantly, concentrating on the pain in his hand, and the woman replied to his words merely with a quiet chuckle, hopefully unaware of his inner struggles.
The rest of Law's cigarette burned in complete silence. After putting it out, he took a quick shower, put on clean clothes and walked downstairs for breakfast, not even bothering to tell Robin to follow him because she always did. He was thankful to the woman, because all this time, she respected his unspoken wish and kept her mouth shut.
When they finally sat down in the dining hall and started to eat breakfast, Law noted that Baby 5 hadn't exactly put their earlier spat behind her, not like he had even expected for her to. She made it very clear that she was ignoring her; because not only had she turned around in her chair so that her whole body was back against him, she had also switched seats with Sugar, whose seat was at the other end of the table. A bit exaggerating perhaps, but Law couldn't blame her. He had been an ass to her with no good reason.
Why she wasn't yelling her lungs out at him and calling him with names, Law didn't know. Maybe she had realized that there had to be some kind of reason behind his rude act, or maybe she just wasn't pissed off enough to do that. Whichever the reason was, Law didn't complain. Silence/ignorance treatment was much better than it's possible counterpart.
He decided to give her some time to calm down before even trying to apologize, and knowing his sister, it wasn't going to take a long time. Luckily, she was just as fast at forgiving and forgetting her anger as she was at getting angry. Law just had to be patient and wait.
When he was swallowing down his second take of scrambled eggs and sausages, he almost choked on them, bursting into an uncontrollable fit of coughs. Why, you ask? Because right on that ill-fated second, a certain flamboyant man made a showy entrance to the dining hall in his bright pink, fluttering feather-coat by slamming the doors open and storming to the room like a hurricane. `Crap.´
Law didn't have to think twice to realize why the man seemed slightly irritated. He couldn't explain how he knew it, but it was more than obvious that he was the reason to the flamboyant man's irritation. And for that reason, he suddenly became Very interested in the contents of his plate and ruffling his hand through his hair.
Law could feel the moment the man's eyes landed on him, and it took all his willpower to not let the cold shivers – than ran through his spine – be visible to the outside. He pretended that he didn't feel his piercing gaze lingering on his face, waiting for him to raise his gaze to meet it. And he pretended that the gaze didn't ignite every cell in his body on fire.
"Are you alright?" A voice from his other side asked, interrupting Law's trail of thoughts, and he felt a hand – that he figured had to be Robin's – land on his shoulder.
"Yeah, the scrambled eggs just went down the wrong pipe." He answered as reassuringly as he currently could, and then proceeded to stuffing his mouth with a fork-full of those said eggs so that he wouldn't have to say anything more on the subject. From the corner of his eye, he could see how her firm gaze took it's time observing his face, but if she suspected anything, she didn't let it show.
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Doflamingo didn't let his eery gaze leave his favourite raven haired brat's figure even once when he slowly made his way to the end of the table and sat down on his throne. He spread his long legs on the table, then lazily picked up a piece of bread and began tearing small pieces of it, putting them one after another into his constantly chewing mouth.
It was obvious that the brat was avoiding him, but the question was `Why?´. Last night Law had been so bold and oh so nakedly willing in his bed, and then this morning… The brat had actually dared to secretly sneak out of his room without saying a word, and now even avoided his gaze and feigned to be clueless. What the hell had changed the brat's mind so drastically during the few hours they had slept? Was he having second thoughts or what?
A vicious smirk overcame the blond's face as he chuckled amusedly, biting down on the piece of bread in his mouth with just a bit too much force. If the brat thought his regret changed anything, he was wrong. More in wrong than anyone could ever be. He'd had his chance to run away but he had chosen not to use it. And Doflamingo didn't believe in second chances or -thoughts.
"Ne~ Joker." A dragging voice whispered loudly to his ear, tearing his attention away from the raven haired boy, and just when he was about to tell Trebol not to interrupt his meditation, the other man pressed against him even further and continued his whispering: "Over twenty of our men were found dead from the alley behind Pink Lady this morning. The police was already there when our people arrived, but the strippers told Vergo they saw someone carrying Baroque Works' tattoo enter the club early last night."
Doflamingo stopped chewing immediately, turned his gaze – that had now evolved into a glare – to meet Trebol's and growled.
"What?"
Pink Lady was a strip club he owned, located near the southern border of his area, and one of his most profitable businesses. Every single person in the underground world knew better than to make a mess around his favourite club. Because if there was a mess, the police would become suspicious and the business would have to be closed down. And now, Trebol here was telling him that Crocodile had killed his men on his own area, and right behind his favourite club. That man seriously wanted to die.
"Like I said, the police were already there early this morning so we don't know all the details, but according to the strippers, there was only one man. And it wasn't Crocodile himself, so that means that his subordinates aren't weaklings either. If the strippers are telling the truth."
"Well hasn't that been pretty fucking clear since the beginning already? How in hell could a newbie like him stand a chance against me if he didn't have a strong group backing him up?" Doflamingo snapped, the veins on his forehead pulsating threateningly as he glared at his Elite officer through his purple shades. His hands were involuntarily squeezing the armrests until his knuckles turned white, and his head felt like exploding from anger.
Only when Trebol backed a few inches away from him, did he manage to snap himself out of it. No matter how angry he was, he surely didn't want to direct it at his most loyal family member. This wasn't like him.
Trebol, seeing how the other man slightly relaxed on his seat and slowly let go of the armrests, allowed himself to lean back in.
"Ne~ Joker, those bastards did something unforgivable, so I think it's our turn to make our move now, right?" He asked a bit too enthusiastically, considering that these were human lives they were talking about. Under their seemingly humane shells, they were all cold blooded murderers after all.
Doflamingo closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, leaning back on his seat in the process, and then he reached up his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose. Trebol grinned widely and just observed from his own seat, not daring to interrupt the family head's trail of thoughts because he knew that he was going to hear something good soon.
Not a single person from outside the family could have probably believed that a cruel, irrational man such as Doflamingo was capable of thinking calmly, but that's where they were wrong. He was smarter than anyone could even imagine, and the master of scheming cunning plans.
So where was he?
Crocodile and his gang had been out there bugging them for the past six months, but only when the first assassination attempt had occurred, had they started thinking of the Baroque Works as more than just small fries.
Then had came the second assassination attempt, which had really itched his nerves, but because it had been so poorly planned, he hadn't really thought much of it. Not until he had realized that the assassination attempts had been just a distraction. Poorly enough done for him to not think that there was a greater master mind behind them, and just be content with killing the small fry directly involved with the incidents. And well enough planned for his Elite officers to concentrate more on his safety and surroundings instead of there area.
And that's how Crocodile had managed to wreak a havoc all around his territory. Making small attacks here and there, every time showing that they were getting closer and closer to Dressrosa, as if it was a threat. And that's when he and his family had actually bothered to dig up information about Crocodile and his gangsters. There hadn't been much as the group was fairly new, but what they did find out was that Baroque Works had conquered territories from a huge amount of other gangs in a very short time. So they weren't exactly weaklings, even if they ran away from conflict before it could even happen.
When Vergo found out, after asking around in local strip clubs and bars, that Crocodile had a wife, they acted without hesitation. What had been slightly suspicious though, was that the woman was walking around the city without protection; Capturing her had been easier than stealing a candy from a kid.
What had ceased his suspicions had been the fact that all the small attacks everywhere around his territory had stopped immediately after they had captured the woman. So he had thought that he had the upper hand in this war, as Crocodile seemingly valued the life of his dear wife enough to back down from his land.
That belief however, was proven wrong by what Trebol had just said. The man had deceived him again, letting him think that he had the upper hand before making a surprise attack that cost Doflamingo a lot of money. Crocodile obviously didn't care about his poor wife's life because if he had cared, he definitely wouldn't have wreaked a havoc near Pink Lady, probably badly enough to have it closed down for good.
His suspicions about how too easy it had been to kidnap the man's wife had been correct, and he realized it just a bit too late. Crocodile was definitely ten times smarter than any of the thugs he'd been against before, and seemingly cruel enough to sacrifice his own wife for the sake of his own success. He'd even managed to deceive the notorious king of the underworld, Joker. Though from now on, many things were going to change.
If threatening the man by kidnapping his wife wasn't going to be effective, then he just had to skip plan B and jump straight from A to C.
An ominous grin made it's way onto the flamboyant man's lips as he opened his eyes and straightened his posture. After an unmeasured time, that had felt like an eternity in a certain Elite officer's mind, the yakuza boss finally spoke.
"Call everyone for a family meeting tonight. Even Vergo. Tell him that his little scout-trip isn't needed anymore."
"Did you come up with a plan, Joker?" The sluggish man asked, flashing a teeth-showing, enthusiastic smile at his boss. Doflamingo turned his shaded gaze to meet Trebol's, and then he suddenly burst out into loud, howling laughter.
"Fuffuffuffu, I certainly did."
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Law probably made a record in speed-eating when he finished the rest of his food, and much to his surprise, Robin was pretty much done with her meal at the same time with him. Probably because she ate only one plate of food whereas he ate three.
And so, without sparing even one glance to the blond man he guessed was observing his every move, Law left the dining hall with Robin following him a few steps behind, just like she always did nowadays. They left just in time to miss Doflamingo's ominous laughter echoing through the room.
Much to his annoyance, they just had to run into Diamante on the very first hallway they walked down on. The brunette was accompanied by Bellamy, so Law figured they were headed for breakfast, not like he actually cared what the asshole was up to. It was sad that his – much less annoying - better half had such a bad taste in men.
Law could sense the anxiety and fear coming from Robin when she saw the Elite officer walking towards them, and he could have sworn he saw her take a step toward him as if for cover.
"It's good to see that you've finally found your soul mate." The brunette mocked with a grin, stopping right in front of Law to prevent him from going past him. "Even if it's our very own hostage bitch." Diamante laughed, clicking his tongue mischievously and taking a moment to shower in the pleasure that the woman's obvious fear awakened inside him before he directed his gaze back to Law.
"But still, I'm happy for you." The man grinned down at him mockingly, looking unbelievably ridiculous in Law's opinion.
Law counted down from ten to zero in his head before even bothering to open his mouth. His morning had already been bad enough, and now he had to deal with this asshole as well. `Go to hell universe.´
"Thanks." Law chirped, feigning friendliness in his voice. "It's been a long time since this house had intelligent life in it, other than myself, so she's a very welcome change compared to your ugly face for example."
The brunette squinted his eyes dangerously, wrinkling the red stripes that ran across his face in the progress, but before he could say anything, Law hurried to continue:
"A hostage bitch, or whatever you said she was, is far better company than an idiot whose only skill is to wriggle like a dog in heat when Doflamingo says a positive thing or two about a bread you've baked. Which, by the way, actually tastes like shit."
Seeing the blind rage that took over the Elite officer's face was totally worth Law's wasted time. The satisfaction it gave him was the best thing in that morning so far, even if the standards for that weren't exactly high right now.
Bellamy, who realized just how dangerous direction this conversation was heading towards, quickly stepped in before his lover did something irreversible. "What Diamante meant, Law, was that it's weird that you're friends with a woman who wants the young master dead." The blond tried his best to stand up for his brunette lover without being too rude towards his friend, and that wasn't an easy task.
"We're not friends." Law snapped. "I'm just not an inhuman bastard who makes people walk around naked in chains, covered in their own shit like the rest of you are." He drilled his gaze through Bellamy's eye-holes, sounding and looking a tiny bit more hostile than he had intended to. Not like you could blame him though. Diamante had chosen the worst possible morning to piss him off and Bellamy just happened to have chosen the wrong side in this fight.
"She wasn't actually covered-" Bellamy tried to start his defense, blinking his eyes in slight shock at his friend's hostile attitude that wasn't directed only at Diamante – which usually was the case - but at him too, but Law didn't let him finish his sentence.
"It's her husband who wants Doflamingo dead. And before you say anything, I know that it's necessary to have an ace up your sleeve in these business, but what's just plain sick is that your ace here is a living human being."
Diamante and Bellamy both stared at Law in silence. Diamante's silence was a mixture of anger and some kind of twisted self-satisfaction about getting Law so pissed off, and Bellamy's silence was screaming confusion. But neither of them had anything to counter Law's words with. To them, this hostage-situation was just a mandatory precaution, but to Law, it was a declaration of war against humanity. There was no way that a couple of yakuzas could ever understand a normal person's view on the matter.
"Now, if you'll excuse me," Law started, grabbing Robin by her wrist and guiding her past the silent couple. "I have a date with your hostage in the library." He finished with an obviously faked smile on his lips.
They had already almost reached the end of the corridor by the time Diamante finally came up with something "wise enough" to shout after them.
"You have a seriously bad Stockholm syndrome bitch."
Law answered the man's idiotic comment by flicking his finger up, not even bothering to look back.
"You should come up with better insults to amuse me with before you open your mouth next time, shitty-officer!"
Only a minute or two later, Law had already seated himself comfortably on his favourite armchair in the library and picked up a good book to read. And Robin was right next to him. He took a note that she had already became more relaxed, compared to how she had been in front of Diamante a while ago; all tensed and afraid. Law didn't admit to himself that it was part of the reason why he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
His relief wasn't long-lasting though, because just after his sigh, the woman opened her mouth and spoke.
"You're already spending all of your time in the house with me, even if your whole family seems to hate you for that, so why are you pissing them all off even further by standing up for me? Just let them say what they want. Because no matter how deeply I dislike that man, he's telling the truth. I am your hostage."
Law sighed again. This time in irritation. It was true that he didn't like seeing a human being treated like an object, and felt like he needed to say something about it, but mostly he was just acting with his family like he always did. There were few he was on good terms with, or considered as his close family, and Diamante was most certainly not part of either of the groups. Robin or not, they would always be on each others' throats. Period.
"Just be worried for yourself, Stockholm syndrome." He snarled, not even bothering to raise his gaze from his book to see the woman's reaction to his words.
Robin gave him a dry laugh before she spoke again.
"You know what I mean. Why?"
Law – once again – sighed, and very heavily this time, before he closed his eyes. He kept them shut for a few seconds, as if he was meditating. He then put a bookmark on the page he was currently on and placed the book on the table seated between them, raising his uninterested gaze to meet the woman's curious one.
"Why am I spending so much time with you even if my family is so strongly against it, and rub it at their faces?" He tried, and took the woman's small, amused smile as a `Yes´. He then shrugged his shoulders and seemed to give it a short thought before giving Robin his reply.
"Well, first of all." He started his explanation with – again – another quiet sight. God damn he was sighing awfully lot today. "Like I told you already, I'm part of this family but I'm not a yakuza, so I don't agree with most of their twisted shit, such as taking you as a hostage."
The woman looked like she was going to explode from the want to ask him about it, but just like the first time when he had told her that he wasn't a yakuza even if he was part of the Donquixote's, she said nothing. That's just how she was. She read other people's thoughts and emotions, and acted accordingly. Another good reason to hang out – or more like hang inside - with her; she was much less annoying than everyone in his family.
"And second." He held up two of his fingers. "Like I said to Diamante, in a house full of yakuza, it's rare to find intelligent company. So yeah, that leaves me with you as my only option unless I want to spend all my time with people like him." He finished his sentence with an emphasizing grin.
Robin gave him a raise of eyebrows, and then went into a thoughtful state for a moment. When she opened her mouth next time, she had a somewhat sad smile on her lips.
"If we didn't come from the families we come from..." She started, leaving the rest of her sentence hanging unspoken and free for Law to catch.
"We could be friends." He said with a nod, looking somewhat apologetic which he actually truly was. It was such a pity that they had been made to be rivals.
"And third." Law started after seeing her sad expression, holding up just as many fingers. "I enjoy pissing off that asshole of an Elite officer, so hanging out with you is practically the same as hitting a gold mine."
After hearing Robin's condemning – but also very amused – snort, Law picked up his book from the table and made a silent decision to spend the next few hours running from his problems. And he hoped that The Interventional Cardiac Catheterization Handbook he held in his hands would help him with that.
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After dinner, which had been eaten exceptionally late that evening because of a sudden family meeting that had taken place in the dining hall, Law came face to face with a problem that he – at some point – inevitably had to deal with. That problem's name was Donquixote Doflamingo, and that problem literally lowered himself to Law's level when they ran into each other on the corridors.
"Good morning Law." The flamboyant man greeted with him a grin, in a tone that hid a secret meaning behind it. As if his choice of words wasn't already clear enough. Telling someone good morning, when it was already way past 7 in the evening. Pretty obvious.
Baby 5, who was following Doflamingo a few steps behind, looked puzzled because of her `young master's´ greeting, and Law didn't even have to look behind over his shoulder to know that Robin was probably just as confused as she was.
"Morning." Law gave the man a quick greeting-nod before he attempted to walk past him as fast as he could. There was just one little problem... He couldn't: Doflamingo immediately grabbed him by his shoulder with enough power to prevent him from taking even one more step forward, and that if something got Law to curse under his breath.
"Trying to escape again?" The man grinned a meaningful grin down at him and straightened his posture. "Wasn't sneaking out of my room this morning enough escaping for one day? Fuffuffu."
Law glared at the yakuza boss and tried to fight back the red colour that was threateningly crawling it's way up to his cheekbones. `Seriously?´ He questioned the man with his glare. `Do we really have to go through this conversation here?´
As if the blond could have read Law's thoughts, he turned his head sideways – giving Law a good view of his deliciously strong jawbone - and talked to Baby 5.
"Take the woman with you and proceed with the plan like we agreed."
"Yes, young master." Baby 5 nodded and immediately stepped forward to grab Robin by her wrist and drag her along to wherever she was headed to.
Law twirled around, getting a glimpse of Robin's worried face staring back at him over her shoulder before she disappeared behind the corner together with Baby 5.
"What was that about? What plan?" Law asked, throwing his hands in the air to emphasize his confusion. Doflamingo just shook his head, making it very clear to him that it had everything to do with top-secret yakuza-shit and nothing to do with him. Not very reassuring.
"Baby 5's not going to hurt her, right?" Law couldn't help but ask that question. Even if her sister had shown her kind side to Robin during the woman's stay here, it had been only because he had initially asked for her to do that. In the end, she was still a yakuza; capable of killing and torturing people, and no matter how much it had looked like it, Robin wasn't her friend but her hostage.
Doflamingo grinned in amusement, slightly tilting his head sideways. "Fuffuffu. I've just ordered her to keep our hostage safe in case something happens. But that's not what I'm here to talk about Law, though you probably figured it out already."
"Are you expecting for something to happen?" Law hurried, half suspicious about what was happening in this house and half desperate to keep the man from telling him what he'd came here to talk about. As if Law didn't have a hunch already.
Doflamingo clicked his tongue disapprovingly and shook his head to let Law know he was prying too much. Then he let go of Law's shoulder and waved a hand to the direction of his room.
"Would you like to talk in a slightly more private place?" The man asked, flashing his line of perfect teeth down at Law as he reached his hand forward, like if he was offering it to Law.
Law hesitated only for a short second before he shook his head. Just the thought of going back to the room where just last night he had given himself every reason to bang his head against every wall he came across brought shivers running up his spine. And going to any closed room together with Doflamingo, where the man could do things beyond anyone's imagination to him, didn't seem like a good idea at all.
"I'm fine just here." Law said and cocked his jaw up proudly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Very well then." The man spoke with a mischievous grin, pulling his hand back to himself before he started a silent staring-competition with Law.
Too bad his opponent wasn't willing to play with him. Law sighed heavily before he started talking.
"What do you want? I'm not in the mood to stay here and listen to your riddles so just speak straight." He sounded so calm and composed that he almost managed to convince even himself. If only it had been true. His hands were sweating and itching to run through his hair multiple times, and his heart was beating faster than ever. That's how nervous he was right at that moment, because he hadn't exactly been preparing himself for this conversation all day long. Pretty much just the opposite.
Doflamingo smirked at the brat's arrogance, thinking about giving him a round of sole-man's applause for it. That's just how convinced he was about this tough act. Law's body was slightly, but still visibly shivering, and his cheeks were healthy colored. Well in case the person had been someone other than Law, the colour on his cheeks wouldn't have been anything abnormal. But this was Law we're talking about. The pale white brat whose cheeks were always colorless.
"What I want, is for you to tell me why you're avoiding me, when I pretty clearly told you that you've ran out of time." The man asked, raising his eyebrows as he brought his face slightly closer to Law's. And Law wasn't backing down. Not yet at least.
"I'm not avoiding you. You're imagining things." Law rolled his eyes as he shrugged because he didn't want to look at Doflamingo in the eyes. Or more like `in the shades´.
"Oh I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining things Law. Because even now, you're still avoiding my gaze." The man chuckled in amusement, leaning even further forward and stopping only when there was an inch or two between his and Law's slightly red face. His breath heated up the brat's face even more.
"I was drunk and made a mistake that I regret. Enough of a reason for you?" Law snapped, glaring at the man as arrogantly as he could when he refused to listen to the urge that told him to lean away from the man. Or was it telling him to lean towards the man? He wasn't actually sure.
What Law had expected to happen was for Doflamingo to get seriously mad at him and for some fast growing, bulging veins to appear on the man's forehead, but no. The man's forehead didn't even flinch, if you didn't count the few faint wrinkles forming on it when his grin grew wider and wider. The grin was so wide that Law couldn't remember the last time he'd seen one that big.
"Fuffuffu." The man laughed, never letting his gaze leave Law's face even if he slightly tilted his head backwards. "You can call it a mistake and pretend to regret it if you want, as long as we both know you enjoyed it just as much as I did. If not even more. Fuffuffu." He hummed in a low, satisfied manner, and just when Law was about to argue him, he pressed a finger on the boy's soft lips and continued talking, though this time the tone in his voice was more serious.
"I can join you in your little game of tag if you really insist on playing it so hard, but remember that I'll always catch you, no matter how fast you run." The man ran his fingers along the side of Law's face, tilting his head sideways as if to get a better view of what was in front of him. "Poor Law. How long will it take for you to realize that you really can't escape anymore?"
Law slowly swallowed once, then twice. He tried to track the man's fingers with his eyes but they disappeared under his jaw before he could catch glimpse of them. Then, when he had nothing else to avoid the man's gaze with, he closed his eyes and settled for feeling the touch of the fingers running on his skin, along his jawline and all the way down to his throat. Then he swallowed for the third time.
"What the hell are yo-" Law started, but his words were cut off before he could finish his sentence. For a second, his vision went blank as he felt the fingers on his throat tighten around it, but they also let go of him just as quickly as they had initially tried to hurt him. A quiet sigh of relief escaped from his lips when the grip on his Adam's apple was released, but what happened next caught him completely off guard. Doflamingo kissed him. It wasn't a gentle brush of lips – like to be expected – but a rough, `you are mine´ -claiming kiss with a strong hand pressing at his jawbones to prevent him from turning his head away.
Law had been caught off guard so badly that he had no idea how to react. All he knew was that all of a sudden his head felt very light and that his knees were threatening to betray him any second now.
"I'm showing you that you're mine." The man spoke against his lips, and by the time he was finished, he had sucked Law's lower lip into his mouth and bit down on it until blood gushed into both their mouths, mingling with loads of thick saliva.
Law's eyes widened in shock, and he cried shortly - but loudly - when he felt the man's teeth sinking to his lip. It hurt like hell. When the man released his lips and pulled back, Law immediately sucked his own, metallic -tasted lip into his mouth to ease the pain, but when he tried to put a hand above it, the man grabbed him by his wrist and swiftly slammed his hand against the wall.
"You're mad! Are you trying to bite my lip off?" Law exclaimed so loudly that his voice probably echoed through the next few corridors as well. He stared at the man with his eyes wide from disbelief and abhorrence, stroking his lower lip with his tongue as if that was going to miraculously heal the wound.
Doflamingo grinned down at the boy who looked back at him with his big, gray orbits and just let his smirk grow wider. He pressed on the skin below the boy's mouth and then pulled down, causing enough pressure to pull the lip out of it's protecting mouth. The younger male stared at him in silence as he himself watched how his thumb ran across the boy's wounded lip, smearing the blood on it like messy lipstick. He was enthralled.
When Law noticed that the man was closing in the gap between them once again, he tried to avoid contact by turning his head to his side, but soon found it being pulled back to it's original position by force. That's when he noticed that he was leaning against a wall with Doflamingo's body pressing against his, and he had no idea when or how they had moved there.
Law's lower lip trembled when something wet brushed across it in slow-motion, and then it trembled again, just like it did every time the man licked on his small, bleeding wounds after that. And all he could do was just stand still and repeatedly keep on asking himself what the hell was going on here.
When man finally – after a while that had felt like an eternity to Law – pulled himself away and spoke, Law had a hard time listening to anything he said. His mind was in a turmoil.
"I want to torture you for messing my head up this badly." Doflamingo said darkly, licking his lips and savoring the metallic taste of Law's blood on them. Then he raised his hand to Law's throat, feeling the swallow that slowly flowed down the boy's pipe, never tightening his grasp though.
Law, realizing that the man wasn't going to strangle him, cleared his throat with slight difficulties. He didn't know what the man was thinking about and hell, he surely had no idea what the man's words meant. And he wanted to know. He had to know.
"Messing your head up?" Law's voice trembled slightly as he spoke and he put all the blame for that on the man's hand which was still hovering above his throat. The rough fingertips brushed against his skin every now and then, igniting his throat on fire from both sides. The sensation was so realistic that it made Law wonder if his throat was actually burning.
"Fufufu. Exactly, Law." The man whispered, slowly letting go of Law's neck and freeing his own thumb to brush it gently against the already dried up wound on the boy's soft lower lip. "Every time you appear before my eyes, I feel such a strong urge to touch and hold you that it drives me crazy." The man chuckled darkly, as if his words held a hidden joke behind them. "Fuffuffu, did you hear that? You're driving me crazy." The man burst into loud laughter, sounding and looking fearfully lot like a madman. And that's what he was; a madman.
Law quietly listened to the man's laughter, concentrating on breathing in and out evenly, trying to shake the confusing emotions out of his head. But in vain. His mind had just became a bigger mess than it'd been earlier that day. His thoughts were running free in and out of his head and he could only catch one here and one there.
The man had just practically made a confession – or the closest thing resembling a confession you could get from Doflamingo – and said that it was the reason why he wanted to torture Law. That made absolutely no sense. `As if his actions and words have ever even made sense.´ A quiet voice inside his head mocked and Law forced it to silence.
"But no matter what, I won't let go of you Law." The man suddenly whispered against Law's smarting lower lip, causing him to startle. When had the man even closed in the distance between their faces again? Law had no idea. All he knew was that the man's warm breath – together with his sweet flowery scent - was suddenly hitting his face again, tickling his skin and making his lips and mouth dry. "Ever." Doflamingo added so silently that Law more felt the word being spoken against his lips than heard it. And then, the man captured his lips with another fierce kiss.
This time, Law knew how to react to the feeling of the man's lips clashing against his. Or more like his lips acted on an instinct like if they had their own free will. Law slowly – but surely - opened his lips and invited the tongue -that lit his whole demeanor on fire - into his wet, heated cavity. His hands desperately reached up for the man's neck on their own volition, and his willpower just wasn't enough to get himself to stop. Or more like he didn't have a willpower at all. Everything around him melted into hazed nothingness, and the only two things existing in his world at that moment were him and Doflamingo.
Law heard a low groan escape through the man's wanting, rough lips but he had no time to think about it. The man rolled his tongue around his, intertwining their wet organs together as he deepened the kiss and ravished his mouth. It felt like if their mouths were melting together and becoming one in the midst of their heated kisses, and still Law thought it wasn't enough. No matter how much his brain told him to stop and get away from the man, his heart and body made it impossible for him to leave and break off their contact. How could anything that felt so right be wrong? If Law had listened to his brain, he would've gotten a million reasons in less than a millisecond, so he didn't. He shut down his reasonable side and gave in to Doflamingo's temptation, refusing to part with the body that was oh' so alluringly pressing against his.
Law thought he heard a noise that neither of them could've produced but decided to ignore it. He grasped the soft baby hair at the nape of the man's neck and pulled him closer by it, letting the man's tongue run wild in his mouth without even trying to fight it back. Their salivas mixing with a hint of metal tasted delicious and brought Law on the edge of letting go of the last bits of his sanity. Because he felt like he was going to go crazy if he couldn't get more of this. More of Doflamingo.
Another noise that didn't belong to his world reached Law's ears, but he didn't care about it. Not until he felt the rough lips against his slowly fade away and blend in with the rest of the nothingness.
Law was left alone -figuratively -, leaning against the wall and panting heavily, unable to control his salivating mouth and tongue that still desperately sought for it's companion. His mind was misty, shaking from the uncontrollable want to devour the mouth he'd felt against his just a few seconds ago. A want to devour the man himself as whole. It wasn't until he heard the same noise for the third time that he realized it was someone clearing their throat. His eyes shot wide open and he turned his head sideways, to the direction that Doflamingo was already facing, and felt a sudden need to hide deep underground when he saw Vergo's awkward figure standing just a few meters away from them.
`Oh fucking crap.´ All of a sudden, Law was back to being sober, and a want to hit his head against the wall behind him took over his whole now Very clear mind.
"It's time, Joker." Vergo spoke shortly, avoiding eye contact with the both of them, looking way more awkward than Law did. Law, on the other hand, looked like a lifeless corpse with his paler than ever face and horror glazed eyes. He prayed for god, allah, buddha and every other unearthly entity he'd heard of to let the floor engulf him right there and now.
Doflamingo, who didn't seem to be even the slightest bit of bothered by the situation like the other two were, nodded shortly in agreement and then turned back to face Law. Or more like his doll-like body that had frozen in it's place and looked like it would shatter to the ground any second now. He leaned forward until his lips were touching Law's earlobe and whispered his words only for the boy to hear.
"Ever, Law. Remember that."
The words repeated themselves countless times in Law's head, haunting him with their echoes, and he felt his knees buckle for a short moment before he regained his stance and found the strength in his legs, just in time before he would've fallen down and shattered to the ground.
"Everyone will be gone from Dressrosa before midnight and you'll too. Pack your bags and stay at your cook friend's place for a few days. Don't come back home until I tell you to, no matter what. That's an order, Law." Doflamingo spoke, this time in a normal voice that all the three of them could hear. He then let his thumb brush over Law's lower lip for one last time, so gently that it could barely be counted as touching. And then, he was gone and so was Vergo. It was only Law and his vividly beating heart on that enormous, lonely corridor, slowly letting his back slide against the wall, landing on the floor with his powerless limbs.
He sat there for an uncounted amount of time, breathing heavily and listening to his own heartbeat, trying to comprehend what had just happened and what the hell was going on in his mind.
Slowly, after a long while, he raised his hand up to reach his face and brushed a couple of his fingers against his mouth. The ghost of Doflamingo's thumb still lingered on them as a tingling sensation, reminding Law about something that demanded for his immediate attention:
His lower lip still smarted. Badly.
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Thank you for reading – once again -, and please review!
This chapter didn't have much of action in it but I promise you that the next few chapters will be much more action-filled. There is a shit-storm coming, be prepared haha.
And haha, I bet some of you were fooled by the headline of this chapter. Sorry, no finger plays. At least not just yet lolol.