He hadn't meant to fall asleep. Vampires were supposedly more composed and in control than their sloppy human counterparts. Yet Sabo woke up, face pressed against the pillow, drooling a puddle onto the bedsheets. Oops.
He sat up quickly, last night coming back to him as he rubbed his cheek, looking around.
Another thing about being a vampire: Don't look caught off guard. Even when you feel it. That's where the silly rumor that the species didn't feel fear came from. Well, some of them didn't. But mostly it was a mass conspiracy centered around not having a hair out of place.
When he passed an office mirror on his way to the door, Sabo caught his reflection and winced. He looked exactly like he felt- like he had been kidnapped by hunters, almost killed, and then recaptured by a crazy old guy. He looked pale-er, tired, bloody and his hair was going everywhere. His mother would have a heart attack. Whatever. If vampire intimidation tactics didn't work on Luffy, they sure as hell wouldn't work on Garp. He raked his fingers through his hair, trying to at least get it to lie flat, leaving the rest.
He tried the door again; it was still unlocked. When he opened the office door, he was met with the smell of something really good, and the noise of cooking. What?
Sabo went to check on Luffy and Ace first, finding them both exactly where he had left them. Dead asleep, neither having more than an inch. Leaving them for now, he crept down the hall, pausing at the threshold of the kitchen. Garp was there, by the stove, fussing over some pans and cussing to himself. Unsure what to do Sabo just watched, shifting his weight uncertainly.
As if alerted by some silent alarm the man's shoulder's tensed, and he spun around, his eyes locking with Sabo. The vampire took a step back, but the man didn't seem that concerned about him.
"Your finally up eh?" he turned back to the stove, reaching for a pan only to burn himself. He cussed again. "Not much of a cook. Come help me with this."
Sabo didn't move.
"I ain't got all day kid," the old man said. "Do you want food or not."
Food sounded amazing. Sabo hadn't realized how hungry he was until that moment. But this was kind of weird. "You're making us food?"
"I said I was, didn't I?"
It weirded him out how much he saw Luffy in this stranger. Honestly, if they let Luffy anywhere near the stove this could be a conversation Sabo was having with his little brother, albeit if Luffy was a bit frumpy that day.
"Why are you making us food," Sabo corrected himself. "I thought you were going to kill us?"
"You said that." Garp told him. "Not me."
"So, you're not going to kill us?"
"Do I have a reason to?"
Sabo shrugged, "I don't know you. Nobody needs much of a reason for anything around here."
The man snorted, amused. "Yeah... can't argue that one. Now stop staring and come help."
Sabo did come over, making sure to stay just out arms reach of the man. Maybe if he did help, he could make sure Garp didn't try to poison him. Maybe he could poison him first…. No, he probably shouldn't poison Luffy's grandpa. Unless he had too…
Garp showed him the recipe book.
"Pancakes?"
"I thought kids liked pancakes."
"I guess everyone likes them." But that was unexpected. In the woods, they often didn't have the supplies for that.
Sabo read it once quickly, committing the steps to memory, as he moved to grab a clean bowl, quickly deciding whatever Garp was doing was unsalvageable.
The old man watched him for a second, and honestly, his gaze made Sabo nervous in a way few other humans did. He seemed like a harmless old man, but Sabo could tell there was great strength hidden in him. Strength enough that any situation could turn bad fast.
"So," the man said at last, settling into a chair. "I'm all ears."
This had seemed like a better idea last night… actually no it hadn't. But he had wanted to do this for Luffy. He deserved someone in his family giving a damn about him. Even if Garp was apparently his best option.
"If you don't like the story, will you kill me?"
Garp snorted. "I don't know what I'll do. I don't know what to think. Luffy died when he was a kid. I saw the blood with my own eyes. He's clearly been through it. Yet here he is. With the two of you. But he trusts you, you were trying to save him, a couple weeks back Luffy came back to try and help the town. I know Ace had it out for Dragon- everyone thought he was dead. But here he is. So boy, what kind of story do you have for me?
Why did they have to go through this every damn time! Maybe if the world was a little different people wouldn't react like this. But it wasn't, and as far as Garp was concerned Sabo was about the spin the strangest story.
"He's my little brother," Sabo told him, deciding to get it out of the way.
Garp blinked. "What?"
"Luffy," Sabo repeated. "He's my little brother." He could tell the man that Luffy was 'like' his younger brother, or that he was his foster brother, but honestly, they were just words. Honestly if his parents got to be referred to as Sabo's parents, not people-who-technically-gave-birth-to-him-but-loved-him-as-much-as-they-loved-the-man-who-delivered-their-milk, then he figured the people he knew actually loved him, got whatever label he chose for them. And this was his choice.
"Hm," Garp sat back, frowning. "So, you think your little brothers a human? Like the kind your species eats to survive?"
"Do you have a problem with that?"
He just grunted, and Sabo turned back to the stove, carefully laying the batter, feeling the man's eyes bore into his back. The tension in the room was thick.
"My mother had a cow when I was little. Slept in my room, came when I called, and followed me around. I could say that was my brother. Didn't stop us from eating it when the food ran out one winter. I've met too many vampires. You like your words. But you're more likely to have a pet than a family."
"He's not…" actually Luffy was a little bit like a pet. Ace joked about it all the time. He constantly had to be fed, if you took your eyes off him, he would bolt and then you had to go looking for him. Still, though, that had more to do with Luffy having the personality of a puppy than, them mistreating him. "It's not like that."
"Is that so? The old man asked, watching Sabo's every move. "Tell me, what's his blood taste like?"
Sabo didn't answer, carefully flipping the pancakes. It really wasn't like that…well it was. But he knew Luffy never saw it that way. Luffy was the type of person who had a generous heart. As far as he was concerned if Sabo needed blood, and he had more than he needed, then he didn't mind sharing it. Not that he was being raised like human cattle. That didn't stop Sabo's guilt, but every time he tried to bring it up Luffy would just laugh and tell him to stop being stupid. As far as Sabo was concerned vampires were a pitiful species. Unable to survive without hurting others. But he wasn't ready to die just yet, so occasionally relying on his brothers kindness was what it took. But explaining the ethics of this to Garp was another story.
He was waiting for an answer. Sabo gave him a pancake. "It tastes like blood so… good?"
Garp flipped the plate, sending it crashing to the floor. The poor innocent pancake smashing to bits amidst the pieces.
Sabo held up his spatula in defense, without really having time to process. But the old man didn't get up. That had been a warning. The first sign of violence from him.
"Tell me again- how he's your brother."
"Don't ask questions if you don't want to know the answer," Sabo told him. He put the spatula down, leaning back against the counter. "I don't need you of all people to judge me. You're his real family huh? Like Dragon? What have you guys ever done for him?"
"Well, I never took his blood."
"Yeah right," Sabo told him. "Luffy told me about your 'training'. I think all of you took his blood. It's not like he agreed to any of that." At least Sabo had asked. At least he would have taken 'No' for an answer.
Garp snorted again, shifting forward, clearly angered. "I was trying to protect him by teaching him to protect himself."
"You're not a hero for being tough on him," Sabo said, feeling more annoyed by the second. "He didn't need that- he just needed someone to actually protect him!"
The tension grew, and for a second Sabo thought he was going to flip another plate, but then the man sighed, sitting back heavily. "Like I don't know that."
Sabo figured the old man had quite a lot of time to reflect on old mistakes. He risked turning back to the stove, trying to salvage the now blackening pancake. "So, if you've got me figured out- why am I here? I didn't ask you to save me."
"You escaped," Garp told him, "and then went back for them. Why?"
"I-Told-You," Sabo said clearly. "They're my brothers. We don't leave each other."
"They would have killed you."
"They would have killed all of us," Sabo corrected.
"It was you-," Garp said as if realizing it himself. "You're the one who told Luffy about the vampire attack."
Sabo didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Garp already knew. "So, what's your game? Turning on your own species to warn us of an attack. But the vampires never ended up showing up."
"There was no game there," Sabo told him. "I wasn't trying to help the humans; I just didn't want innocent people to die. And trust me, there was a vampire attack. It didn't end up making it to town."
"Hm," the old man said, grunting to himself as he rose. Sabo took a step back, but he ignored him, choosing instead to grab the broom and start sweeping up the wrecked plate. "And fluffy there- what's Ace get out of this?"
"Ace gets?" Sabo repeated. "What's he supposed to get."
"From your little alliance," Garp said. "Revenge?"
Why did everyone always ask that? Sabo could see how it looked, and how rare they were. But at the same time screw them. How dare all these humans do such a bad job with Luffy- and Ace- and then accuse them of abusing Lu! Sabo's usually calm temper stirred at that thought.
"I don't owe you any kind of explanation," he told Garp annoyed. He had hoped he was different, for Luffy's sake. But this was a waste of time. He was the same as the others. Closed minded and pig-headed. So human! "I know what you're thinking. You're right. Ace is just doing this for an elaborate revenge scheme against Dragon. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Never mind Dragon hadn't heard from him in years, or it would only take Ace a couple of seconds to kill Luffy if he wanted to. Nor that Sabo had easier ways of getting blood.
"It's burning!"
"Huh?"
Garp pointed behind him and Sabo cussed, turning around to tend to the stove. The two fell into silence, each wrapped up in their own thoughts as Sabo continued to cook.
"Last I heard about Ace, he was threatening to kill Luffy, and driving Dragon crazy," Garp finally said.
No point in sugarcoating that. "Yeah… he was like that for a while. I mean can you blame him after what you and your kind did to him? You nearly drove him insane."
"So what? He's all better?"
"Yeah, he's totally over you lot killing his parents and hunting him to the ends of the earth," Sabo spat with, in his mind, justifiable venom. "All thing's considering Ace was probably just being dramatic, huh."
Not rising to the bait this time, the old man snorted, which did nothing to lessons Sabo's annoyance. A long moment passed between them, the sounds of cooking batter gently filling in the gaps.
"You really do care about them, don't you?" Garp finally said.
"If I didn't, why would I still be here talking to you."
The man didn't respond but Sabo sensed he had a point. And both of them knew it.
"So then, what is Ace still doing here? With Luffy?"
"He doesn't have a master plan if that's what you're asking. Ace isn't that smart trust me."
"So?"
"So, Ace just realized that Luffy's not like his father- he's more like Ace."
"I don't believe that."
"How would you know?" Sabo said, flipping the pancake.
Garp snorted at his bluntness. "What a rude brat. I can see why Luffy trusts you."
"I told you I wouldn't lie," Sabo told him, handing over another pancake for the growing stack. "He trusts me because I look out for him. We both do."
"That's what worried me," Garp said, turning his attention to the doorway. "What do you think kid?"
Sabo continued to cook, not bothering to look up at his brother. Luffy must have woken up a minute or two ago, carefully making his way out of the bedroom before freezing in the living room, sketched out at being back in his grandfather's house and witnessing his brother making pancakes with the old man without bloodshed.
Sabo had heard him get up, although he hadn't realized Garp had as well. Honestly, for an old, withered human, his senses were surprisingly good.
Luffy approached them now, crossing the kitchen. He frowned at Sabo who just shrugged in reply, telling him to go with it.
"What are you doing, Gramps?" he said, sinking into a chair across from the old man.
"I should ask you the same question?"
Luffy looked around, the old man's words going right over his head. "You brought us here."
"No, I mean what are you doing with them, Luffy? You don't belong in the woods with the monsters."
His pout deepened, and he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, a clear sign that he was too sleepy for this conversation. "Gramps that's not nice," he said. "They're my brothers."
Garp turned to Sabo, who bit back his smirk, reminding himself this was not the moment for 'I told you so.' Although to be fair he had told the man as much. Apparently, humans were reluctant to believe 'monsters' and preferred hearing it from other humans. Sabo couldn't fault him too much though; the wolves and vampires were the same way.
"How do you figure that?" Garp asked him. "They could eat you if they wanted to. You know that right?"
"Well yeah," Luffy said, "you can eat almost anything if you want to, except rocks. They don't taste like anything."
Garp rubbed his temples as if a headache was coming on. "Luffy," he snapped.
"They don't want to eat me. Ace says I'm too boney."
Sabo choked, halfway through a flip. The poor pancake slipped from his spatula to the floor. Leave it to Luffy to make an incredibly awkward situation worse. That had been a very old running joke from when they were kids. Ever the diplomatic one, Ace used to say Luffy was useless, bad at chores, annoying to talk to, too weak to fight, and too scrawny for even the starving wolves to eat. Since then, Ace had gotten much kinder, but the joke still stuck. Although Sabo doubted Garp would find it very funny.
He felt the old man's piercing gaze on him, sending shivers down his spine. Sabo opened his mouth to reply, before closing it. He honestly didn't know what to say to that except maybe…
"Lu," he groaned.
"What? I was helping."
"Well stop helping me," Sabo told him. "Otherwise, your grandpa is going to eat me!"
"He won't, the oven's not big enough."
Sabo bit back a sigh, retrieving the floor pancake to hand it to Luffy who started in on it happily. The most random stuff came out of his little brother's mouth. He was honestly a super weird kid. Sabo hoped that at the very least, the old man already knew that. He met Garp's skeptical look. "I'm sorry," he apologized for Ace. "Wolf humor is pretty crude. You get used to it."
"I'm more worried about you than Fluffy," Garp told him.
Sabo had figured he wouldn't let the whole 'drinking blood thing' go.
He gestured at Sabo, "It sounds like this one has already tried."
This was news to Luffy. "Hm?"
"He's using you," Garp said without turning away from Sabo. "You know that right?"
"Using me to do what?"
"For food."
"I know," Luffy said sinking a little bit more into his chair. "I have to peel the onions all the time! Even though he knows I hate doing it. It makes me cry! He's so much quicker but he still makes me do it. Otherwise, we don't eat." Luffy shook his head, clearly trying to be brave on the subject.
"You are just full of wisdom today," Sabo told Luffy dryly. The smell burned Sabo and Ace's more sensitive noses.
"You should peel your own onions instead of making me do it! Even Gramps thinks so."
This was an argument they had had many times before. Despite himself, Sabo felt a slight stir of annoyed immaturity that only his little brother could bring out of him. "I would if you knew how to cook without blowing up the fireplace." Or chop without cutting his finger off. He was a disaster in the kitchen. Peeling onions was about the only thing he had yet to blow up.
"I'm great at cooking."
"I'm not doing this with you right now," Sabo told him.
"No," Garp cut them off, shaking his head somewhat bewildered. "Your blood Luffy. He wants your blood."
"Oh, that's fine," Luffy said, waiving the man off, apparently much less outraged over that than the onions.
"It's fine?" Garp repeated. "He's hurting you."
"It doesn't hurt," Luffy told him, clearly struggling to understand what the big deal was.
"It's dangerous."
"I don't think so, I lose blood all the time. Nothing bad ever happens. I get sort of dizzy sometimes… but you can't die from being dizzy."
"You can die from losing blood," Garp told him.
"I guess," Luffy didn't sound convinced. "You can die from being hungry too though.'
"That's hardly your concern," Garp said, his temper rearing its head again. "Your lucky he hasn't killed you yet, even by accident."
Sabo turned back to the stove, turning his frown towards the pan beneath him. For the record, as long as he was in his right mind, he would never hurt Luffy. Vampires feeding was only dangerous when they truly didn't care if their victims lived or died. Although he was hardly going to defend himself to Garp. Sabo already felt guilty enough about it, and in its own way, he could tell Garp truly did care about Luffy. That was something at least.
Although Luffy did not seem to think so. "You are being mean again Gramps."
"I'm Looking Out for You," the old man said in disbelief.
"Yeah, and I'm telling you not to. You're not that good at it." Typical blunt Luffy. "Sabo's way better at it, so you don't have to worry about me."
For obvious reasons that had the opposite effect as Garp grew angrier still. "Wake up kid, you're not a child anymore. I thought I taught you better than this. Nobody does anything for free in this world. Least of all a vampire. Why do you think he's looking after you if not for this."
"I know that" Luffy insisted. "He gets stuff."
"Yes blood."
"Onion peels," Luffy corrected. "Someone to lecture, I do the potatoes too… and the firewood. He likes to say I-told-you-so to me," Luffy was listing it on his fingers now. "He likes to be right, and you can't be right if you are alone. I'm really strong now so I can save him if a fight is too scary, I can go to town and buy those cookies with the M&M's in them. Uh," Luffy wracked his brain for more. "When he is alone too long, he starts to have an existential crisis. He likes to make fun of the vampires behind their backs. I do a really good impression of them, so he has that too." Luffy smiled at Garp. "See, I do stuff."
Sabo felt his face growing red at the start of that rant, and now he shut his eyes feeling embarrassment wash over him. "Luffy for the love of god, stop helping me."
"You don't get to choose what you are, Grandpa," Luffy said. "It doesn't really matter anyway, only what you do."
"It's what he does that concerns me," Garp said.
Sabo picked up on the slight edge in his voice, turning off the element he added the last couple of pancakes to the stack, bringing them to the table in front of Garp as he sat down next to Luffy.
"I don't know what you want me to say, you've already made up your mind just like the others." He hadn't expected they would have to go through this again so soon. Although at least Shanks had apparently been more open-minded about their kind. Garp was clearly having trouble seeing past it.
The old man nodded; his brow furrowed. "Your right," he agreed, shrugging his shoulders as if to say 'well, I tried'.'
"Sabo, you seem like a nice- eh- vampire. I assume Fluffy is the same. But I don't like this."
Luffy tilted his head confused. "Don't like what."
"There's a lot going on that you don't understand," Garp told his grandson. "You'll have to trust me on this one."
"I don't though," Luffy told him.
"That's fine too," Garp decided turning back to Sabo. "Tell you what kid, if it's blood you want, I'll trade you. Leave this one with me and I can get you a year's supply. I got a buddy on the inside at the hospital. We can make a trade."
"Grandpa!"
"You can't buy him," Sabo said battling between feeling amusement and offended.
"And why's that? Ace."
"Because I don't want blood," Sabo told him.
"Revenge on Dragon?"
"I've never met him," Sabo said. If he had his choice he would rather stay away from that guy. "Besides, if you want to convince someone you should convince Luffy. It's his decision."
Garp turned to look at Luffy. "What do you say, kid, come back and liv-,"
"No."
Sabo just shrugged. He had been expecting that, and apparently so had Garp. The old man leaned forward to wave his hand in front of Luffy's face. "Are you under a spell or something?"
"I don't think so."
"He's not," Sabo answered for him.
Garp sighed again, settling back in his chair. "Listen, kid, I don't know what your angle is, but I like you. You got guts, and in your own way, you obviously care about these two. You're pretty young for a parasite, Fluffy too, so I don't want you guys getting hurt."
Sabo was instantly on guard. "Why would we get hurt?"
Garp saw his concern and moved to correct himself. "I won't hurt you," he said. "I don't make a habit out of killing kids. You can take your wolf friend and go. I won't stop you. No harm will come to you guys."
There was a catch, Sabo could feel the shift in tension. "What about Luffy?"
"He stays with me."
"Gramps."
"No."
The old man waved away their protests. "It will be fine. I have some friends who can look after him, he will be away from the hunters."
"Gramps, No," Luffy said again.
Sabo stood up, "No," he said again, facing down the large man sitting before him."
Garp's wearily eyes sized him up, looking vaguely interested.
"Oh? You're going to stop me."
"We're not leaving him."
"Could you at least try," Garp said. "Otherwise, you guys will be in trouble."
"What do you mean?"
Garp looked at the clock on the wall. "You've got about seven, maybe eight minutes to take your wolf friend and go. I live close to the woods; it should be fine. No one will know to come after you."
"Grandpa, are you having a stroke?"
"What did you do? Sabo asked, feeling his stomach twist."
"I called the hunters," Garp told him calmly.
Luffy stood up, his eyes going wide as he backed away. "NO."
Sabo grabbed his wrist, "come on, let's go."
"Grandpa no."
"We don't have time for this," Sabo said, pulling Luffy back into the hallway, only to find his way blocked by Garp.
"You're going to get your grandson killed," Sabo told him, feeling a wave of anger wash over him. "I thought you cared about him more than that."
"It's not for him, or you two." Garp looked at Luffy. "We're leaving, the hunters won't even know you were here, any of you. It's meant to be a false alarm. I do it all the time just to mess with them. In the meantime, I'm taking Luffy to my friends. And you guys will be long gone by then if you know what's good for you. This doesn't have to be messy."
"Move," Sabo said.
There wasn't even time to blink. One second, Sabo was standing in front of Garp and the next he was on the floor, his cheek stinging something fierce. He heard Luffy call for him. The old man had grabbed Lu's wrist, keeping him from going over to his brother. Garp watched the vampire now, his eyes giving nothing away.
"Up to you kid, you can't fight me. Just take Ace and go. Unless you want to become the hunter's new guinea pig, you don't have time for this."
He was right, he was absolutely right. Sabo had to move, now. He didn't want to be anywhere near this house when the cavalry arrived. But despite that, he didn't move. He was cornered. His instincts were telling him to run, but he couldn't just leave his little brother at the mercy of this psycho. He knew Ace would feel the same way. They didn't leave each other. Even if that meant they were all going to die.
"Sabo don't fight him," Luffy said, clawing at the man's hand, trying to squirm out of his grip. "He's crazy strong."
"Don't do this," Sabo said, his tone all but begging. Despite the unpleasantness, he truly didn't sense violence or maliciousness from the old man. "You don't want to hurt him. I can tell."
"Last chance boy, times running out. Leave now."
Sabo shook his head, "Not without our brother."
Garp shook his head, and Sabo tensed, his muscles winding themselves up to spring forward. Any second now, he knew it was hopeless but a surprised attack was his only chance, and… was Garp smiling? Scratch that he was laughing.
Sabo jumped like a cat, as the old man broke off into gruff bellows of laughter. He let go of Luffy to wipe his eyes.
"God, your face."
"Excuse me?"
"Damn, you should have seen yourself. You looked pretty miserable." Garp slapped Luffy's shoulder good-naturedly. You to Red, I really had you going."
"Gramps," Luffy said indignantly. "That wasn't funny."
"You were kidding?" Sabo repeated in disbelief, feeling rather sick. "You didn't call the hunters."
"Cell service out here, are you nuts," he snorted. "You're awfully stupid for a vampire. I thought you lot were supposed to be smart."
Sabo collapsed into a chair, resting his forehead on the table. "I hate you," he told the old man honestly.
Garp just shrugged as he fell back into his own chair, helping himself to the pancakes. "What? it's not every day your grandson runs off with monsters that live in the woods. I was just checking. Eat your breakfast," he told the two of them, wasting no time digging in. "We have lots to talk about."
"Grandpa," Luffy said again, annoyance slowly overtaking his fear. "That was mean. You scared me."
Sabo ignored them, feeling the pounding of a headache behind his temples. He wondered for the hundredth time what the hell was wrong with this family.
XXX
Just one thing to say: REALLY SORRY GUYS. This still is and will always be my favorite story. Defenders is at the plot peak right now so I am having a hard time tearing myself away from that.
XXX
HollowSea: This is quite true. Luffy is always stupid, but so are adults.
Guest; why thank you. Sorry the update was so late. I will get to those questions one day!
Chicken nuggs: Of course!
Starlightjuice: I luv a lil pup Ace. Garp is going to continue with being a terrible parent haha.
CaffienatedAF; aww, that is so sweet to hear. Sorry it was so late.
Laura; yes, I might be slow to update but I don't have any plans on giving up on this story any time soon.
eri1325: They are getting better all the time!
Randomtraveler: So true. I will update AO3 as soon as I get some time. The bugs are starting to bug me quite a bit. I am so glad to hear you liked this story. Sorry the update was so late.
94Insane: Wow, you really like it. Garp is going to take some time. But we will get there eventually! Thank you so much for the support.
(Very sorry the update was so late) I will work on that. I won't abandon this story just yet.
ASXCE: Well hey there, I am really glad you like my stories, That is so sweet to hear. You guys make writing them worthwhile. So sorry about how late I was. Oh my goodness, eat, study, sleep. ASL will be adorable when you are done.
Thank you again for the nice words.
It's amazing and all I have been doing for the past two days. Who needs to study for their test in 3 days from now, or eat, or sleep when I can read about the ASL being adorable!
I really love your writing style and can't wait for chapter 38.
Guest: Damn ten years, I hope not haha. I think I have only been writing for seven years. (Wow I am old). How scary.
Guest: Why thank you.
eri1325: Aww, shucks.
coffe01: Oh thank you! It's been a second. I hope you are well. I adore your fanart. I will make it the new story art next chapter if that's all right with you (With credit of course).
Guest: Oh my friend, very sorry. I will try to do better this summer for updates.