Law went to the tattoo parlor over the course of two weeks for three visits total in order to get the heart tattoo on his chest done. And after the surgeon had heard that Rocinante had lost a phone due to it being set on fire, Law told Kidd to add some lines to the top of the heart on either side of it on the top to reach his shoulders to mimic the appearance of flames. Partially because the surgeon believed that he would be amused with Rocinante's reaction to him incorporating that into a tattoo. The other reason that Law had done it was to confuse Kidd, because that was rather entertaining to witness. The red head couldn't seem to figure out what Law wanted the additional lines for, but Kidd wasn't about to complain. At least not too much.

"You just makin' shit up just so you can come and see me?" Kidd asked as he waited for Law to remove his shirt.

Law gave Kidd a look, before he removed the hoodie and settled back to allow the red head to work on the new addition to the tattoo. "I wouldn't do that. I just thought of something I wanted to add to the tattoo." Law smirked at Kidd. "Is that a problem?"

Kidd mumbled something under his breath, but didn't reply as he sifted through his tools.

Law figured the lack of response was due to Killer being in the room. Despite being unable to see the long haired man's eyes, Law figured that the blond was eying Kidd as if he expected the surgeon's words to set him off. The dark haired surgeon did figure that Kidd had a short temper, from what he had seen of the red haired man so far, and the fact that he had landed himself in the hospital for an argument with a customer before.

There was a prolonged period of silence as Kidd finished what he was doing, and Law had to wonder about how Kidd had let his hand linger on his shoulder as he inspected the new addition to the tattoo. Kidd made some kind of satisfied grunt before he drew away. "I think I can finish it the next time, unless you come up with other shit for me to do."

"Hm, perhaps I'll have to think of something then, just to spite you. It's not like you aren't getting paid for the work." Law said sarcastically as he got up from the chair. The surgeon let out an affronted sound as Kidd lightly slapped his ass as he passed him by.

"Shut the hell up and get out already." Kidd didn't say or do anything else, so Law did just that.

-x

On his way home, Law wondered if Kidd were interested in him, and really hoped that he wasn't. Law already had Rocinante and he really had no desire to ever date anyone else. Mainly because Law believed that he couldn't be with anyone other than Rocinante. It was hard to explain his reasoning, so the surgeon dismissed the thought.

Once inside his home, Law decided that he wanted to talk to Rocinante, since neither of his roommates were home at the moment. Law fished out his cell phone and stared at it as if it would dial a number all on its own without his input. It didn't, so Law, after a moment's hesitation, dialed Rocinante's number.

The conversation was pleasant, and it made the awkward encounter with Kidd go to the back of Law's mind. At least until two days later, when Law decided that he ought to finish the tattoo up before Rocinante came back the next day.

-x

Law did have one more thing for Kidd to add to the tattoo, but it was not out of spite on his part. The surgeon wanted it there after the conversation he'd previously had with Rocinante. The blond haired officer had sounded so excited to come back home , and Law had little doubt that Rocinante would immediately find an excuse to plaster himself to his side to cuddle with him for a whole day if he could manage it. That Law wouldn't mind it in the least bit made the surgeon try and figure out exactly how he felt about Rocinante. And whether Law would be able to leave it at cuddling and perhaps kissing for much longer. And then the red head tattooing his chest had to open his mouth to distract Law from his very important thoughts.

"Seriously, why the hell do you want a smiley face there?" Kidd griped, as if he wanted to find something to bitch about as he made the outline of the new tattoo in any case. "Are you bullshitting me again?"

"Does it really matter what I get tattooed on my own skin so long as I'm paying you to do it?" Law asked mildly. "I am in my right mind, so you won't have to worry about me coming back to get into a fight over prices over the tattoo on my body."

"If you're not gonna get into a fight with me...are you doing anything after this?" Kidd asked as he traced over the start of the new tattoo again.

"Other than go home? No." Law wasn't sure why Kidd would even care in any case.

"You wanna go get something for dinner then?" Kidd asked. "My shift's over after I finish this smiley face that you better not give me hell for later."

Law was going to say no, but he did realize that he hadn't exactly had that much to eat that day. "I suppose that I do need to eat something." Law wasn't sure why Kidd looked so pleased about going to get dinner with him. But he'd fine out soon, and Law would be displeased that he'd been so oblivious.

-x

The dinner was fine and so was the conversation, surprisingly enough. Law had thought that Kidd was an uncouth bastard that got into meaningless fights all the time, but it sounded as if he were actually smart. Law was honestly surprised to hear that Kidd had gone to college and now worked at a mechanic shop half his time in addition to the tattoo parlor. Although it sounded more like Kidd was teaching at the mechanic shop. Law wouldn't have pegged Kidd as patient enough to explain anything to anyone without perhaps causing bodily harm.

Interesting conversation aside, Law didn't like the way the rest of the night went down, as it went straight to something he'd been worried about before. That Kidd was interested in him, and most unfortunately, Law was only interested in Rocinante in that way.

Whatever that way was. Even Law still wasn't quite sure what the relationship was exactly.

The dark haired surgeon had stepped away from Kidd once they were outside and walking along the shops that lined the street. Law was at a loss of what more he could say to get Kidd to understand that he wasn't interested in going out with him. "I told you before that I'm already with someone." Law said, keeping his distance from Kidd, who was equally frustrated with him.

"But you said you haven't, you know…" Kidd fell silent and gave his shoulders a shrug, which struck Law as funny that Kidd couldn't say 'have sex' or whatever it was that he would have said.

"I'm not interested in any of that. Not right now, anyway." Law said as he continued to keep a few steps ahead of Kidd.

"Damn, how the hell can anyone be so patient? How long you've been going out?" Kidd asked as he trailed after the dark haired surgeon.

Law did quick math in his head before he gave his response. "Nearly a year and a half."

"Holy shit. And you haven't done it yet?" Kidd sounded flabbergasted. Like he couldn't fathom someone waiting that long. "Hell, man, there's only so much time I could spend jacking off on my own."

"Who says I do that at all in the meantime?" Law walked at a quicker pace to avoid Kidd and his attempt to close the distance between them. "I am not interested in dating anyone in any case."

"But you're with this other person?" Kidd sounded annoyed now, before Law's other words caught up to him. "Wait a damn minute. You don't even jack off by yourself?"

"No, I feel no need to do that." Law said. "And it is different than dating." The surgeon was relieved that Kidd had stopped following after him.

"How the hell is that different? You're still dating then ,aren't you?" Kidd didn't say anything about Law's lack of sexual drive, as if he couldn't think of a comeback to it, as if it was a bizarre concept. The red head's annoyance turned a little resentful, though Kidd still sounded slightly hopeful. "Well…if you ever get bored-"

"Not happening." Law said over his shoulder. "I'm going home now. Why don't you go find whoever it was that you said you took home once or twice a week?"

"Geez. Don't be an asshole about it." Kidd started to walk in the opposite direction. The red head's parting shot was part disappointment and part exasperation. "See you around, doc."

Law ignored Kidd, although he was a little angry with himself now because the other man had misinterpreted things. The dark haired surgeon didn't realize that he had gone the wrong way home again and was now in the area of the city where potential muggers laid in wait for unwary passerby's. Though if Law had been paying attention, he would have noticed that the area was eerily silent, and the muggers that were normally there were oddly absent that night.

The dark haired surgeon still made a call to Rocinante, because he'd realized the other man had tried to call him less than a half hour ago. Law didn't realize that he was being watched as he made his way home, and that the surgeon really should have been paying attention to his surroundings.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: I am grinning maniacally right now because I am a terrible person.