''I'm back.'' receiving no answer, Law frowns. Luffy?'' he asks, looking around, holding a pile of clothes he just got from a nearby shop. ''Fuck'' he curses, noticing that his company has disappeared.
Law couldn't hold back that curse even if he wanted to at Luffy – more like at the absence of Luffy. He told him not to move, to stay right there until Law comes back, but did he listen? Of course he didn't. He nearly does a double take when he turns around and finds Luffy standing in front of him with a – is that a squirrel there?
''What the-'' he begins, but stops himself to recoil in horror as Luffy just opens his mouths and brings the living animal to his mouth. Law quickly slaps his hands away, making the squirrel flying out of them. He sighs in relief as it scurries away instantly, but winces when Luffy punches him on the arm. ''What was that for?''
'' Do you even ask?'' Luffy huffs, raising his voice for the first time since he transformed into his human form. He has the galls to look scandalized, to what only Law should have the right to do. '' I was going to eat that!''
'' You're not going to eat anything raw, especially living in my presence!'' Law says, his stomach turning at the very prospect. That would be just plain disgusting to watch, although he's aware that it's not a big deal for Luffy. He must be used to eating animals in whole, and Law isn't about to make him stop doing that, but he will not allow him to do that while he's there to see, smell, hear or even know about that.
''What's your problem?! I'm doing that all the time!''
''You're not-''
''Ah!'' Luffy exclaims suddenly, looking like he just solved a big mystery. He narrows his eyes then at Law, pointing an accusing finger at him. '' So that's what you were up to!''
Law looks at him like he was a retard, and to be honest, he does think that he really is one. He decides he doesn't want to hear whatever he wants to say, because it's going to be stupid anyway, so he tries to change the subject. '' I don't know what conspiracy you have come up with, but I-''
''You wanted the eyes!''
''The ey- what?'' he asks, flabbergasted, his curiosity getting better of him despite his rational part begging him not to indulge himself deeper into the dragon's twisted mind.
''The eyes! You know it's one of the tastiest parts!''
''You..you mean of the squirrel?'' he asks, mortified. He has heard about fish eyes, or lamb, but squirrel? He can't be serious, he would understand if they were cooked although he wouldn't eat them even then, but to talk about how savory it is? You're a menace, he wants to yell but the words stubbornly stay glued to his tongue.
While he's having his inner fight with his momentary muteness, Luffy nods furiously, obviously believing in his theory to the fullest. ''You know, you could have just asked me, I mean I don't share, but I like you, so I might have given you a bite – you didn't have to be all rude!'' he says disapprovingly, nearly scolding Law.
Law though, is still trying to shoo away the images of raw eyeballs, doing his hardest not to think about how it would feel under his teeth, how squashy it must be. Luffy apparently likes that. And here he was, the fool that wanted to kiss that mouth. He's not going even near those lips after learning that despite how nice shaped they might be.
''I was going to eat today'' he deadpans, choosing to forget that this conversation ever happened.
''Huh?'' Luffy asks, tilting his head to the side.
'' You took my appetite, ugh'' he grimaces.
''That means I can get your share?''
''Yeah, whatever.'' he sighs, crouching down for the clothes he dropped in the process of the ordeal involving living squirrels and their eyes. '' Here'' he says, pushing the freshly bought materials into Luffy's hand.
Luffy unfolds them. '' Am I supposed to wear these?''
'' Obviously. You can't go around completely naked''
'' But aren't they too...I don't know... small?'' he asks, confused. Law doesn't get what he means – the clothes might be even a little too baggy for him, but not by any chance to small. They're big enough to fit even Law, although that would be a little too tight.
Luffy slides into a simple hosen and a long sleeved tunica that reaches a just little under his bum. He doesn't seem to be comfortable in them, raising his arms so that they're in one line with his shoulders to show his distaste. ''These are too tight…''
''What are you talking about? They fit you perfectly'' he says, seizing the opportunity to check him out without the inevitable awkwardness of his nudity. His limbs are just nicely toned, skinny but powerful, not bulky from the tons of muscles. Just the way Law likes it.
''But they stick to me'' he whines, tugging at the sleeves a little.
''They're supposed to do that''
''But it's uncomfortable!''
''Stop complaining and put on the boots''
''No.'' Luffy says, tone carrying a finality with what Law doesn't even try to argue. He guesses Luffy will do like that – it's summer and people probably won't give a flying fuck about him being on bare feet.
He just sighs in defeat. ''Alright, no shoes then. Now get going.''
They agreed that Luffy will take him to Sabaody, more like Law agreed because he didn't really have any chance. According to the legends, Sabaody is the last town just before the Red Line, the town that marks the end of the world. It's where everything ends, supposedly – the existence of Sabaody had always been just a legend after all, the mysterious town
Law always thought it was presumably a little too far-fetched that the world has an end where it just stops existing overall, but he didn't know any better, never having been there to see it with his own eyes, and anyway, who was he to say that? People smarter than him said that it was a fact and so it was a fact, and he never felt the need to go on an adventure, put his head on the line just to prove them wrong and be able to say 'hey shitheads I was right and you were not' only to end up losing his head.
According to Luffy though, Sabaody is just the last town of the continent, the last place where the human species set foot, and over the Red Line there is an enormous ocean that doesn't have an end. He thinks that's far-fetched too.
'' We can see it, from up the sky'' he says, dreamily, the campfire painting orange lights on his face, casting protracted shadows with every motion he makes with his arms, imitating flying. '' When it's clear, and there's no clouds, if you spin long enough you can't even tell where's the water and the sky anymore!'' he says, twirling a bit while balancing on his tiptoes and nearly ending falling face-first on the ground. He manages to keep his balance though, and looks at Law after that, waiting for an answer.
Luffy looks so eager and hopeful that Law doesn't have the heart to tell him that the idea of spinning, or even flying doesn't sound appealing to him in the slightest. ''That must be really…great'' even he can feel the obvious lack of enthusiasm there, so he just adds '' You keep saying 'we'. Who are 'we'?''
''My tribe!'' he says, completely naturally, and although it was axiomatic that Luffy had to come from somewhere, from parents most likely, but hearing it is still rather unbelievable.
''And where do you live?'' he inquires further, albeit he isn't really sure if Luffy would be sharing enough to tell him that. There must be a reason that dragons keep themselves hidden from the human eyes, and he has yet to give Luffy a reason to trust him that much to tell him vital information like that.
''In Raftel'' Luffy replies easily, and that really catches Law's attention if it's even possible – he's been drinking the dragon's words already whenever he accidentally hinted something about his heritage, knowing that he's one lucky bastard to have the opportunity to learn so much about the world. He's never going to get a chance as good as it is, he's well aware of that.
''You mean Raftel do exists?'' It shouldn't have caused him any surprise after almost everything he was taught had been shaken to the core, so it's beyond him why did he even ask such a foolish question; it just slipped out.
''Mhm.'' Luffy hums, seemingly starting to become bored by the conversation. Law supposes his attention span can only last for that long, or he just doesn't like explaining things that comes completely natural to him – that's pretty understandable.
Still, he presses, curiosity and desire to learn, to know burning him. ''What is it like?''
Luffy must sense something of him because he forces himself to concentrate on Law again. ''Well, it's big. Like big. And we don't have tight clothes like this'' he says, pulling the material on his arm to show his distaste. '' Our clothes are long and baggy and easy to move in. And we got lots of amazing food there, like the sea kings we fish from down, and the lambs and-''
He appreciates that Luffy's trying despite how uninterested he's, but he's too much of a glutton to stay off of the food topic – or maybe that's just an instinct in him. Animals put a lot of efforts to feed themselves, and maybe it's not the best way to try to understand him, but it'll do it for now. He tries to take the things into his hands before they get completely out of control.
''So, you're all in your human forms there?''
''Yeah'' Luffy nods '' the streets were built to be wide enough for us, but it's more comfortable like that''
''You said you fish sea kings. I assume it is true then that dragons and sea kings are in a constant war?''
'' Nah'' Luffy drawls, '' We don't fight them. They're weaker than us. We eat them. They're tasty ''
He once again wonders that just what kind of a monster he has befriended there. Sea kings are the worst thing that can possibly happen to you on the sea – they're enormous and deadly, sinking ships as if they were toys. He's heard that the wealthiest can afford their meat once in a while, when one falls prey to the toughest sailors on the sea, but such luxurious things are only for the most privileged.
It doesn't take him a long time to realize what a shame is it that of all people –dragons-, the only resolution for him to go for information is Luffy. He likes his company, don't get him wrong, and Luffy was keen on telling him stories, the problem is that their priorities doesn't meet. Luffy has his head in the clouds – sometimes quite literally – and Law walks on the solid ground.
Luffy's interested in adventures, food and in things he deems fun, and in all honesty that fits his brash personality. Law is more on the rational side, especially interested in the medical field. He wanted to be a healer ever since he was a kid, following the step of his father, but things don't usually go in the way one plans them to.
He hopes that in Sabaody he will get the opportunity to study about anatomy and such – Luffy said people there relatively often get in contact with dragons. (Often there only means that it isn't unheard of.) Tales that aren't all about depicting Luffy's kind as evil creatures that kidnap princesses and steal treasures out of pure greediness tell that they're much wiser than humans – though what he has seen as far leaves him with some rightful doubts-, carrying ancient knowledge that hopefully rubbed off on the people there. It would be a nice way to restart his life.
He nags Luffy until he gets bored with him, trying to glean as much precious information out of him as possible, but sadly, the dragon soon becomes bored of him. Luffy kind of just plops down next to him at the fire and falls over, resting his head in Law's lap comfortably. Law recognizes the gesture; it's his way to comfort Law. He cradles his hands through Luffy's black mane, his fingers tangling in the coarse mess.
He can probably sense that what he has to offer to Law isn't enough to satisfy his thirst for knowledge and tries to make up for it, or he just wants to show affection, maybe just wants Law to pet him – he can't really tell it with Luffy. He settles with not trying to figure out what's going on in the dragon's mind, content with listening to the soft cracking of fire and the calming purring Luffy's emitting at the moment.
Luffy's off to chase down some animals – Law couldn't bring himself to care what is it this time-; he just hopes that he doesn't mark the poor thing out for a meal, or if he does, it's something big, of what there'd be left something for Law to cook too. He also prays that Luffy would not lack the mercy of killing the prey before starting to eat, it if he caught something at all.
The forest becomes less and less dense with each step he takes, always keeping an ear open for Luffy. He can hear him rustling – he's far from a stealthy person- , or occasionally his unique laugh. He found it odd at the beginning, maybe a little irritating even, but he grew to quite like it rather soon – it's carefree and honest, capable of lifting other people's mood as well. Just hearing it puts him at ease.
He sees stud horses grazing on the pasture, and also sees a town from afar. It would be nice to know how far their evil repute has gotten, he thinks, and his back vehemently protests against spending another night sleeping on the hard ground, but he also knows that their arrival to such a small, insignificant town would bring unwanted attention. They can't afford that.
''Luffy'' he calls, not even raising his tone. He knows it would be in vain; Luffy can perfectly hear him like this, if he isn't coming that's because he doesn't want.
The brushes rustle behind him as the dragon gets closer to him. 'Yeah?''
He turns to face the boy. '' There are our horses'' he says, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder.
''Horses? Why?'' Luffy asks, tilting his head.
''You didn't seriously think that we will go to the fucking end of the world on our feet, did you?''
The dragon just stares at him for what feels like minutes without blinking even once, and Law realizes that he indeed thought that. He's contemplating waving his hands in front of Luffy's face as he's still spacing out, but he snaps out of whatever stupor he was in before Law has a chance to actually do anything.
''Oh! You sit on them, right? I heard about that. It sounds funny!''
'' Ride them'' he corrects without putting any thought into it albeit he's aware that it's, no use; if Luffy decides on something, then he could tell him anything, could try to convince him in any way, it goes in on one ear and comes out on the other. As expected, he ignores him, and Law thinks it's ridiculous how he's getting used to that.
It could have been fun, to put it in Luffy's way of saying, if the horses hadn't been unreasonably terrified of Luffy. He could understand that if he was in his dragon form, because what creature wouldn't be terrified of a goddamn dragon, but he didn't expect that they can sense his being regardless of the appearance.
He personally would have just thought that Luffy was an eccentric, surprisingly attractive although borderline lunatic man, but nothing more than that.
They still managed to get two horses, even taking them to the wood was a success, so Law thinks it's going to be absolutely wonderful if they went through all the trouble for nothing; as the things are now Luffy can't ride them. He wonders if it was technically possible for the dragon to do that; the learning process of how to ride a horse properly is something that takes years – it can't be done in a few days on a horse he doesn't even know.
Not counting the fact that Luffy's in reality a carnivore and a predator of every breathing creature, they still don't even have an equipment – he'll manage somehow, but Luffy? Not by any chance. The more he thinks about it, the more impossible it seems.
''It isn't going to work, huh?'' he says, watching the animals as they begin to roughly tug the rope they're tied to a tree with as Luffy took a step in their direction.
Luffy doesn't reply, just keeps walking closer, tearing down a fistful of leaves from the tree above him on his way. He stops in front of the calmer horse – that doesn't look like it would rather smash its head against the tree than let Luffy go near him – and slowly reaches out to pet it. He coos and murmurs softly, comfortingly stroking its side, mindful of the potentially dangerous kicks the stallion does to keep him away.
After the horse calmed down more or less, Luffy reaches out his open palm with the leaves on it, offering it to the animal. It's pretty brave to just give any kind of plants to it, foolishly so as it could poison it, but he decides to trust Luffy for now.
Although hesitantly, the white stallion eats it, looking remarkably calmer than it was minutes ago, the nervous tail swishing is still present though. Luffy takes his hands to the head now, making the horse relax into his touch.
''Good'' he praises softly, and Law has a hard time believing that this is the same Luffy he came to know. While he's aware that even he can't always be all riled up, and also having been on the receiving end of his affectionate cuddling – and he did not move around much at that time-, but that comforting tone sounds off – Law would have sworn he wasn't one for talking, preferring the acting more than anything.
Getting its fellow to relax apparently had a good effect on the other horse as it calmed down too under Luffy's magic hands to the point where it's willing to bear his presence. It's a good progress; now they're left with two horses to take them to Sabaody. There's still one more problem left unsolved: his companion being completely clueless to how to do it.
His point seems to be proven true when Luffy turns to him and asks, in all sincerity. ''How do I get them to pick me up?''
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece
A/N: Alright, I'm not happy with this chapter at all. Like seriously. I got the first 2.5K words of it done in 5 days after the last update, and the last 700 words took two more weeks, but in the end I just cut it b/c it was a torture ._. Whatever. I hope you found it enjoyable! :)
Oh, and for the updates. I'll try my best to update faster, but as things are now, this story is just secondary b/c opbigbang is my priority now, I work on this mostly when I got bored with the other or need a break and write some fluff (that shit ain't all sweet), so this baby doesn't really get the attention she would deserve - it all goes to her little brother who grow bigger than her already. I'm a terrible mother OTL. Well, I'll try to get one update done every month until April, after that I'll aim an update every two weeks but I'm not making any promises just yet.
reviews:
.sun : I'm glad you liked it! :D The LawLu fandom needs a lot more kind of AUs :3 Luffy is really the easiest to put into any role, but I find him the hardest to write. I mean, his character is so complex and well-developed, but he's so simple minded and unpredictable at the same time. Hell yeah do reviews motivate me! :D
PaulieMickeyJ: Dragons just make everything a tad better! You know, I don't blame you for that. Like there is so many amazing story out there with so much potential abandoned - it's like when a talented and potential orphan child doesn't get the chance to succeed on life. It makes me so sad. I'm glad you liked it! :D
Me: I'm glad you liked it :D
Bluebird42: First of all I'm glad you like the story so far! :D I sent you a PM a bit back but I'm not sure if you have seen it? Could you be a little more specific please?
Out-thereinparadise: I'm glad you liked this! :D Well, I used 'they' deliberately, as a gender neutral pronoun - I've seen it used before this way so I guessed it was correct. I started with 'it' but I wanted to show that Law thinks more of Luffy than an animal. Who wouldn't respect a dragon anyway? I surely would ;) I'll keep it in mind though for the future :)
MealdWine: Our tastes are very similar as it seems! I've been searching for stories with historical settings but there's a serious lack of them :C You're very welcome and I'm glad you liked it! :D
AuthenticAussie: Well, I almost pity Law too - I feel like a cruel person for putting him through so much surprises. But he can take it, can't he? :D We'll see where I am going! :D
See you next time:3