Chapter 25: Lovesick
Law started towards the bed as soon as Luffy started out the room and down the stairs. The bed sheet was coming off on one side and the blanket was hanging from the edge like a nauseated cloth snake. The man picked up the pillow he had thrown on the floor as he went, glancing at the fallen laundry basket on one side. Did he do all this? Realizing that he didn't remember much of his outburst made it even more frustrating that he'd irrationally lashed out at Luffy.
The phone on the bedside table caught his eye. Law didn't even remember putting it there but he was glad he found it now. The light from the screen made him wince a bit, jarring him enough to make him sit on the bed. His eyes had become too sensitive thanks to being cooped up for a few good hours. After a blink or two, Law managed to check the screen properly. There was a message or two in the SA group chat that he assumed could be read later. Cora-san had texted him to get well and so did Baby Five. Law mentally noted to reply to them later as he composed a message to someone else.
To: Bonney.
I did it again.
Send.
It was a short message but Law trusted Bonney would know what it would be about. This wasn't the first time he'd sent her those exact words after one of his sick-and-angry episodes. He'd been in even more disastrous relationships before—different partners, same vicious cycle. There would be a point of argument escalating into an explosive fight. Sometimes, the relationship would end there. Other times, the other party would try to hold on. Regardless of the outcome, Law's guilty ass would later send some vague text to Bonney who would call to offer some comfort. She wasn't tolerant about Law's tendency to hurt other people but she was very kind about it at the same time.
Law wasn't going to lie. Part of him hoped his issues wouldn't rear its ugly head at Luffy but he wasn't stupid enough to actually cling onto this wish either. He even knew better than be surprised or pleased when Luffy said he was going to stay. That's what everyone said at first. They probably thought that they were going to be the one to change him to eventually realize that, nope, they couldn't stand it. He wasn't worth the suffering. And they left.
But Luffy...
Luffy didn't even ask him to change anything. He didn't even force to make sense of his irrationally scared and angry human. Law was "broken". Luffy acknowledged that. However, there was no blatant promise to fix him. In fact, it was like Luffy knew it was going to happen again. And when it did, they'd be going through it together, not against one another. Law had to admit, that actually made him feel like he, not his irrational, uncontrollable bitch fits, mattered.
The phone buzzed.
Bonney.
You okay hun? Want me to call?
Law sighed with a smile.
No. We're ok now.
Send.
He's amazing, Bon. I love him.
Send.
Law was staring at the last three words of his message when Bonney's reply came in.
That's great! I'm happy for you! :)
Law smiled. Happy. Yes, he really was.
"That's not what I meant!" Luffy's rather frustrated voice from downstairs made Law forget that he was going to send a "Thank you" text to Bonney. What was that about? Who was he talking to?
"We're fine is what I meant." Luffy could be heard trying to level his voice. "I want to stay with him. And he wants the same thing, too. He told me so."
"I had this agreement with him, not you." Familiar male voice. Law couldn't recognize yet.
"I'm his lover!"
"Yes, not his representative. If he wants to cancel, I want to hear it from him."
"Oh my god, I already told you! He's sick!"
"Does that mean he can't talk?"
"That means he needs to rest!"
"Luffy?" Law descended the stairs carefully. The lights were still off. Demons didn't need it. Law didn't mind. Downstairs, Law could see Luffy's form fidget, turning around swiftly with a tinge of panic in his body language. Standing in the middle of the living room was… Who was that? Law squinted. Sabo?
"L-Law…!" Luffy was suddenly beside him, holding him carefully by the elbow. "What did I say about the stairs?"
"It was one time." Law mumbled and looked at who he was assuming to be Luffy's blonde brother. "Good evening."
"Good evening." Came the reply. Law confirmed the voice to be Sabo's.
Consecutive heavy knocks on the backdoor made Law gasp in surprise, which flipped a switch for Luffy's instinct to kick into overdrive. The incubus picked up his human in one movement and dashed down the stairs. Like most of Luffy's lightning speed activities, it was nothing but a blur to Law. All he knew was that he quickly went from being picked up on the stairs to being dumped unceremoniously on the couch.
"Luf…!" Law began to complain but couldn't finish thanks to his swaying vision. Any more sudden movement and he was going to hurl. God damn, how could demons be so fast and not get motion sickness?
"Oh, I forgot about Ace." Sabo sounded like he'd innocently left a bag of groceries somewhere unusual.
"I'll get it." Luffy quickly strode towards the back door where the thunderous knocking persisted. Law remained lying on the deformed couch where he tried to reorient himself.
"Where the hell is Sabo!?" Ace yelled from outside. Law could practically hear the fire in his voice.
"Here!" Sabo answered from the living room.
"Drunken rabbits!" That was Luffy. Law felt his body stiffen. Did he just say drunken rabbits?
"Did you just fucking forget about me out here!?" Ace's angry voice was still coming from the garden.
"Let me guess how many! I guess four!" Luffy's voice was high-pitched and excited. Did he mean four drunken rabbits? Law couldn't hear Ace's response.
"Sorry, Ace!" Sabo laughed contrary to his apology. The approaching thuds of running feet prompted Law to attempt to sit up. There wasn't enough time for him to prepare for the uncomfortable shaking of the couch as Luffy clambered over it from the back and onto Law's lap. Jesus, shit, if he hadn't spent years of his youth being sick and getting a handle on nausea, he'd be throwing up buckets right about now.
"Law!" Luffy's eyes shone excitedly as he looked up. Nausea be damned. How was anyone to be pissed at that?
"Ace brought us drunken rabbits, sunshine! Come see!"
And Law was on his feet before he knew it. The lights were still off but Luffy managed to pull him along without crashing him into furniture.
Law wasn't really sure what exactly he was expecting to see when he got outside. Perhaps four slurring rabbits swaying side-to-side? Intoxicated rabbit-based demons that Law's never heard of before (until now)? He was fairly sure, however, that he was not expecting to see what seemed to be a big ceramic jar measuring up to Ace's waist. It had linen cloth over it and tied with rope around the sides of the mouth. Was there a reason Ace was standing proudly next to it?
"Are the drunken rabbits inside?"
There was a bit of horror in Law's voice that Luffy didn't seem to have heard.
"Yes, munchkin! Look at it!"
Law's brain wasn't working quickly enough to come up with a decent excuse not to do that. He was at least sane enough not to say something like "and set the demonic critters free?" That would be rude. So he let Luffy take him by the hand to lead him from the back door and towards the ominous jar of bunny death. Sabo followed just a few paces away, Law noted, as he felt the cold grass against the soles of his own bare feet.
When they were close enough, the Ace's tail burst into flames and whipped to one side so it could light the end of the rope. The linen caught fire in no time, revealing a suspiciously thick wooden lid over the jar. Law's hand squeezed Luffy's fingers like some sort of warning about the possibility of rabid drunken rabbits leaping out.
Law was ready to jump back when Ace lifted the lid but the smell of alcohol threw him off. Luffy tugged him forward excitedly before he could ask anything. The sudden movement made him wobble and his vision swayed, prompting an apology from his demon who immediately steadied him with a hand on the small of his back. By the time Law's vision had stabilized, he was already looking into the jar.
Now Law was expecting rabbits, yes. The fact that they were skinned, possibly cured, and now currently submerged in an alcohol-smelling substance was a surprise. But that proved of little importance because what he didn't expect—couldn't have expected—in any of his horror-filled scenarios was the size! Each of it was roughly the size of a goat! Thankfully, the rabbits were dead so Law did not have to worry about getting chomped right in the neck.
"Those are some fucking impressively big rabbits."
Doctor Hiluluk would do circus tricks to get his hands on something like this. And that wasn't to say it was silly. In fact, Law really wouldn't mind studying these himself.
"You're very fuckin' welcome." Ace crossed his arms over his bare chest and nodded proudly. "I actually caught a giant boar for you yesterday but no one was home so Sabo and I ate it."
"A giant boar?" Law looked at Ace and then Sabo. "Like how giant?"
"Giant boars are big!" Luffy chirped, making a gestural estimate with his arms. "The size of your car! Maybe bigger!"
Law spared Luffy a glance and then looked at Sabo as if to confirm. His steampunk get up seemed to be worth commenting on—why was he barefooted?—but not now. The talk of giant animals was far too interesting.
"Yeah. About the size of a car." Sabo nodded, adjusting his thickly stitched collar. "Tusks about the length of my arm."
"How?" Law turned for a closer look at the rabbits inside the jar. There were some leaves among other things floating in it. He also caught a whiff of pepper. "Did you…" The strong smell of the alcohol made him to dart his head back and cough a bit. "Did you… Mana something this or… Or something…?"
After a short muttering of "Mana something?", Sabo laughed and said, "No. Animals sometimes tend to grow big like this in Punk Hazard."
Punk Hazard. These things were from Punk almost-fucking-died-there Hazard—that mountain where Eustass Kid dragged them into. God damn it. What would Law have done if he came across a god forsaken giant boar during the ordeal? What could he have done against tusks that could skewer a vehicle?
"What's the fluid?" Law was very tempted to dip a finger in it. "Smells like alcohol."
"It is an alcoholic brew." Sabo said as Ace walked around him, mumbling something about fire. "My human usually concocts it for her uncles. They love it."
"Yo." Ace gestured at Sabo. "Bring 'em over here."
The jinn carried the ceramic jar—but why was he barefoot?—with ease towards the center of the garden. The liquid swished around audibly but didn't spill.
"So they're called drunken rabbits because they're immersed in alcohol." Law spoke to no one in particular as he rubbed his chin. That made sense. The question here, however, was why they had to be in alcohol and why Ace had to bring four of it over.
"Have you had drunken rabbit before?" Luffy asked.
"Had?" Law turned to his small boyfriend. "As in dissect?"
"Dis—What the hell is that, you cute silly dumb-dumb!?" Luffy laughed, hugging Law by the waist. "Had as in eat!"
Eat. He said eat. As in put into mouth, chew, swallow, digest kind of eat. Law blinked and looked at the jar again. Eat that? So that wine was marinade!?
"The wine itself goes well with the rabbits!" Ace said from the middle of the garden, making Law whip around just in time to see a large ball of fire burst out of thin air. Shadows stretched across the garden as the blaze twisted into a very interesting two-pronged bonfire. But that wasn't what stunned Law. It was the fact that these demons were planning dinner that involved marinated dead giant killer rabbits from Punk Hell-zard and washing it down with said marinade.
"What's wrong, cheesecake?" Luffy nudged him gently. "You can't eat this?"
"Can't eat this?" Ace and Sabo chorused, looking back at the both of them.
"He's sick." Luffy pouted as he turned towards his brothers. "I'm not sure if it's okay for him to eat drunken rabbits."
Oh. Oh, that was a very good excuse. Or at least that's what Law thought until he saw the crestfallen look on Ace's face.
"Wha… What do you mean?" The fire demon's shoulders dropped in dismay. "B-b-but…! But this is my apology token!"
"Apology token?" Law tilted his head.
"Yeah. For wrecking your house and trying to fry your throat among other vital organs." Ace was now also pouting as he looked longingly at the large ceramic jar. "Would you prefer the giant boar? I tried hunting for one again today but all I could find were these large rabbits. I got one for each of us, too."
"Which was stupid because he's the recipient of the apology, not us. We don't need to eat this. He does." Sabo sighed, making gestures and seemingly not making a proper point. "But drunken rabbits taste so good, I was curing 'em before I knew it."
"Yeah." Ace nodded. "Drunken rabbits are so good."
"So good." Luffy shook his head sadly but leaned up and whispered "Not as good as you, though" to Law's ear.
Luffy's comment aside, Law thought Ace's gesture was… really nice, to be honest. He didn't really think Luffy's brothers—okay, maybe demons in general—would spare a thought about apologies let alone have tokens of sincerity. So did Ace hunt the rabbits and Sabo clean it? And Sabo's human made the wine? They exerted all that effort for him?
Fuck, now Law felt bad for not wanting to eat this.
But sanitary issues.
And food poisoning.
But the dejected look on these demon's faces!
God damn it.
"It's not that I can't eat it. I probably can." Law said, scratching his head as he mentally counted the many ways he was going to regret this. "It's just that I haven't seen rabbits this big before. I was wondering what I could have done if I came across a giant wolverine or something while I was running aimlessly at Punk Hazard yesterday."
"Yesterday?" Ace frowned.
"At Punk Hazard?" Sabo turned to Law and then at Luffy who looked like he'd stopped breathing for a second. "Luffy, you brought your human to Punk Hazard yesterday?"
"I…"
"Hold on. Sorry for not being clear on that." Law was quick to interject. "Actually, the werewolves…"
"Werewolves!?" Ace and Sabo chorused with wide eyes. The bonfire flared as if to mimic their alarm. Law closed his mouth immediately and turned to Luffy who was biting his lower lip. Okay. Something was wrong. Law may or may not have fucked up but his money was on the former.
"Luffy." Ace walked right through the fire to approach his incubus brother. Parts of his body turned to flames and the tips of his hair turned to embers. The tattoo on his left arm glowed eerily. Law thought back to the words I am fire.
"We got out of there." Luffy himself didn't sound convinced. "I managed to beat them up."
"Why was Law running aimlessly?" Ace was frowning seriously as his tail swished back and forth restlessly. "Are you saying you were playing tag in Punk Hazard?"
"No!"
"Were you trying to fuck him in Punk Hazard?" Sabo asked that with a serious straight face. Law wasn't sure how to feel.
"I wish." Luffy groaned.
"Was he trying to fuck you in Punk Hazard?" Ace leaned forward.
"Werewolves snatched me and he had to get me back." Law spoke up before the assumptions became any sillier. He'd have thought the whole conversation was a prank if he didn't know that dealing with demons meant crazy could be easily confused with normal. But the atmosphere hadn't turned any lighter. That alone was enough proof that despite how pointless and disjointed the conversation was to Law, none of the three demons thought of this as silly at all. It actually looked to be quite the opposite.
"Just where were you when Law got in trouble?" Sabo crossed his arms. Luffy only bit his lip and the raven-haired fire demon in the vicinity had to clear his throat to get an answer.
"I… I was right next to him."
"Law got stolen from right under your nose!?" Ace exclaimed in part disbelief and part disappointment. "Could you talk us through how you let that happen!?"
"Good god, Luffy…" Sabo ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head.
"I wouldn't say he was right next to me." Law told Ace but was looking at his small incubus. "He ran off to chase the—"
"Not talking to you." Ace did not even spare the man a look but it was obvious how his mood had changed. He was totally different from the pouty-faced freckled demon who was feeling bad about Law not liking his apology token. Luffy didn't appreciate this change in demeanor.
"Hey, you can't talk to him like that! You're in his territory!"
"Humor me." Ace's eyes turned fiery red, the ends of his hair turning into embers as eerie shadows cast on his face. "If I torch him right now, what're you to do about it if you can't even keep him from getting snatched by dogs?"
Ouch. Luffy didn't even have a comeback for that.
"I'll ask you again." Ace spoke after a moment of silence. "How did you let that happen?"
So Luffy told them everything. He recounted how the wolves set up a plan to separate them, how Luffy fell for it, how he was desperately trying to find Law, how he was so relieved when he found his host, and how the situation turned from fleeing to fighting. There was tension in his shaky voice and a glimmer of fright in his eyes as if he was seeing everything happen again.
Come to think of it, this was the first time Law learned that Luffy had to practically fly from his pursuers just to get to Punk Hazard. Law's little demon expressed regret over his lost shoes, his torn clothes, but was glad he kept the phone for the photo they took. This idiot, Law thought. They could take a million photos if that was what he was worried about. But then Luffy got to the part where he stained the "gift" he had "just received" and for a moment Law was confused until his boyfriend reached into his pocket to partially pull out a small piece of cloth.
A handkerchief.
"It's all torn and bloody." Luffy stuffed it back in as if in shame. "The only thing I could protect was his phone."
"You protected me." Law wanted to say more.
"He collared you, broke your bones, made you bleed." Luffy's jaw was tight. His eyes were focused on the ground. "You had to tether yourself half-dead just to give me mana."
"But you won, didn't you?"
Law realized too late that he should've said "we" instead of "you".
"Did I?" Luffy spat out irritatedly. "I couldn't even remember properly how everything ended."
Law wanted to say something again but didn't have words.
"You saved us, Law. I was just a part of it." Luffy bit his lip, eyebrows furrowing, jaw grinding. The air around him was thick and heavy. Law could practically smell the magnitude of his anxiety with every second, every word. He wished he'd realized sooner how he wasn't the only one suffering over the incident.
Ah, he was stupid. So stupid.
"Luffy was low on mana?" Ace was the first to speak up as he started to glare at Law. "You still haven't fed him properly?"
Still?
"What? No, I…" Law began.
"You saw what happened the last time I was here, didn't you?" The high demon growled, his tail lashing like a fiery whip behind him. "Never mind not getting a single hit in. He didn't even manage to look like a threat. Or did you seriously think that Luffy was that weak to begin with? 'Coz he's not."
Last time he was here? Wait, Luffy was losing badly to Ace that time? Regardless, no, Law never thought Luffy was weak. It was the opposite, in fact. But perhaps a more immediate concern was how Ace now had fire horns on his head. As in real blazing fire in the shape of large, curved horns on either side of his head. Law had never taken any course or subject remotely close to witchcraft or demonology but he had read enough mythology to know that such display meant "not happy".
The incubus stepped in between his human and his brother.
"Ace, stop it!" Luffy's voice sounded faint to Law's ears as Ace glowered, eyes burning. Law saw a glimpse of a fiery abyss.
"My little brother's losing to dogs just because he hasn't been fed…!"
The dark shadows on Ace's face only made him more threatening. Law's mouth opened and closed but not a sound came out.
"He's been feeding Luffy. No doubt about that." Sabo looked at their youngest brother. "I think Luffy hasn't been getting enough mana."
"No, that's…!"
"Not getting enough?" It was Law's turn to interrupt his demon this time. "What does he mean you're not getting enough mana?"
"It is enough! I'm not hungry!"
"Then what are they saying?"
"It's just not what I'm used to." Luffy gestured as he spoke while trying to shoot angry glances at his brothers in between. "It was my fault for using up so much and so recklessly while knowing my mana pool isn't as abundant as it used to be."
"Not as abundant? What the fuck does that mean?" Law raised an eyebrow, one hand on his waist as the gears in his head started turning."You need more sources? I'm not giving you enough? We aren't compatible? My blood isn't—"
"No, no, no! It's not that! Please don't think that!"
Luffy flailed his arms so much like that could change the direction of Law's thoughts. His shadow moved violently across the garden.
"Then what!?" Law waved one hand over Luffy's face when he noticed the incubus trying to discreetly glare at his brother again. "Why do you keep on hiding things from me!?"
"I'm not!" Luffy bit his lip. He wasn't sure if he should touch Law or not. "Please don't get angry. It's bad for you. You're sick..."
"I don't care!"
"Well, I do!" Luffy was almost wringing his hands together. "Your mana is so low right now and I—"
"No, it isn't." Ace cut in coolly in contrast to the end of his tail that had burst again into flames. "Law's mana levels are just fine. It's lower than the last time we met but it's not so low."
Law furrowed his eyebrows harder. What did that mean? Didn't Luffy say his mana was low and he was so sick? Could he be lying? No. No, of course not. Luffy wouldn't lie to him.
"Yes, it is low! Why would I lie!?" Luffy stomped one foot hard. "He's sick! His life essence isn't as rich as it used to be! He gave me too much and his recovery feels very inconsistent!"
"No, Luffy. I'm with Ace on this. Law's mana is fine." Sabo's eyes narrowed at his smaller brother. "You're the one that's gauging wrong."
"W-wait, what do you mean? Luffy's sick?" It was out of instinct that Law's hand immediately flew to Luffy's forehead to check his temperature. Demons got sick? Law had somehow considered that before but he hadn't really given it much thought.
"Luffy, why is your human so ignorant?" Ace grumbled as he heavily scratched his head. "Have you not spoken to him or is he not listening to you?"
"I'm fine! Our relationship is fine! Leave us alone!" Luffy complained, shoving Law's hand off his forehead. That was unexpected but Law said nothing. He was much too bothered by this whole confusion fiesta to even be offended.
"Your senses are off. And Law knows nothing." Sabo's expression hadn't changed. The way he stressed that last word made it sound more serious than Law was already worried for.
"Maybe he's lovesick." Ace to Sabo.
"Possible. We should take him to—" Sabo didn't even spare a second to think.
"I'm not!" Luffy sounded very offended. "I can take care of myself!"
"What does any of that even mean?!" The man tried asking, not even sure who he was talking to anymore. It didn't matter as long as he got answers.
"It means…" Sabo told Law but hadn't removed his dominant glare from his brother. "You both need to see my human."
That wasn't what he'd call an answer but someone had acknowledged his question. That was a start.
"Yeah, well, wasn't that what we agreed on last time you were here?" Law was getting more annoyed at how things were making less sense and how he was starting to doubt what he currently knew. "Did you get permission for us to see your human?"
"Yes, I did. But Luffy said you didn't need to anymore."
Wow. It was just bombshell after bombshell,wasn't it?
"You what?!" Law could feel the veins on his forehead pulsating as he turned to his boyfriend. "Why would you tell him that?!"
"Excuse me?" Luffy raised an eyebrow, quite surprised with how Law reacted and the man just couldn't figure out where his demon was getting all this audacity. "You said you loved me. And that you didn't want me to leave."
"I know what I said!"
"Then why would we need to go see her if we're staying together?!"
Law ran a hand down his face, trying to gather all his patience because he didn't want to argue in front of Luffy's brothers.
"You can't just… Urgh!"
Luffy grunted back at him, mumbling something that Law couldn't hear. Was his little boyfriend—who could be lying, by the way—was he picking a god damn fight right now? Law wanted to take his patience and hit something with. His head was throbbing. He didn't want to dwell on these negative emotions too much. They've just been through one of his anger episodes literally just minutes ago. It would be too soon for another one.
"Well!?" Luffy asked in a condescending tone that made Law want to grab the nearest anything and throw it at anywhere. If he could grab air, he'd have smashed it to the ground.
"To figure shit out obviously!" Law yelled anyway, his voice cracking. "I have questions she can answer and you can't!"
"Like what!?"
"To start with, how about the details of this… this… this whole contract thing, for fuck's sake! There's shit about your mana, my mana, gauging energies, and demon sickness among other clusterfucks! How did I snare you!? What if I accidentally snare something else!? What if we're getting us killed and we don't know it yet!? What if we're disrupting something else without being aware of it!? What if we're misinterpreting shit!? Did you even think about any of that!?"
"But I don't wanna break the bond!"
Luffy screamed back in a mix of worry and frustration. His eyes flashed red for a moment as the pressure around him swirled with a "whoom!", enough to make the plants shake, for leaves to rustle and fall. The fire in the middle of the garden towered significantly higher like it was not letting anything dominate it. Strangely, it was seeing Luffy's hair lightly brush over his eyes that calmed Law down enough for him to stop himself from saying a scathing comeback.
Law had to remember that Luffy was frustrated just like him. They were in this together. That was as much of a promise as it was a fact. He took a deep breath and sighed.
"Come here." Law reached an arm out, beckoning his demon to him. The little incubus hesitated a moment but padded towards him anyway. As soon as he was within reach, Law pulled him into a gentle hug and breathed into his hair. Luffy made a soft noise. Small hands slowly crept around Law's waist to return the embrace carefully.
Ahh, that's better.
"Listen, I just have questions. We won't break the bond unless we have to if that's what you're worried about."
Law's demon looked up.
"Really?"
"Really."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
And that seemed to be the end of that angry train. Luffy's features softened as he smiled and said, "Okay. We'll go see her, then. I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, too." Law tried to give him a nose kiss but Luffy seemed to have taken that as a different kind of invitation because he leaned up and mashed their lips together, head immediately tilted, mouth open… and tongue. Tongue sliding in. Waaaait a minute, what was going on so suddenly?
"Mmmh." Law tried to breathe, feeling Luffy's hands run deliciously up and down his sides, brushing the material of Law's shirt against his skin in such a way that made the man tingle.
"Hey, we're not done talking." Ace kicked Luffy in the calf. The blow didn't have that much weight on it to even hurt, but it was enough to make the incubus pull away with a hiss.
"What is your problem this time!?"
"I said we're not done talking!" The horns on Ace's head flared but Luffy just rolled his eyes away.
"We've decided to see Sabo's human already! What more do you want!?"
"Oh." All the flames on Ace's body save for the one on his tail died down. "Okay, then."
The instant change in demeanor was quite confusing.
"I guess that settles it." Sabo sounded like he was stretching. "Back to drunken rabbits, then."
"Sabo, you slice 'em up with wind or something. Whatever. Just chop 'em." Ace was saying as he turned to his bonfire like something more could be done with it.
"With pleasure. See? This is better. You should've believed me last time when I told you the rats were bad." Sabo shook his head while shrugging. "The rats were bad."
"Can't wait 'til you're better." Luffy whispered, sucking Law's lower lip one last time before skipping away happily. That was by far the weirdest "Get well soon" Law had ever received in his life.
So with all the screaming and tongue wrestling over with, Law finally had the mind to pay attention to what was happening. Sabo did slice the rabbit meat using small flying spinning wind sickles that he cleverly manipulated with his fingers. After which, he tossed the chunks of meat into the fire where they tumbled in the flames dancing to the rhythm of Ace's tail. There were no skewers, ropes or anything to hold them up. Holy shit. It was like a demon-it-yourself oven except it was less scary and evil as it sounded.
It wasn't until someone mentioned having to eat using bare hands instead of utensils and banana leaves instead of plates, that Law's mind practically started screaming "sanitation alert". They would sit around the fire, spread banana leaves on the ground, and eat with their hands. The four of them were also going to use one cup to drink the wine. Someone would be designated to pour for them and pass it around.
Law could go "what?" or he could stop being flabbergasted and offer a compromise.
Banana leaves? Sure, but maybe at least wash its surface? He asked. The demons had no problem with it. On to the next thing on the list, the lack of a table. The brothers were adamant on sitting on the ground and using banana leaves so that wasn't going to change. Law then asked to at least be allowed to use a picnic cloth between the ground and the leaves. That seemed to be amusing enough for Sabo to agree. According to him, they've never tried that before. As for the sole wine cup making rounds, it was strange, but Law thought it was rude complain about that anymore.
It was late into the night by the time they were sitting down to eat. The chunks of rabbit meat were spread over the banana leaves that were arranged in a line on the picnic cloth with Law and Luffy sitting cross-legged on one side and Ace and Sabo on the other. The entire leafy surface served as both the table and the plate for all four of them. Between Luffy's brothers was the ceramic jar that contained wine. Next to Sabo was a wooden ladle and a large cup. On one end was the bonfire, blazing like a flame lord sitting on the head of a long table of banana leaves.
Luffy fed Law. Yes, with his hands. Apparently, hand-to-mouth activities were so much of a turn on to him ("I can feel your lips on my fingertips, oh my gooooooooooooood, is that tongue?") and Law was too tired to argue. However, the rabbit meat tasted so good that Law couldn't help but pick out meat pieces to feed himself. They still shared a pile of rabbit meat chunks so Luffy let it go.
"Weekend, you say. How many nights is that from now?" Sabo asked as he poured wine from the jar and into the cup and handed it to Ace. It was his job to make sure the wine continuously made its rounds while they ate. Such a strange custom.
"Do you need me to lick your fingers yet?" Luffy piped in, trying to feed more rabbit meat into Law's mouth with one hand and stuffing his own face with another. He was more focused on looking at Law's tattooed fingers, though. More than once did he poke the corner of Law's mouth instead.
"No. And stop asking." Law moved his head away as he counted the nights from tonight to next Saturday. "Let's see… That's… Six nights. Tonight not included."
"Six nights." Sabo nodded, wiping his mouth with his arm. "Okay. Got it."
"Is there anything we need to bring or remember?" Law asked, glancing at Luffy who was blinking expectantly at his human.
"Mhm, good question!" Sabo licked his thumb and raised a rabbit meat to somehow help stress his point. "Just a token of good faith or thanks."
Law nodded as he chewed. He wondered if demons in general liked giving and receiving tokens or only the ones he's with right now. Did Luffy or Zoro even mention anything about tokens? Did tips count as tokens to Nami? Maybe Law should list down these questions to ask.
"Now?" Luffy's voice cut Law's train of thought. Only then did he realize how he had been absently looking at Luffy who was still waiting for Law to let him lick his fingers. Law mouthed a "no", which prompted a pout from his incubus.
"What do you suggest we bring?" Law asked as he tore a slab of meat into smaller pieces. "Food? Clothes? Or should it be our choice?"
"There isn't really a right answer." Sabo shrugged. Beside him, Ace spit a bone into the fire. "It's just to thank her for accommodating you."
"What does she like?" Law looked at his greasy fingers and considered licking it for a while before catching glimpse of a still very expectant pair of eyes from his side. Nope. No finger licking for now.
"Oh, a lot of things, actually!" Sabo perked in attention, not even noticing how Ace was stealing a significantly large piece of meat in front of him. "Let's see. Well, first of all, she likes me but you can't get her me, can you?"
Ace choked on his food and had to wash it down with big gulps of alcohol. Sabo glared at him and his brother glared back before shoving the empty cup to his face. The jinn grumbled, refilled, downed the cup in one go, refilled, and handed it to Luffy.
"She likes nature, water, mana manipulation, berries, singing… Oh, and anything from outside Punk Hazard." Sabo sat down with a very wide grin. "She likes new things. You should see her smile when she gets new stuff. Ah, her eyes just shine like emeralds."
"For fuck's sake, emeralds are greeeeeeeeen!" Ace complained exasperatedly but Sabo didn't seem to care.
Luffy laughed as he handed the now empty cup back to Sabo who refilled it for Law.
"Don't pour the wine so high for Luffy's human." Ace spoke with his mouth full of rabbit meat.
"I know what I'm doing." The blonde demon scoffed. "This is wine, not poison."
"Yeah, but he's going to get drunk and that can get humans killed."
"No, no, it's fine." Law smiled, holding back the urge to discuss how humans may or may not die from intoxication. "I can hold alcohol better than most. And I can tell when I need to call it quits."
"See?" Sabo handed Law the cup as he made a face at Ace. "He's not stupid."
"Of course." Luffy grinned happily with a bone sticking out from between his teeth. "He's my human, after all. He knows what he's getting himself into."
...Until after several cups of rabbit wine and he was fucking gone.
"Yeah, so if you don't have chloroform or whatever, you stick a needle through here. Here, man. Here? You hear me? Hahahahaha, get it? Here. Hear." Law was trying to point to the top of his head or ear. Luffy wasn't sure. The man was just flailing one arm at best. "Yeah, hurm, so anyway, you stick it in there like a… A… I don't know, a stick. A pointy one. Really pointy. Big needle. Something. Yeah… Where was I? Urgh, wait, chloroform, brain, needle, brain, stick… Oh, yeah. Okay, so, you stick it here then you move it around really quick. Like quick. Quick, quick, quick circular movements and then poof, poof! The motherfucker's paralyzed."
Prior to that drunken tirade, Luffy had never heard Law say so many incoherent words over a short period of time.
"I don't know what korofo is but does the stick thing work on humans only or…?" Sabo drank from the cup without averting his eyes from Law.
"It works with practically anything with a brain." Law made a gesture with his hand as he leaned lazily against Luffy. "Like, anything, man. With a brain."
"Fascinating." Sabo mumbled thoughtfully as he refilled the cup for Luffy.
"I knoooooooooow, right?" Law laughed, slapping his greasy hand on one knee.
Luffy started drinking his wine, eyes on his human the entire time. Ace and Sabo did not seem to be bothered by how talkative Law had suddenly become or how he was barely able to sit up on his own. Some of his words were slurred. Most of his ideas were disjointed. He often lost his point, went in circles, laughed at something that wasn't funny, and so on and so forth. What's worse was that his brothers actually looked interested as they listened. One particular instance, Ace lost his shit when Law started explaining how different colors of fire meant heat variation. While Ace was screaming "Bullshit!" after hearing how white flames were the hottest ("Law is still hottest.", Luffy argued), Sabo explained how he created fire by making the air burst into flames. Law responded with an explanation about combustion. Sabo looked so proud of himself after that. He even made a joke about "Sabombustion", which Law found uncharacteristically hilarious enough to almost choke on his food.
"You know a lot of useful stuff." Ace said, nodding as he stared at Law. "I mean, who knew rainbows were made like that?"
"Yeah." Sabo rubbed his chin. "I'm going to show that rainbow trick to Koala. I want her to gush over me."
"Her and her blue emerald eyes." Ace grimaced, watching Luffy hand Sabo the cup so he could refill it. Oh, it was Law's turn to drink. Probably not a good idea. Law was already in bad shape. The only silver lining was Law being very mushy. He randomly breathed into Luffy's neck, pecked a kiss on his lips (or sometimes where he thought his lips were), and whispered either sweet nothings or naughty things in his ear. In as much as Luffy wanted his human to be frisky forever, he'd rather the man become so without the influence of intoxicating substances.
"You okay, munchkin?" Luffy asked despite the glaringly obvious answer.
"Just…" Law coughed and dug an elbow into Luffy's thigh like he wasn't leaning on him enough yet. "...Peachy."
What the fuck did Law even mean by that? Luffy decided to ask a different question.
"Can I lick your fingers?"
"Anything, baby."
Aaaaaand that was the decider. Law had only said two words, but that was all Luffy needed to know he wasn't okay. So Luffy vehemently shooed away the next cup that Sabo was offering. Law tried protesting but he was too busy keeping himself from falling back sideways to be convincing.
"Whose house do you think this is!?" Law complained at the closest plant he could yell at.
"Excellent point." Sabo walked around the bonfire and handed the cup to Law. "Can't argue with that now, can we?"
"Sabo, I said—Oh my god, Sabo, you idiot!"
Luffy's complaint was as good as nothing. Law immediately grabbed the cup in his terribly uncoordinated fingers, spilling some of the wine on the grass and on himself (Luffy considered licking except this wasn't the right time) as he downed like a very thirsty man. The wine trickled down the corners of his mouth, the side of his face, his neck… And Luffy was starting to lose his shit about how his tongue would be of really good use to help clean that up right now.
"Calm down, Luffy." Ace was piling more meat in front of him. "Law said he can hold his alcohol and he knows when to quit."
"No, actually, he's drunk." Sabo laughed as he walked back to his spot next to the large jar.
"Then stop giving him wine, you stupid jinn!" Ace frowned and lightly kicked Sabo. "This is a token of apology, not a banquet of death!"
"Yeah, you tell him, Ace!" Luffy yelled but was still looking at Law's rather wet chest.
"Hoooohhh, no, no, no, no, it's fiiiiine." Law slurred as he attempted to plant a kiss on Luffy's cheek but missed and kissed the underside of his jaw instead. And, damn, that was hot. Law chuckled and made his way to Luffy's lips. Not that his brothers cared. They were already talking about something else.
Mortification over public displays of affection was the last of Law's concerns now. He sucked gently and hummed contentedly against Luffy's lips, turning the demon's borrowed heart into jelly. The kiss tasted like rabbit meat and wine but when his human's tongue slid inside his mouth, all Luffy could taste was Law. And he prayed all Law could taste right now was him. Because that would be awesome. And perfect. And romantic. And holy fucking shit, Law was now falling sideways!
"Law!" Luffy immediately grabbed his human just before his shoulder hit the ground. His head dangled dangerously as he mumbled incoherent noises.
"Holy fuck, did he die!?" Ace exclaimed as he stood up, leaping over the banana leaves to get to both Law and Luffy.
"No, he's not dead, you worry worms." Sabo burped after drinking his wine and poured one more cup for himself. "He's just really drunk. Let him sleep and drink lots of water and he'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" Luffy and Ace chorused. Law just garbled another noise.
"I'm sure. Koala told me about drunk humans."
Ace and Luffy looked skeptical.
"What?" Sabo lifted the glass to his lips and took two gulps. "I said I'm sure. He's not gonna die."
Luffy grumbled. Sabo rolled his eyes away, bottomed up the cup, and refilled it as he said, "He's fine. I'll kill myself if he dies."
"I'll kill Koala if he dies." Luffy said sharply.
"You can fucking try." Sabo glared at him from the side.
"I won't try. I will."
"Ooookay, that's enough of that, children…!" Ace started clapping as he marched towards Sabo and grabbed the cup he'd just poured for himself. "I'd be so bothered if I ended up killing the dude I was supposed to be apologizing to. God damn it, Sabo."
"Well, with Law out cold, not dead, that's our cue to go." The blonde jinn wiped his fingers on the ceramic jar before he stood up. "You can keep the wine and the rest of the meat. It's Law's anyway."
"You going to be okay?" Ace put his hands on his hips as he looked at Luffy. "Or you need help taking care of your human?"
"I'll get around." Luffy was adjusting Law in his arms. "It's not like you guys can stay with us 'til morning anyway."
Law groaned, one hand feeling the grass to find Luffy before shifting uncontrollably and burying his face against Luffy's shoulder instead. He was twisted at the waist, one of his legs moving like he was trying to push himself off the ground.
"Did I do it?" Law said breathily as he made circular gestures with one finger. "Did I pass? Are we okay?"
"Do what?" Luffy sighed, half-worried, half-relieved. At least the man was alive. Ridiculously drunk, yes. But alive.
"Your brothers." Law mumbled as he tried to find a comfortable position in Luffy's arms. "Do they like me yet?"
The incubus immediately shot said brothers a very sharp glare as if to say "See what you made him feel". Ace loudly slurped more wine but kept his eyes on Law.
"They're idiots. Don't mind with them."
"No, what are you talking about?" The words were breathy and drawn out as they left Law's lips. "They're your brothers. I want their blessing."
"We're demons." Ace was talking with his mouth full. "We don't know how to bless anything."
"I don't caaaaare." Law smirked and kicked one leg in what seemed to be a very drunk and short-lived tantrum. "I just want you to let Luffy be with me. Like, like, like, I dunno, man. I don't even like wine, y'know? I don't. But I didn't wanna disrespect you gentlemen."
Two seconds of silence and blinking. Three. Four. Law was still mumbling something no one could understand.
"Oh." Ace was the first to react. "Really now? Well, that's…" He briefly turned to Sabo who was nodding like they were agreeing on something. "...That's actually pretty cool, Law. Thank you."
"He called me a gentleman." Sabo sounded pleased and flattered.
"You're very fuckin' welcome." Law lifted his hand to raise a cup he wasn't holding anymore before turning up to Luffy. "See? S'fine, baby."
Drunk Law was so cute and fuckable. Luffy might die of abstinence.
"Ssh." The incubus was smiling when he kissed his human on the forehead. "You worry over nothing."
"Wuh-whuaa… You don't believe me." Law whined, twisting in Luffy's arms where he was slumped. "Lu-Luffers. Lufs. Luff-luff. Hey, you listening? If we're gonna be together, I've to be able to take care of you. How am I going to do that if I don't know anything, eh? Ehh? Eeeeehhhh? Ehhnnggghhaaahhh..."
He trailed off into a yawn mixed into a bunch of garbled words that still made no sense. Sabo laughed. The cold wind blew as if to laugh with him. Law groaned, nudging against Luffy to find warmth.
"Let's get you inside." Luffy kissed Law on the cheek and then looked at his brothers. "Thanks for the token."
Ace nodded at him. Luffy nodded back with a smile, picked up his human, and carried him into the house. After carefully putting Law down on the couch, Luffy padded back outside to bring in the ceramic jar and try to fix whatever mess they made. He was quite surprised to see his brothers still standing outside. They were murmuring to each other seriously and only stopped when they saw Luffy come out.
"What's up?" Luffy slowly started towards the ceramic jar.
"We wanted to talk to you." Sabo said levelly, shooting a careful side glance at Ace as if to check his reaction. Their older brother was standing rigidly, staring at Luffy with concerned but authoritative eyes.
"Yeah?" Luffy walked towards his brothers instead.
"We're not bringing this up just 'coz he's drunk but..." Ace's tone was low but he didn't sound as careful as Sabo. "Law's a cool guy. We don't hate him. We actually like him, but it's you we're worried about. Are you sure about this?"
This, he said. This being Luffy's relationship with Law.
"You know what happens if one day he decides that he doesn't want you anymore." Sabo added with an uneasy tone. "There's no turning back once you decide on him."
Luffy opened his mouth but Ace put a firm hand on his shoulder and said, "With how you were talking a while ago… We're worried you'll get lovesick."
Lovesick? I'm not lovesick.
"It's not like that." Luffy smiled.
Sabo furrowed his eyebrows.
"Remember when I said I was low on mana when I trying to save Law from the wolves? Well, I …" Luffy stopped and looked away for a while, chewing on his lip. "I… actually tried feeding on a couple of people out of desperation."
Lies.
"Minus the sex, of course. I was in a hurry."
I'm lying. Why am I lying?
"Did it work?" Ace tilted his head and crossed his arms.
No, because I didn't do it.
"Aside from it felt good sinking teeth into skin and drinking blood, it helped me none." Luffy shook his head. "Guess I'm really totally dependent on him because of the contract. But he's a cool guy so I don't really mind. Point is, do you think I could've fed on other people if I were lovesick?"
False. Just imagining trying to feed on anyone else is disgusting.
Ace wordlessly looked at his blonde brother.
"Does Law know?" Sabo's facial expression was giving away nothing. "Does he know you tried to feed on other people?"
"He doesn't." Luffy sighed.
He mustn't. I don't want him to know I'm lying.
"I don't want to tell him because I don't want him to think he's insufficient. It's complicated but he needs me here."
"You don't love him?" Sabo's demeanor had not changed.
"Of course, I do!" Luffy sounded offended. "But just because I do love him doesn't mean I'm lovesick. Just look at you and your infatuation with Koala..."
"That's different. I'm not sick. I know because I keep myself in check."
"And I don't?" Luffy furrowed his eyebrows. "Why? 'Coz you think I can't? I'm incapable of keeping myself from being lovesick?"
"That's not what I—"
"Look, I appreciate that you're worried about me." Luffy tried to speak with a tone of finality. He wasn't sure if it was working. "I know you're doing this to protect me. I'd probably do the same for you, but please, let this go. Law needs me here."
His two older brothers looked at each other.
"Okay, then." Ace smiled, patting Luffy on the arm. "Just making sure."
Sabo did not look convinced. Whatever was on his mind, however, he chose not to share. The freckled fire demon clapped and the flames in the garden died into a puff of smoke.
"Let your human rest." Sabo turned to the big jar. "There's still wine. You guys can drink it when he's better."
Luffy nodded.
Before they left, Ace offered to carry the ceramic jar inside the house. Sabo, on the other hand, gathered what was left of the rabbit meat and set it on a banana leaf on the counter. Luffy covered it with a plate. And then on to his next mission—to get Law to the bedroom.
Law had probably mumbled an entire paragraph by the time they got upstairs. Upon setting foot on the second floor, his first order of business was to lumber into the bathroom, hug the toilet bowl, and puke his guts into it. Luffy had seen this happen to drunk humans multiple times in bars and beer houses before. He remembered laughing at the poor things as they cried, vowing never to drink again only to come back some other day. But now that it was happening to Law, it looked more fatal than funny. In fact, Luffy was so vocally worried that his human shooed him out the door so he could brush his teeth in peace.
"The stench of my own breath will be the death of me."
Beyond the door, Luffy could hear Law vomit, groan ("God, my insides"), and gargle mouthwash. He'd pause a bit before he'd repeat in the same order. Vomit, groan, gargle. Vomit, groan, gargle. Such a drunken cycle.
Luffy sighed and slid down against the bathroom door until he was seated with arms over his raised knees. What was he to do with his human? Calling Nami or Zoro seemed to be a good course of action but both of them were most probably "busy" at this time of night. The last thing Luffy needed right now was to hear someone getting fucked at the other end of a telephone line. Maybe he should call Baby Five? Cora-san? No. He didn't want Law's family to think he was a dumb boyfriend or that his brothers were dreadful. The incubus sighed, running a hand across his face and then two hands through his hair.
Sabo said Law wouldn't die. It's just alcohol. Why was Luffy so worried?
Because he loved Law. The thought of losing him was scarier than Luffy could even imagine. That and the conversation he had with his brothers was gnawing on him as early as now.
"It's too much." Luffy mumbled cautiously. "I'm lovesick."
Luffy covered his mouth. He'd spoken the words just loud enough so he could hear but it seemed to echo. It sounded like the thrum of a taut bowstring. Luffy had been trying to avoid thinking about how his feelings for Law had spiraled deeper than he could grasp. That was a bad idea.
Demons weren't made to fall in love. It wasn't because they were evil or meant to breed hate. It was because to them, love was deadly. Too much of it would lead to disease. For demons, love was a deeper, destructive obsession that made them forget how to function. Lovesickness, they called it. And it was dangerous as it was sly. It made them lose interest in feeding on other mortals. It made them prioritize their chosen human over anything and everything else, including their own well-being. It made them happy, sad, desperate, insecure, and worried over things that used to not matter. It made them forget what being a demon was all about.
All of which were happening to Luffy. None of which he was regretting.
Luffy should be scared. Lovesickness had no cure. All its roads led to demise. Even if a demon's feelings were reciprocated, there would come a time when mortality would claim the human. The demon would be left alone, unable to love another for all of eternity. Love's punishment was a slow, grueling deterioration. It would start from the inside, gnawing at their sanity, and plaguing their waking days with such pain that would reduce them to a sickly shell of themselves. Whether they would choose to stay awake or resign themselves in deep slumber, both roads would lead to the same end—death by starvation.
Luffy had been unable to grasp the severity of lovesickness until now.
And it wasn't like Luffy didn't know anyone who was lovesick. He did. Zoro had it. His lovesickness over Sanji drove him to monogamy, a state of mind that incubi and succubi were never born to be. It made him resort to tears, threat, blackmail, murder. Perhaps it was punishment that one day, he'd have to die slowly and painfully without Sanji by his side. He used to think Zoro would eventually fall in love with someone else but then Luffy met Law and… And if he lost Law…
He didn't even want to think of it.
How did Sabo do it? How was he able to maintain his feelings with Koala and not be repulsed by the idea of feeding on anyone who wasn't her? In fact, it was because of Sabo and his human that Luffy thought he could try love with Law. How wrong. How careless. How utterly naive. Despite these realizations, however, Luffy was still without regrets.
I should be scared… But I'm not.
The sound of continuous running water distracted him from his thoughts. Why was that the only sound coming from the bathroom anymore? Three knocks and no response later, Luffy clicked the door open. The lights were out but that didn't keep Luffy from seeing Law's unmoving shirtless body groaning and lying on the floor.
"Oh! Oh, fuck!" Luffy tried to figure what to do about his human. "What are you doing on the floor?! What happened to your shirt?! Are you okay?!"
"I'm not okay. I'm Law."
"I'm not kidding." Luffy reached for the faucet and turned it off.
"'Course you're not. You're Luffers."
"Law."
"Luffles."
Fuck. Cute nicknames aside, there was no hope trying to make conversation with this Trafalgar Law. The alcohol had gotten to him. Luffy should smack Sabo in the head the next time.
"You need to get to bed." The demon began but Law limply swatted his hand away.
"You need to wash your greasy hands."
Luffy rolled his eyes away but did what he was told anyway. When he was done with that, Luffy tried to get Law up on his feet or knees, whichever came first so he could half-drag, half-guide his human to the bed. It almost took forever with how slow they were going. Good god, Luffy should hit Sabo in the head twice.
From the bathroom to the bed, Law kept trying to get out of his pants ("It's so fucking hot and icky.") and had gotten it down to his knees by the time Luffy got him to the mattress. He lay on his back unceremoniously, humming an unfamiliar tune as his demon helped him out of his clothes. Law kicked his pants off when the darned thing got to his ankles. It fell with a soft thump on the floor as Law sighed in relief. The man actually tried to remove his last piece of clothing, too, but Luffy managed to stop him. Oh, the irony of it all.
Why was the man tempting the demon? Why and how?
So many pointless thoughts. If Luffy didn't know better, he'd say he was drunk, too.
But before anything else could happen, Law was pulling Luffy's shirt off his head and throwing it off the bed.
"It's hot." The man reasoned like Luffy was asking for an explanation.
"Come." Law called and Luffy almost replied with "At least touch me somewhere if you want me to" as Law pulled him into an embrace. It was kind of awkward at first, with Law's chin digging into Luffy's temple. After some adjustments, they ended up lying on their sides facing one another, arms around each other. Law's breath smelled of cold mint but warm in a way that maybe only Luffy would understand.
Perhaps there were many things about them that only Luffy would understand. Maybe even if Law knew, he wouldn't be able to grasp it.
"Law…?" He had spoken without thinking.
"Hm?"
"If I die…"
"Why would I let you die?" Law murmured his interruption. "Am I that incompetent to make you think I'd just let you die…?"
"No…!" Luffy exclaimed, cupping Law's cheeks and removing his hands as soon as he saw the man wince at the sudden movement. "I mean… I mean, if you die, I'll die, too, you know."
"Then I'll die with you." He sounded a little less drunk but that could yet be another thing Luffy was imagining. And maybe the feelings of warmth stirring from those words weren't real either. Law's death wasn't something he'd want even if it was just a thought, even if it meant he'd die for him, for them. Should Luffy tell him that or would it make Law feel insecure?
"Well… If you die…" Luffy hesitated but continued. "...Would you let me die with you?"
And not eventually. I meant die with you. Right at the same instant you go.
"Then I don't want to die." Law yawned, speaking a bit too casually for Luffy's taste.
"You're a human being. You can't live forever." The demon complained. "You're not like me."
There was some pain in that truth. Luffy could live forever, could live long after Law was gone. But then without Law, it wouldn't be living, would it? It'd be death, yes. It would be dying everyday and never staying dead.
What wouldn't I give to be human like you? To be human and be with you?
"Then if I die, wait for me." The man said after a small noise. "We can find each other when I'm reborn."
And that… was wishful thinking. It was a faint hope, likely to be false, laughable at best. Reincarnation wasn't a thing that was ever proven. And even if it were possible, what were the odds of them finding each other? But a shot at the dark was better than having none.
Or was it the alcohol thinking and talking?
"Don't get drunk ever again." Luffy sighed, feeling weary suddenly. Law only laughed. It was a nice sound but not as perfect as his other laugh. That one was music.
"May I kiss you?" Law said instead, sniffing around like he was trying to look for his boyfriend's lips. As the demon wondered if his human was comfortable lying on his side, Law had found his eyes and kissed them. Luffy tipped his head up to help him—the poor adorable drunken thing who can't even navigate a face— and gently brushed their lips against each other. Law hummed in appreciation, pressing closer. Lightly. Carefully. Lovingly, perhaps? Or was he only drunk? Again, Luffy wasn't sure.
Law's hands travelled across Luffy's body, but not in a way that was trying to be sensual or teasing. It was a strange touch—curious, innocent, affectionate. Luffy could feel the warmth of his fingertips brushing against his skin. It was unlike the way that Law's touches made his body catch fire. This one was warm like sitting next to the fire on a cold, snowy day. Luffy moaned. It felt good. Not the lustful, passionate kind of good but still… still good, nonetheless. But what did it mean?
"I love you." Law murmured against Luffy's lips.
"I love you, too." Luffy whispered back dreamily. He hoped his breath felt warm enough to be comforting as well.
Law smiled, arms slightly tightening around his small lover.
"I love you two thousand."
Law kissed him again and again, softer each time until he drifted into sleep with his lips still against Luffy's. The demon sighed, unmoving, thinking about how love was like alcohol. He had hoped to drink from the cup without losing himself in it but one sip was all it took and he was drowning without regret, blindly and madly in love with the human who had stolen his name.
AN: Hi, guys! This chapter would've been up waaaaaay earlier but I've been in difficult circumstances. FEEDBACK ENCOURAGED!