Title: Panacea
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: NC-17 overall
Characters/Pairing:Law/Sanji
Chapter: 6/?
Word Count: 3234
Summary: There's something in his demeanor, the way he hides his true feelings whenever they start to unconsciously slip out, that speaks volumes. And Sanji would hardly consider himself somebody that wants to fixpeople but, well, he likes a challenge, and Law presents a rather giant one.
Spoilers:For recent-ish chapters, but this is set before Dressrosa.
Chapter Six
For the second time in two days he wakes up confused, but this time it's less that he forgets where he is and more that he can feel somebody straddling him, hands kneading down his spine and strong thumbs pressing into the small of his back and fuck, that feels amazing.
"Mm, I think you missed your calling," he mumbles, hearing Law's breathy laugh in response.
"I assure you, Mr. Blackleg, that with my obvious reluctance to touch people, this would not be a good path for me," he sounds…lighter, somehow, his voice more infused with emotion than normal, and Sanji cracks one eye open and tries to look over his shoulder.
"Back to that, are we?"
"If I recall correctly, you only dictated that I call you by name during sex. Which I did," he adds, and Sanji rolls his eyes.
"When it was over and I could barely hear you, but yeah," he concedes, groaning when Law presses a little more firmly. "What time is it?"
"Just after sunrise," Law replies, trailing his hands over Sanji's hips. "How do you feel?"
"Won't know for sure until I move around a little, but I'll be fine," he knows that much, at least, because with some of the injuries he's sustained and gotten right back up from, rough sex is about the least of his worries. "You don't have to do this."
"Hush, I want to," Law says it in a tone that implies he's not taking 'no' for an answer and, well, Sanji can't say he minds so he nods and props his chin up on his folded arms, getting more comfortable. "As I told you, it's less that I'm completely opposed to physical contact and more…"
"That it's hard to find people you trust to do it with. Yeah" Sanji remembers that much, at least, and he knows that he should be flattered that Law counts him as one of those people but honestly he just thinks it would be lonely being that wary of simple things like touching.
Still, he wasn't joking when he said that Law's hands were talented because he's applying just the right amount of pressure, relaxing him while not being overtly painful, and Sanji sighs and feels himself slipping into a half-awake state, wondering how long they have before somebody inevitably comes and disturbs them.
He can feel himself getting hard, normal morning wood accentuated by Law's hands on his skin, and he unconsciously grinds his hips down against the bed, trying to get himself under control. Law makes a noise that sounds both inquisitive and amused and Sanji looks over his shoulder and glares.
"I didn't say anything," Law sounds utterly bored now and Sanji narrows his eyes, rolling over and yanking Law closer so he can kiss him. Law steadies himself quickly, hands braced on Sanji's shoulders and legs on either side of him and kisses back with remarkably little resistance. "We don't have time to…"
"I know," Sanji mumbles between kisses. "We've got time to make out, though, right?"
"I'm sure we do."
And Sanji feels kind of smug that he was right about how eager Law would be in bed once he let go of some of his inhibitions. It's probably not the most positive thing to say or something that Law cares about in the least, but the man's made for sex, everything from his looks to his voice to the way he handles himself, and it'd be a damn shame if he held that back just because of some personal demons.
In the end, they only get about two minutes before the pounding on the door starts, and Law gives Sanji a smirk that could almost be called playful before standing up and going to answer it. Sanji yanks the sheet over his lower half, pulling his knees up (Law's got his jeans on but he's still far more undressed than most of the crew has ever seen him).
"Has Strawhat decided the two of you are to always be our morning look-in committee?" Law asks, and Sanji's kind of glad it's just Usopp and Nami again, since after yesterday this isn't going to be too surprising to them.
"As far as I know Luffy's eating all the food in the kitchen, but if you want to have any of it you probably should get down there soon," Nami's not really hiding the fact that she's staring while Usopp's trying to look anywhere but directly at Law.
"Nami-san! I can make you breakfast if you want!" he calls and her smile turns decidedly more knowing.
"No, that's okay, Sanji-kun. I wouldn't want you to…over-exert yourself," she crosses her arms, leaning against the door, and Usopp sputters and hisses, "Nami!"
"What? I'm not going to pretend that this isn't happening," she gestures and he squeaks at her again.
"Oi, Usopp, you got a problem with it?" Sanji doesn't think the sniper does, because Usopp's pretty accepting, but it's kind of fun to embarrass him regardless.
"Of course not!" Usopp waves his hands. "But I don't need to know the details!"
"Well, I don't kiss and tell, so you're in luck," Law's got his hands in his pockets, posture relaxed and a knowing smile on his lips and fuck, that's attractive, and if this is what Law's like when he loosens up Sanji's not sure his libido can take it. "How's the weather, Miss Nami?"
"Should be perfect for sailing. Not a cloud in the sky," she replies, suddenly all-business, and Law nods.
"No clouds. Good," he mumbles, almost to himself, and Sanji blinks because why is Law worried about clouds, of all things? "Well, rest assured that we will be out momentarily."
"Okay good let's go," Usopp grabs Nami by the wrist and zooms off down the hall, her surprised yelp following the sound of him running away.
"Guess we've gotta get moving, huh?" Sanji groans and gets out of the bed, standing up gingerly and being kind of relieved when it doesn't hurt that much to move around. He knows that things will change as soon as they leave this room, that he and Law might never get this sort of privacy again, but it's not like they can hide out here forever. He pulls on his pants and does up his belt, shaking out his shirt and thinking that as soon as he gets back to the ship he's changing, but it'll have to do for now
Once he feels presentable he turns back around, feeling slightly disappointed that Law's rare good mood has already been replaced by his usual scowl, and with his sword up over his shoulder and his hat back on his head, it's hard to believe he's the same person as the man Sanji had fallen asleep with.
"Ready?" he asks, walking to the door, and Law's hand comes to rest in the small of his back. It's a gentle, subtle thing but it speaks volumes. "Hey. This was good, right?"
"Yes," Law assures him. "It truly was."
Sanji tries to hide the flinch at Law's use of past tense, but he can't say he wasn't expecting this.
"Okay. Let's go."
000
Things are…strange on the ship that afternoon. Everybody comes in to check on him at least once, even though it's obvious Luffy has no idea why he needs to and Chopper stammers about 'tearing' and 'proper lubrication' until Sanji gently reminds the reindeer that Law's a doctor as well and he'd known what he was doing. Chopper looks really relieved at that.
Zoro spends most of the day in the galley, feet up on the table and swords by his side and it's like he's trying to be a fucking bodyguard and it's weird. Nami and Robin are all smiles and gentle touches to his shoulders and back as they flit by, actions that would normally leave him melting but he's too confused to worry about that. Franky and Brook even drop their natural perverted states and ask honestly if he's okay, and he gets them cola and milk and sends them on their way.
"Why are you all acting like I've survived some traumatic experience?" he asks Usopp when the sniper comes in, Zoro cracking his eye open and sitting up to take part in the conversation. "Yeah, we fucked. You all know that. So stop acting weird about it."
"So why's he been avoiding you all day if things are good?" Zoro asks and Sanji sighs, rubbing his temples.
"He's fucking odd, I dunno," he shrugs. "And I promised him I wouldn't say anything, but I have no idea why he's keeping his distance."
He's not exactly surprised, not after Law had seemingly built his walls back up in a matter of moments that morning, but it's still disappointing. Probably for the best, but still.
"So you're fine?" Usopp questioned. "I mean, this morning, he was like…"
"Human?" Sanji asks, chuckling.
"Yeah," the younger man replies. "He knows we all know, so it doesn't make sense that he's trying to act all cold again."
Usopp has a pretty good point, Sanji reasons, but he's learned by now that Law and logic don't really go hand-in-hand.
"I still don't trust him," is Zoro's contribution, so Sanji drops a cutting board and some potatoes in front of him and tells him that if he's going to stay in the galley all day the least he can do is help out, which earns him a grumble but Zoro does indeed start peeling the potatoes.
Hell, if Sanji had known all it'd take for everybody to damn near dote on him was to have sex he would have done it sooner, because he does love his crew, but being left alone all day to get some cooking done is a luxury he doesn't get often and he kind of thinks he could get used to it.
000
Law's still off over dinner, not saying anything and replying with vague grunts and hand-waves if anything is addressed to him, and by the time everybody heads to bed Sanji's had about enough and when he stomps out onto the deck, he finds Law in much the same position he had that first night (it seems like forever ago even though it's only been a few days, but a lot has happened since then).
He doesn't have tea this time, because he's not feeling that charitable, and Law looks resigned when Sanji leans back beside him, letting the silence stretch out until his patience snaps.
"So. You gonna explain why you're acting like a fucking weirdo all of a sudden?" he asks, Law looking in the other direction in response. "Law, don't play with me."
"I care about you," Law says the words through gritted teeth, like they're causing him physical pain, and Sanji stops and blinks because he was not expecting this.
"You…you what?"
"It changes things," Law continues like Sanji hadn't just asked him to clarify. "But we're close enough to Doflamingo's territory that there might be spies about, and if any of them get wind that you and I specifically are more than just allies I'm…concerned they may decide to target you to get to me."
Sanji pauses, then, because while his first instinct is to tell Law he's still being stupid, he knows enough about Doflamingo to know that yeah, he's probably do something like that. And Sanji also knows that he's not strong enough to take down the Warlord, no matter how much that knowledge rankles. "I can respect that," he finally says, because this is different than Doflamingo coming after them just because of an alliance. It could get personal really quickly and if he's the reason everybody gets put into danger just because he can't keep his sex drive under control it wouldn't even matter what anybody did to him because that guilt would haunt him forever.
"I'm aware that I'm probably being over-cautious, but I'd mistakenly thought I'd be able to suppress my emotions enough to not become attached to any of you," he crosses his arms and Sanji barks a laugh.
"Yeah, well, I've felt that way about pretty much everybody on this crew and I'd lay down my life for each and every one of them now," he replies honestly. "So. You care about me, huh?"
"Of course you'd focus on that," Law scans the sky again, seemingly content, and tugs on Sanji's wrist to move him into the shadow of the cabin, pressing him against the wall. Sanji wraps his arms around Law's waist and buries his face against the soft material of Law's hooded sweatshirt, feeling the tension seep out of his body when Law hugs him back. "You have an uncanny way of crawling under a person's skin, I think," he murmurs, and Sanji nods.
"Well, I dunno, but along the way a lot of people that started out as enemies kind of became friends because of me, so maybe," he's still not quite sure how that's worked because he's not the friendliest guy, especially to other men, but he has made a lot of allies just by being himself so maybe his personality's not quite as prickly as he thinks it is.
Or maybe a lot of people just admire the fact that he sticks to his guns, but either way, it's only helped them so far.
"There's a couch by the aquarium," he says quietly, and Law slides a hand through his hair and holds him almost protectively, curled so close Sanji can feel every inch of their bodies pressing together. "I can grab a couple of blankets…"
"Yes. Do that," Law sounds defeated and Sanji holds him even tighter. "I…suppose there is no real danger in confining our activities to areas indoors…"
"Okay," Sanji doesn't want to wait for him to talk himself out of this so he grabs some things from the storage area and heads to the aquarium room, Law already seated on the long bench and looking mildly uncomfortable. "I thought we were past the awkward stage."
"We are, I'm just unsure as to how…private things will be here," he notes, removing his hat and laying his sword aside.
"Yeah, you've got a point. Probably better if we're dressed," Sanji decides, shaking out the blanket and passing Law a pillow he'd thought to grab, the older man taking it and lying back as Sanji crawls on top of him and pulls the blanket over them both, squirming a little to get comfortable. "I care about you, too. For the record."
"That's probably a very foolish thing to do," Law's disregard for his own life is still annoying, but it's not like Sanji can change his mind about that in a couple of days so he lets it slide. "But I appreciate it. I probably don't make it easy."
"Nah, not at all, but I'm a stubborn bastard so you're stuck with me," Sanji replies, pushing himself up enough that he can reach Law's mouth, and Law kisses him back without any hesitation. "I get why you're worried, and I can't make any promises, but I'm not gonna do anything stupid to put myself in danger."
"I trust you won't," Law assures him "and truth be told I'm rather convinced Doflamingo will be more interested in targeting me than worrying about any of you, but it's still best to be cautious around him."
"I believe that," Sanji mutters, kissing Law harder so that maybe the other man will get the hint and stop talking already because nothing kills a mood faster than predicting doom and gloom. He does, thankfully, hands sliding up under Sanji's shirt, and Sanji's content to leave him there because Law's hands just feel really good on his skin.
"Hmm," Law pulls back with a sound that's full of contentment, eyes half-lidded, and looks up for a second. "I know you'd rather your crewmates not see too much, but I think we may have just scarred the fish for life," he says dryly, and Sanji muffles his laughter into Law's shoulder, looking up enough to see the self-satisfied smile on the doctor's lips and thinking that it might not be perfect, but what they've got right now is pretty damn good.
000
Trouble finds them the next day, of course, but it doesn't come in the form of Doflamingo or any of his crew but rather a Marine ship that's seemingly decided it's a good idea to take them on (Sanji wonders just how long their idiot captain has been a Marine, because no nameless cronies are going to take out their bunch). It takes a lot of convincing on all of their parts to get Law to stay out of it, but he can't jeopardize his Warlord status at this point and being in an equal alliance with a pirate crew would be the quickest way to get ousted from that organization.
Smoker might know about what they're doing, but it's not like he's ever been one to follow the rules, so it's better for Law to lay low until they can make their move with Doflamingo.
Still, he hasn't had a good fight in a while, and while the Marines aren't much of a challenge it's still a decent work-out and the extra training is never wasted. There aren't any problems at all until he hears the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the water and turns on instinct, needing to make sure it's not one of the Devil Fruit users on his crew. He flips over, delivering a swift roundhouse kick to the Marines circling him, and sprints for the rail, staring over the edge and scanning the water to see if he can tell who'd fallen in.
Looking back later he'll realize how stupid it was, and that he should have called for somebody to cover his back, but over the din of the battle he can't hear anybody behind him. He can feel his body jerk forward and turns to yell at whoever had pushed him, his brain slow to tell him that something's really wrong here. His eyes drop down, staring without comprehending for a few moments because there is no way he'd have been careless enough to…
That's about when his legs stop supporting him and he stumbles against the rail, slumping down and breathing heavily, the pain in his gut intensifying to a level that's impossible to ignore. His hands are shaking, coming away slick with blood when he gropes at his chest, and he can see the wickedly curved point of the saber sticking through his stomach, the hilt somewhere behind him causing him to fall back with the weight and he forced himself to grab hold of the railing, trying not to impale himself further.
He can hear somebody yelling his name and feels himself lifted enough that he lets his arm go limp, eyes fluttering shut and a roaring in his ears that blocks out everything but his own pain. He only has time for two more thoughts, weirdly coherent, before he blacks out: the first is that becoming a human shish kebab is an ironic way for a cook to go, and the second being that, if he makes it out of this alive, Law's never going to trust him to take care of himself again.
Notes:
1. …apparently my muse decided this story didn't have enough drama and so this happened.
2. Thanks as always for all the reviews and comments! I'm busy with work the next couple of days but I'll try to find some time to write :)