Title: Drowning
Rating/Spoilers:
G, I think; Spoilers for, um, what Pell is?
Word Count:
300. Bam.
Pairing: Light Luffy/Pell. Yes, I
know.
Notes: Like the previous one, this is
hella old. Wanted to write about Pell flying some more, and then it
occured to me that Luffy would love flying.
Drowning
Luffy had forgotten what it was like to swim, to float. He only remembered how to drown, the cold seeping in between clutching fingers. This was like drowning all over again.
He screamed in delight as the falcon stooped again – the fastest thing in the world. The cold air pushed into his mouth, but he felt like he could float forever like this, welcomed this new drowning, let the air fill him. Reveled even in the heavy press like the ocean's weight as Pell pulled up again, flattening Luffy's chest to his feathered back. So different from the sea that rejected him, cold and sterile, clawing into his lungs. The sky welcomed him, cold but with the harsh beat of the sun on his skin, empty but swallowing his laughter, swelling in his chest the way sitting in his special seat as the Going Merry plunged through endless waves did.
Pell laughed with him, soared up and up until the boy was blinded by the sun, shivering in the chill of the high air and not caring. He shifted then, wrapped the boy in solid arms, warm from the exertion of flight. They fell, head-over-heels, and Luffy was not afraid, like he was not afraid to fall into the sea, because his nakama would save him.
The world careened closer, and the air grew warmer beyond the chilling rush of their descent. He wrapped himself around the man, buried himself in the closer heat. Tilted his head up-but-down and kissed the soft lips. Felt them hesitate before the chaste kiss was returned. Broke away laughing, screamed into the other's ear: "You made me love drowning!"
Pell laughed again, sprouted wings, caught them into a slowing glide on the rising heat of the sand. Soared up to fall and drown again.