Chapter 7

Law woke up alone on the infirmary bed. He knew he shouldn't be, but he was a little disappointed he didn't wake up next to Luffy. He walked out onto the deck, noticing a sleeping Zoro, but that was not who he was itching to see. As if on cue, he noticed Luffy sitting back on top of the lion's head; the sun hung low in the sky, illuminating the pirate like an angel fallen from grace. Law was reminded of the feeling he had on Dressrosa after first seeing Luffy this way. Before he knew it, his feet were moving, desperately trying to get closer to the person they desired. Law didn't have time to think before words were spilling out of his mouth.

"Straw Hat-ya!" He hollered at Luffy, not really sure what he was doing. Luffy turned around to look at him. A grin spread across his face. Law drank in the sight, not really sure what he should say, but, luckily, Luffy took control of the conversation.

"Hey, Traffy! You're awake!" Law made his way to Luffy's seat and glanced down at the ground, sure the boy shone so bright, he'd go blind if he looked for too long.

"Yes," he told him. "I slept well last night." Luffy smiled, but, after a moment, began to turn back towards the sea. That was it? The conversation lasted only a minute; every moment he spent with Luffy seemed to be so fleeting, but Law didn't want this conversation to end. He wanted to talk to the pirate captain more; maybe then he could get over this little crush. After a few seconds of silence, Law said the first thought that popped into his head. "Wanna look at my tattoos?" Quickly, Luffy turned back towards him. He let his eyes rise to meet Luffy's. The boy's grin widened to a concerning degree.

"Yes!" Luffy raised his arms up in a state of victory. Law hadn't realized just how much the boy had been hoping for this. He jumped down from the lion and reached a hand out toward Law.

"Umm," Law interrupted, remembering the sleeping swordsman behind them. "Maybe we could go somewhere more. . . private?" The whole crew had already witnessed them cuddling in their sleep, but he didn't want anyone to see Luffy inspecting his body too. Luffy responded by wrapping his arm around Law's waist. His heart melted at the familiar touch. Luffy pulled Law close to his body and stretched an arm up to the mast.

"Wait, what are you-" Law didn't get the chance to finish the thought before Luffy pulled them up to the top. As they flew through the air, Law unconsciously wrapped his arms tight around Luffy's torso. They landed atop the domed roof of the crow's nest.

"Nobody can see us up here," Luffy told him. He looked around, certain that Luffy was right, and, even if they could, what would cause any of them to look up here? Law took a deep breath and pulled his shirt off. The sun beat down on his exposed skin. He could feel himself starting to heat up, whether that was from the sun or the awkward situation he'd put himself in, he wasn't sure. He closed his eyes and tipped his chin up, trying his best to look comfortable, but, truthfully, he was already regretting his actions. This felt like a scenario pulled from one of Robin's romance novels, and Law was less than comfortable with the implications.

He could feel Luffy's eyes inspecting his body. A stray hand pressed against Law's shoulder and ran across his back towards the other. Luffy lifted Law's arm, holding it up carefully. He rotated it around, making sure to see each tattoo from every angle. After being satisfied with his view of the tattoos on his forearms, Luffy took Law's hand in his own. He fidgeted with his fingers, each of which had a singular letter displayed on the knuckle.

"H-T-A-E-D" Luffy sounded out each letter carefully, trying to derive some sort of meaning from them. "HTAED? What's that mean?"

Law chuckled to himself; he opened his eyes and turned towards Luffy, brandishing the knuckles on his other hand. "It spells Death," He explained. "I am the Surgeon of Death after all."

"Ah," Luffy moved his way back up to Law's shoulder, tracing the designs up his arm as he went. "And you have hearts on your shoulders."

"Mhm," Law shut his eyes again, embarrassed by the touch. He waited as Luffy traced the intricate design, unsure of where he would go next.

"You have a heart on your chest too," Law stiffened, feeling the blood rush to his face. Luffy placed his hand on Law's body and began tracing with his fingers; it sent a shiver up his spine.

"I have my jolly roger on my back too," he coughed out, trying to distract himself from what was happening. After a minute without feeling Luffy's touch, Law permitted himself to open his eyes. He looked down at Luffy, who had taken a seat on the roof. Slowly, Law sat down in front of him. They just sat there for a moment, looking into eachothers eyes. Law was tempted to look away, but he forced himself to hold Luffy's gaze.

"What do your other tattoos mean?" Luffy asked him. Law smiled, happy for the break from the silence. He slowly explained the meaning of each of his tattoos, going into the details of when he'd gotten them and why. Most of them led to the same answer: Corazon. Law was surprised at how good of a listener Luffy was. He scarcely interrupted Law unless it was to clarify a detail or add his own input on Law's reasoning. When he was done, Law asked Luffy about the scar sitting beneath his eye. Surprisingly, his answer was the same as Law's: his mentor Shanks. The two sat up there, high above the world, talking about their various adventures and dreams. Law found their conversation came so easily; Luffy got Law to talk more than he had to most of his crew, and, when the sun went down, they continued talking anyways. That is, until Luffy got hungry. Law could hear his stomach growl, and Law knew he was too polite to say anything.

"How about we go eat," Law told him. "I'm starved." Luffy jumped up.

"Yes! Foooood!" Luffy shouted. Before he knew it, Luffy's hand was back at Law's waist, and his other hand was scooping up his legs. He didn't need to be told to wrap his arms around Luffy this time. He leapt down without a warning, and Law held on tight until they landed safely back on the deck. Luffy traded Law's waist for his hand, and pulled him towards the kitchen. Law's instincts told him to pull his hand away from Luffy's before they got to the door; who knows who could be in there. But Law found himself reluctant to do so. He didn't want to release Luffy's hand; he liked the way it felt in his- as if their fingers were made to intertwine. So, as they reached the door, Law only tightened his grip.

Luffy ran through, bumping into Franky on the way. The cyborg watched Law trail in after, taking note of their connected hands on the way. "You two are alive? We thought you must've fallen overboard again." He chuckled to himself.

"And you didn't think to look for us?" Law asked in dismay.

"Well you can only fish someone out of the water so many times before it's up to them to learn to swim." Franky made his way to leave. "I cooked us some barbecue earlier, you two can have the leftovers."

Luffy led Law over to the food, only dropping his hand when he needed to grab a plate. Law had to admit, he was disappointed. He missed the sensation of Luffy's hand in his, but he pushed forward and grabbed a plate for himself. Law was not particularly fond of ribs, but Luffy seemed happy enough with them; they were meat, afterall. Law assumed, since it was just the two of them, they were going to have a more pleasant meal. He thought wrong. Despite the small number of both people and food, Law still had to protect his own plate from Luffy's wandering hands. At one point he found himself having to wrestle a piece out from Luffy's iron grip.

The two had been late to dinner, so it only made sense that they were late to bed as well. Everyone was already asleep when they entered the room. Law and Luffy split off at the door, going to their respective sides of the room. Law slid his shirt off and settled in. He'd hoped that he would be able to fall asleep on his own tonight since he'd scratched his itch of being near Luffy; they'd spent the entire day together, afterall. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

Law tossed and turned for a while, not knowing what he was meant to do. He'd always had trouble sleeping but never to this extent- not until he'd slept with Luffy the first night aboard the ship. It was as if his body responded so well to the rest he'd gotten that it now refused to sleep any other way. Law was just about to accept he'd be getting another sleepless night when he felt a poking at his shoulder. He turned around to see Luffy standing beside him.

"Wanna sleep together?" Luffy asked, looking rather tired. Law wasn't keeping him up was he?

"Wha- why do you ask, Straw Hat-ya." Of course Law wanted to say yes, but he wasn't sure what the implications would be.

"You can't fall asleep," he said, already climbing into the bed with him. "You sleep better with me." Ah, so he'd noticed.

"You don't have to do this Straw Hat-ya. Really-" Law was cut off when Luffy wrapped his arms around his torso. He pulled himself close and laid his head on Law's chest. This was the same way they'd slept the first night, but it felt so different, because, this time, Luffy was awake.

Luffy yawned. "Go to sleep, Traffy." Law decided to drop the argument, knowing that any disagreement with the boy was a losing battle. Instead, he wrapped his arm over Luffy's body. Law felt euphoric, he'd spent the day with him, slowly getting over his nerves, and now they were falling asleep together. Something still felt off to him though, but he didn't have time to figure that out before he dozed off to sleep, still holding Luffy to his body.

Author's Note

Hurray! Chapter 7's done. I really like this chapter; it's the first time Law got to spend one on one time with Luffy. He may have thought it would put his thoughts to rest, but oh no they've only grown stronger. What a surprise. I'd intended this to be a pretty slow burn story, but we're nearing the end so things are going to start picking up I promise. I hope everyone is liking the direction, and continues on to the last few chapters!