Tea
Despite living in the city, Law's apartment was always quiet- too quiet. It was the kind of quiet that left him feeling completely alone although he knew that he was surrounded on nearly all sides by floors filled with other people going about their own intricate and complex lives. It was the quiet that seemed to let intrusive thoughts slip through the cracks to hide, waiting in the shadows- waiting to catch Law alone and vulnerable.
He found himself once again sitting on his sofa, cupping a steeping mug of plain black tea between his hands, laptop open on his coffee table. He sat staring at the screen with his eyes half-focused. His blank home screen search engine was sitting ready to help him find an idea he couldn't recall.
Lately it was becoming more and more common for him to forget what he was doing even in the midst of doing it. Law felt like he was losing his mind. His concentration kept giving way to unwelcome thoughts intent to make him feel as though he wasn't even worth the oxygen he was breathing.
The death, guilt and loneliness of a past he'd tried to leave behind slowly bled into his mind from the memories he'd never wanted to have. He'd always wondered why fate had allowed him to survive his hardships despite taking everyone he knew and loved away from him. It wasn't like he even had some special destiny to fulfil. He felt it must have been some kind of twisted joke for fate to leave someone as useless as him alive.
Thoughts like these were finding their way into his head more and more often. He likened it to the way the essence of the tea leaves slowly bled out from the teabag into the water of his mug, making it murky and bitter.
A playful drumming rythmn at his door echoed into the silent room. Law's first instinct was to pretend he wasn't home, but the upbeat drumming at the door felt unsettling against the dark thoughts invading his mind, unnerving him. The only one who ever drummed on his door instead of knocking like an ordinary person was his neighbor from down the hall- his persistent neighbor who he'd been dating on and off for almost a year. Knowing him, he was probably committed to seeing Law whether he wanted it or not.
"Hold on, I'm coming," Law reluctantly admitted, setting down his mug. He pulled himself up to stride across the room to the door.
"Torao~ It's me~" a voice sung out, muffled up against the door. Was that idiot speaking into the peep-hole again?
Law flipped the lock and slid the door open, half-blocking the entrance with his body.
"What's up, Luffy-ya," Law spoke in his most mono-tone-leave-me-alone voice, but that didn't seem to dissuade the petite young man who strode in as comfortably as if it were his own home.
"What do you mean 'what's up'? Did you forget? Tonight is date night. I brought pie and a movie!" Luffy smiled to Law as he paced over to the coffee table to set down DVD and a box bearing the mark of their local bakery. "Oh, you already have tea to go with it," he noted before flopping himself onto the sofa.
"Look, I'm not really in the mood to-"
"Can I have some tea too?"
"Fine. I guess so."
"Thanks, Torao~ You're the best!" Luffy sprang up from his seat to follow Law into the kitchen.
Law set the electric kettle to boil water, tossing a teabag into a mug while he waited the few seconds until the water had reached the ideal temperature. He poured the hot water into the mug, watching the teabag tumble helplessly against the stream, listening to Luffy hum happily while digging around in his refrigerator.
"I wouldn't think that you'd like tea that much," Law spoke, "since it's kind of troublesome to make and it tastes bitter."
"Yeah, but you gotta keep going." Luffy set a carton of milk down by the mug of steeping tea, and turned to dig through Law's cupboard.
"Huh?" Law raised an eyebrow.
"It is a little troublesome and it is bitter. Actually, it's really awful sometimes and if you get stuck on those things, it's not much fun, but you gotta keep going," Luffy commented, pulling out a bag of sugar. He poured some directly into the mug. "You gotta fill it with things that you like- things that make you happy."
"Whoa, watch it. I wouldn't have filled it all the way if I knew you were adding stuff," Law cautioned, taking the teabag out.
"Well," Luffy eyed the full mug of tea, "sometimes you just have to deal with the bitter."
Luffy blew on the tea to cool it before taking a sip, his face distorted at the taste. "But those are the times when it's good to have someone to bear it with," he commented, holding the mug out to Law.
Law took a sip of bitter tea before handing it back to him.
"Then," Luffy continued, pouring in as much milk as he could and stirring it all together, "you can make it worthwhile. The bitter is still there, but there are other things too, and actually it's turned out pretty good. See?" He held the mug out to Law who eyed it suspiciously before taking a sip.