Hugs

Characters: Law, Bepo, Heart Pirates. Rating: K. Warnings: None.

People swear by hugs. Law's heard it all the time, whether it be in Flevance, the Doflamingo Family (or at least, Baby 5, followed by Cora-san, with some others chipping in), North Blue or the Grand Line. Laughter is - reportedly - the best medicine, but hugs seem to be high on the list of prescriptions, and as a doctor who specialises in doing the impossible, Law makes sure to keep up to date on the large variety of so-called 'cures' in the islands he comes across.

Physically, a hug does nothing. In fact, most of the time, a hug invited additional pressure onto a wounded body and might even make them worse. Law's seen it happen multiple times, normally when broken ribs are involved. Ribs break frightfully easily and take far too long to heal again. Hugs are the last thing he permits in those instances.

Mentally, however, a hug does wonders, and if the hugger in question is delicate enough… well, Law's seen a simple hug brighten the face of a patient many times in his life. Normally in Flevance, back when everything was happy and his parents watched in delight as a relieved loved one was reunited with their family after surgery. Less people showed that sort of weakness in front of him now; his reputation proceeded him, and no-one wanted to look sappy in front of the Surgeon of Death.

Certainly not other pirates, although the Strawhat crew and their ridiculous captain seem less concerned about outside opinions. Then again, no-one was ever going to call that crew weak. Unpredictable, immature, and crazy, perhaps, but not weak.

Inside the Polar Tang, away from any possible unfriendly prying eyes, the love language of touch reigned supreme. Law hadn't intentionally gathered nakama who loved nothing more than to sprawl all over each other and tangle limbs more often than not - considering the first three he met had been more interested in fighting than hugging, it wasn't an unreasonable expectation that they wouldn't be particularly tactile.

But no, his nakama were tactile. Penguin and Shachi might as well be conjoined twins most of the time, and he couldn't say the rest of his crew were much different. Which meant hugs were plentiful. They respected his wishes well enough, and only brought him in rarely, but to each other, personal space seemed to be a non-existent concept.

Law had never been the biggest fan of hugs - unless they involved Lami, but that was long ago and he barely recalled what it had felt like to hold her any more - but from his nakama, on his terms, it was tolerable. More than tolerable, sometimes. Nice on occasion.

The best one was Bepo. The Mink had a clear advantage in that regard; his mink was soft and oh so easy to sink into if given half a chance. Even when wet and consequently odorous, it was a rare occasion when Law told his navigator that hugs were not welcome. Bepo was also huge, and while Law remembered the time they were once the same height, that time was long since passed. He wasn't short by any stretch of the word, but Bepo was something else entirely.

And that made him safe. All that mink enveloping him, fluffy chin resting on top of his head and big, strong arms pulling him in until he was all but invisible to the world - Law had a soft spot for that. He knew Bepo's bulk and fluff hid him from sight, because it was the same for the rest of his nakama. More than once, he'd entered a room to see a huge bundle of white, only for a call of "Captain!" or "Law!" to come from the middle of it. Occasionally a head poked out to accompany the word, confirming that Bepo's stomach hadn't learnt to talk all by itself.

Bepo's hugs made for good medicine, too. The Mink was gentle, all-too aware of the fragility of his human nakama, and despite his size and lack of opposable thumbs was dextrous enough to draw in an injured nakama and cradle them gently against his bulk. Eventually, Law had started prescribing Bepo-hugs upon release from the infirmary.

It worked wonders.

Who doesn't love a good Mink hug? The Heart Pirates certainly do! This came from the Tumblr prompt "Bear hugs", which could only be Bepo!

Thanks for reading!
Tsari