Caesar Clown
Law turned his body towards Neo and took her now ungloved hand in his. He rubbed soothing circles over her skin while they waited for someone to come get them or try to kick them out. He kept sending her comforting thoughts and wrapped his presence around her as much as he could as she continued to cautiously inspect her surroundings. Her eyes would immediately flicker towards the sounds of the clicks, hums, bangs, and other unfamiliar noises within this strange building whenever they happened. He sighed internally at himself for not preparing her better for this place. 'I'm sorry, my love. I should have thought about this building effecting you and prepared you for it.'
'It's fine, Law. Really. I didn't think that I'd react like I did either. We both got use to me having more of a stable reaction to new places. I guess it's just the combination of everything that's happening right now that made me have a short relapse.'
Law nodded. He ran his eyes over her carefully before squeezing her hand. 'Just remember I'm right here. You're not trapped at all.'
'I know.' Neo smiled and squeezed his hand. They smiled at each other with the thoughts of wanting to kiss. But before they could move towards each other, one of the men returned.
"Master has approved of your meeting with him," the man said. He turned back towards the way he came. "Follow me."
The two Heart Pirates followed quietly. Neo resumed taking in her surrounding carefully until her eyes landed on their connected hands. 'You don't have to hold my hand. I know you're not much on showing affection in public.'
'Nonsense. We're married. And everyone knows that now.' Law smirked at her. 'I'll show you affection no matter who's around. You're mine to touch and kiss whenever I please. Besides, I know you really need my touch right now. I would never deny you that.'
'You're so sweet.' Neo's cheeks and chest grew warm over his love for her.
Law smirked and moved a bit closer to her. A few minutes later, the small group of three came to another large door. It was already open.
Neo chewed her bottom lip nervously while the man gestured for them to go inside of it.
Law nodded at the man before leading Neo inside.
Neo's eyes immediately flew over the room. There were three, ugly in her opinion, pinkish colored couches, a table in the middle of them, a bookshelf -that made her heart flittered with joy until she realized it was probably filled with scientific books that she wouldn't understand- a long bar counter with a green haired woman writing at it and another room with its door shut tightly. 'I didn't think there would be another woman on the island. She's a devil fruit user. She has power over snow, which would make her a logia. I shouldn't have much problem with her if we have to fight, depending on her fighting skills that is. But who is she? Do you think she's just a subordinate of Caesar Clown?'
'I don't know. That's all she probably could be. Just keep a close eye on her as well as the rest of the people here. I'm sure her truth will be revealed at some point.'
Neo jumped and stepped closer to Law when a strange pinkish cloud floated over to them.
"What a surprise this is," the cloud said. The cloud then shifted and took the form of a very tall man with long, spiky black hair and horns.
Neo flinched when he looked at her. She dropped her eyes down to the floor and took a deep breath.
"I never would have imagined a warlord would come calling on me. Please, sit down. Tell me why you're here," he said.
"We want to stay on Punk Hazard," Law stated simply once he was seated on one of the couches with Neo sitting as close as she could to him.
Neo placed her bag on the couch beside her and forced herself not to dive into Law's arms and hide from all the newness surrounding them.
Law crossed his arms and stroked his fingertips over Neo's arm since she was so close. Her tense body then relaxed at his touch.
"You want to stay on Punk Hazard?" Caesar raised an eyebrow.
"It was a real pain getting here since log poses don't work for this island because this was the government's secret facility," Law replied.
Neo clenched her teeth in an attempted not to smile or giggle at his words. It was a whole lot easier for them to arrive on this island than it would have for anyone else. It most likely would have taken them several days or weeks to find this place if she couldn't sense it. 'Sure it was a pain, my pirate boy liar.'
'Better that than telling him the truth about how we found this place.' Law smiled through their bond.
'True.'
"Why do you want to stay?" Caesar asked. He cocked his head to the side. His eyes were on Law when he asked that, but they drifted back over to Neo.
Law cleared his throat with an annoyed growl at Caesar's attention on Neo. It was clear to him that Caesar was considering everything the newspapers had said about her. He wondered if this man was strong enough to tell that Neo was different. Considering they were in the New World it was highly possible. It was also possible that he couldn't sense it. As far as Law new, this Caesar guy wasn't much of a fighter. When the scientist looked back at him, he explained his reasoning. "Since this is Dr. Vegapunk's former laboratory, I assume there are traces, leading up to today, of the government's activities. All I'm asking for is free roam within the laboratory and around the island. I can help you with something if you want. And we'll stay out of each others business. But it means you can't tell anybody that I'm here. Not even Joker."
Caesar hummed in thought over Law's words. "You know quite a lot. How is it possible you know about all those things? Huh? And since you know, it's obvious she knows as well." The tall man let his eyes drift back over to Neo.
She frowned at his constant looks at her and sank into the couch. 'I think he sense I'm not human. He keeps looking at me. He's probably planning out thousands of tests he can run on me to see if he can figure out what I am.'
'Don't worry, love. I won't let him touch you. But it's possible that he senses you're not human. Caesar might not be a fighter, but he's probably strong enough to sense that you're different. He has a three hundred million bounty after all. I'll try to keep his attention on me.' Law told her through their bond. He then turned his attention back to Caesar. "Would you prefer to have an amateur in here who doesn't know anything about this place over us?"
"I suppose you are correct in that matter. We're birds of a feather here. At least you and I are. I'm more familiar with your pirate hobbies than I am of your pretty little wife here," Caesar said which earned him a harsh glare from the warlord. "Oh, protective of her, aren't you? I was just giving her a complement. She is rather lovely. You are a very lucky man you have such a powerful beauty on your arm. But moving on… Although, I can't really trust you, there doesn't seem to be any harm in what you ask." He smiled.
'So what type of experiments do you think he's thinking about?' Neo thought to Law.
'Nothing as horrible as I'd do to him if he touches you.' Law thought about multiple ways of torturing Caesar. Heat rose in his chest.
'Please, calm down, Law. You're scaring me a bit.'
'I'm sorry, love. You know how much I hate it when another man takes an interested in you. No matter what their motives are.'
'I know. And you know I love your protective nature over me.'
Caesar pulled his eyes from the two pirates and looked over at the other woman in the room. "What do you think, Monet?"
Law immediately looked over his shoulder when Caesar said the woman's name.
Neo turned her attention to the woman as well, but a bit slower than Law did. Instantly, she disliked this woman.
"He's Trafalgar Law from the North Blue. The Surgeon of Death. An op op fruit eater with a frozen bounty of 440 million beli bounty. And she is Trafalgar Neo, married to Law for a while now. She's a paramecia with a frozen forty million beli bounty. While appearing to not be as strong as Law and other pirates she has gained a lot of attention by her strange fighting style of being playful and her conductor crystals." Monet said while she continued to write on her paper. She paused and looked over at the two Heart Pirates. She lowered her glasses.
Neo felt a twitch in her chest when the green haired woman looked at Law.
"Trafalgar Law, you're a doctor, right? There are a whole bunch of former prisoners who were paralyzed by poison gas here. Can you treat them?" Monet said.
"I suppose so. I did offer to do something in exchange for letting us stay here," Law replied. He continued to rub his fingers on Neo's arm. 'Relax, Neo. There's nothing for you to be jealous about.'
'She has no right to look at you.' Neo pouted to him through their bond. 'You're mine.'
'Yes, love. I love it when you get so possessive of me. I'll have to reward you for that later.' Law sent a very sexual thought to her then.
Neo did her best not to blush at the thought, but she wasn't able to succeeded in that. Her cheeks grew warm and she hoped no one would bring attention to her flushed cheeks.
"I see. So in exchange for letting you stay here, you're going to give my people legs? That would be nice, of course. But since you're quiet a bit stronger than I am and I'm the boss of this island, if you two really want to stay here, I need a little bit of insurance from you," Caesar said in thought.
"We have no intentions of hurting you. What do you want me to do?" Law asked, making sure to emphasize it was him that was going to fulfill the request.
"How about this, Trafalgar Law?" Caesar said while leaning in close to Law.
Neo flinched when the strange man got too close to them. She started to summon her crystals, but Law poked her in the arm.
'Easy, love. He's not going to hurt us.'
"Since you can remove people's hearts with your powers, I'm going to entrust my dear secretary Monet's heart to you! Is that okay, Monet?" Caesar asked looking back over at the woman.
"Fine with me. I don't care," Monet replied.
'Why would he want you to take that woman's heart?'
Law didn't reply to Neo. He already assumed immediately where this was going. His turned his feelings and mind black.
'Law? You're closed off to me. Why? What's going on? What aren't you telling me?'
'Neo…I'm so sorry.'
'For what?' Neo's body suddenly turned cold. She didn't know what was going on, but her instincts were screaming at her that something bad was about to happen.
"Now, in return, you let me keep your heart! And that's the deal! As long as we have each other by the throats, you can't do anything bad. And I'll feel safe," Caesar said with a victorious smile.
Neo's heart skipped a beat at the scientist's words. 'Law! Don't you dare! Don't you even think about doing that!'
Law's hat fell over his eyes at Neo's words. His heart ached so much at the fear that was spiraling through his love's mind, body, and soul. He hated himself for what he was about to say, but he knew he had to do it. It was clearly the only way that was going to get them permission to stay on Punk Hazard. Forcing the word out of his mouth, he said, "Deal."
Neo felt her heart ripped in half at Law's agreement to the insane scientist. She closed off herself off to him and sunk down into a dark aura. She bit her tongue hard in an attempt to keep herself from crying.
"Hm." Caesar hummed in thought while inspecting the two Heart Pirates carefully. "You know, despite her only having a bounty of forty million she's still fairly powerful herself. She does control the elements after all. I have no idea what kind of effect she'll have on me. I should take her heart as well."
With lightning fast reflects, Law pulled out his sword and pointed its sharp tip at Caesar's throat. Light glinting off both his sword and his eyes, Law glared at the man. "You will not touch her in any kind of way. If you, or any of your men, touch her in any kind of way, I will kill you all on the spot. You don't need her heart. She won't interfere with anything you're doing here in these facilities as long as you have my heart. She won't do anything to endanger my life."
Caesar frowned, clearly very disappointed in this turn of events. He turned his eyes to Neo who was still clouded in a dark aura. He brought his eyes back to Law and smiled. "I suppose you are correct. She clearly cares about you since she agreed to marry you. I will not take her heart as a requirement for staying here. And, as long as she behaves, I won't damage your precious heart. Let's proceed then, shall we?"
Law nodded tightly and stood up. With his hat over his eyes, he glanced at Neo. She was clenching her coat so hard her hands were turning white. He flinched when he noticed she was trembling. He could feel how furious she was with him even without their bond. I'm sorry, Neo. I'm so sorry about this. He turned away from her when Caesar called Monet over.
"Let's get this over with. Monet?" Caesar said.
"Yes, Master," Monet replied. She stood up from her stool and walked over to the group.
Law then walked around the couch, regrettably leaving Neo still sitting there confused and angry. The green haired woman smiled at the pirate surgeon with a devious look in her eyes that he didn't like.
"Go ahead and take my heart. Do I need to lift up my shirt? I hope your pretty little wife won't mind you seeing my exposed bosom."
Both Neo and Law flinched.
Neo gritted her teeth as her crystals shimmered into existence beside her. A small rumble of thunder vibrated from her.
Law flinched again when Caesar and Monet looked around in confusion.
Caesar asked, "What was that?"
'Neo, calm down. You know she doesn't have to take off her shirt.' Law kept his eyes locked onto Neo from underneath his hat until she calmed down and her crystals disappeared. He then walked towards Monet and only stood as close to her as necessary. He held up his hand and formed his Room to take her heart then his. "Room. Scalpel."
"There. The deal is complete," Caesar said once they had exchanged the two hearts. He left the immediate area and picked up a transponder snail. "Now, I'll have one of my subordinates show you to the room you two will be staying in while living on this island. While you're settling in a bit I'll gather up my men in the infirmary so you can check them out."
"Fine," Law replied. He shoved Monet's heart into his pocket. He walked back over to Neo and just watched her shadowed covered face until Caesar's man came for them.
"Come with me," the man said hesitantly. He floated back out into the hall and waited for the two pirates to follow him.
Law parted his lips to speak to Neo. But before he could utter a single word, she lifted up off the couch, grabbed her bag, and turned away from him. He sighed then led the way out of the room. They followed the floating balloon man down the hallway. The tension was still thick and the man with them could easily feel it. He kept nervously glancing over his shoulder then pretended to be looking at something else. Soon the man had led them to the section of the facility that held the bedrooms. He opened the door for them. "Here you go. This will be your room from now on. Someone will come get you when we're all gathered for your examination."
Law nodded to the man before he took off. The two Heart Pirates then stepped inside the room. He closed the door and turned to Neo. Her back was to him. Her shoulders were drooping low and her clenched hands were trembling at her sides. He started to reach for her, but stopped when she started talking.
"Why? Why, Law? Why did you do that? I know…I know when we were talking about coming here we were going to be walking right into the heart of danger. I knew we were going to have to do some very dangerous things while on this mission. And I understand that…but this? Your heart? How could you? How could you do that? How could you give them your heart like that?" She whipped around. The tears pouring down her cheek, the fear in her eyes and chest, ripped Law's absent heart in a million pieces. Her voice raised into terrified screams. "How could you do that, Law?! How could you even consider given them your heart?! You've literally put your life in the enemy's hands! That sicko scientist can kill you any second! And I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it! I'm scared, Law! I'm scared!"
Neo dropped her eyes from him. Her bag fell off her shoulder as more tears dripped from her eyes. Her voice softened up as she continued to speak to him. "I hate this. I hate where we are. I hate that the crew's not here. I hate that you gave them your heart. Most of all…I hate that I'm angry with you. I hate when I get angry with you. I hate it."
Law rushed forward. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her as close to him as he could while she grabbed onto the front of his coat like she always did when scared. He placed his right hand in her hair, stroking her as he spoke soothingly to her. "Shh…I know, I know. And I am so sorry. I should have foreseen this as something that could have happened. I'm sorry I didn't prepare you better for this. But it will be okay. Caesar won't do anything to me. My heart is just fine. Besides, I can easily get it back from him at any point in time."
"Can…can you really?" Neo pulled her tear stained and red eyes from his chest. She looked up at him pleadingly.
"I can." Law nodded. He then mentally shared his plan on how to do just that in case someone could hear them speaking. 'Caesar's not a fighter. I can get him alone an warp my heart from his hold.'
"I guess that would work," Neo mumbled, nodding slightly. She relaxed against him.
"It will." Law reached up and brushed away her tears. "No more crying now. Everything will be just fine. I'm still here. And it doesn't matter that he has my heart since you are the only one who truly holds it."
Neo couldn't help but smile at his words as her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. Law then took her face in his hands and lowered his lips onto hers. He lightly moved their lips together before deepening the kiss with slow strokes of his tongue over ever corner of her mouth. Pressing their foreheads together, they panted softly while regaining their breath. She said, "You know you own me big time for all this stress you're putting me through."
"What can I promise to make it better?" Law asked with a chuckle.
"Fifty baths, not showers, baths with me," Neo replied pointedly.
"Very well. I promise to take fifty baths, not showers, with you," he whispered. "You still love me?"
She chuckled. "You know I do."
"Good. And I still love you." Law pecked her lips once more before they finally glanced around their current dwellings. The room was pretty much the exact opposite of their room on the Polar Tang. There was a pink colored couch on their right, along with a door, the bed, and its two nightstands were on the left side of the room with another door a few feet from it.
"Hn. This is not going to work at all," Neo said with a frown. She summoned a couple wind crystals.
Law watched patiently, with his arm around her waist, as she moved the furniture around until it resembled their room more. She placed the bed on the right side of the room, moved the couch and table where Law's deck would be and placed the spare nightstand beside the couch. She then glanced between the two doors in the room before walking over to the door on their right.
She pulled open the door and frowned when she found it was a closet. She glanced over at the door on the opposite wall. "Then that means that one is the bathroom."
Neo walked over to the other door. She opened it and looked around the small bathroom. It held a small, square shaped sink with a one-door shelf, toilet, and a fairly small shower that would barely fit the two of them at the same time. She glanced back and forth between the closet and the bathroom several times.
Law watched her curiously until he read what was on her mind. "Uh, love, I don't think you're going to be able to switch them with your crystals."
"I can try," Neo grumbled. "They don't even have a bathtub in here. I won't get my baths with you until we get back on the sub. Who designed this place anyway? How could they not put in a bathtub?"
"I highly doubt the people who lived here before had enough time to soak for hours in the tub," Law said as he walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist while he nibbled on her neck as she glared at the bathtubless room. "They're not all like you."
"Hey! I don't take that long! Besides, I wouldn't take as long as I do if you didn't constantly want sex!" Neo protested. "You wear me out! I need to recover!"
Law chuckled. "We don't have sex that often. And it's not like you say no when we do."
"Oh, hush!" Neo hissed while her cheeks burned red. "By the way, what are you going to do with that woman's heart? You're not going to put it in your chest are you?! I don't like the idea of having to look at you with a gaping whole in your chest, but it's a lot better than having that woman's heart inside of you."
"You're jealous." Law snickered.
"I am not!" Neo chided. "Why would I be jealous?!"
"You are too. You're jealous because I hold something that belongs to another woman." Law nipped at her neck while slowly dragging his hands over her body, making her tense and squirm. He moved his hands to her chest and gently massaged her breasts through her thick coat. Before wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her back to his chest. "Don't worry, my love. I'll just keep her heart in my pocket. It won't go anywhere near my chest."
"Good." Neo turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, smashing their lips together in a heated kiss. Just as Law started to pull down the zipper on her coat, a loud knock at the door interrupted them. They broke their kiss and pressed their foreheads together, which pushed Law's hat up, with a sigh. "Why does it seem we're always needed when things start getting hot between us?"
"That's just how it goes, I guess," Law replied, brushing his nose against hers. He then gave her a mischievous grin. "But don't worry, my love. This cool off is just temporary. I'll heat you back up later."
"Sounds great as always," Neo mumbled against his lips. They lingered on answering the door with another round of heated kisses before caving to the constant knocking on the door. "Impatient, aren't they?"
Law chuckled while lacing their fingers together and fixing his hat. He then led her to the door and opened it
One of the balloon men was there waiting with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. He said, "You are here. I thought you might have…never mind. The master wishes to see you in the infirmary. Also, here are a couple maps of the facilities. The master wanted you to have them so you wouldn't get lost or accidentally stumble into a dangerous area. On the back of one of the maps is the schedule for mealtimes. The kitchen is always open if anyone ever wants to make something for themselves."
Law nodded and took the maps from the man. He handed one to Neo. "Keep this with you until you've memorized this place. I don't want you to get lost at any point."
"Right." Neo nodded. She took the map from him, folded it up, and stuffed it into her pocket. 'Like I'd get lost when I can sense where you are.'
'I still want you to memorize the map. It could come in handle later on.'
'Understood. I'll slave over this thing later.'
Law's lip curled into a smirk at her sardonic tone. He reclaimed her hand and the two followed after Caesar's man. 'One other thing…you don't have to wear your coat all the time, but I would like it if you carried it with you. You never know when you might need to go outside. And, while you can easily keep warm with your crystals, we still have to keep appearances up on what all you can really do with your crystals.'
'Don't worry, Law. I remember. And I'll be careful and keep my coat with me at all times.' As they walked, Neo resumed her cautious inspection of the building they were in. She proceeded to try to memorize the different sounds this place was making. She was getting the feeling she was going to have a hard time adjusting to the strange sounds of this place. Passing by another hallway, she caught a glimpse of something that seemed highly out of place considering the history of this island. There was a small child at the end of the hall. He ran into her view, grabbed a striped ball, then quickly disappeared away from her sight. "Huh?"
"What is it, Neo?" Law asked.
"I just…saw a child," Neo replied. She kept her eyes back at the hallway entrance as they continued walking past it. She pulled her eyes away from it and looked at a Law. "I assumed there wasn't any kids on this island. Do you think that child belongs to someone here?"
"I suppose it's possible," Law replied. He narrowed his eyes slightly and thought about that. He knew the majority of the people on the island were former prisoners. The only other two were Caesar Clown and that woman, Monet. The more he thought about it, the more he thought that scenario was highly unlikely.
'Then why do you suppose a child is here?' Neo switched to communicating through their bond when the man looked back at them from over his shoulder. She didn't think he heard what they were talking about, but felt she should switch this conversation to a quiet one.
'I don't have a clue. But we'll probably find out sooner or later. We're going to be here for quite a while. Whatever's going on, don't get in the way of it.'
'I won't. Remember, I'm sticking with you. And depending on how things go, I might never leave your side.'
'You will. I know you well enough. You'll run off outside to play in the snow and make snowmen.' Law smirked at her through their bond. She hummed thoughtfully in how he was right. There was so much snow here. She couldn't pass up playing in it, at least a couple times while being on this island.
"Here we are," the man said. He opened the door to the infirmary and led the two pirates inside.
"Ah, there you are," Caesar said with a smile Neo thought was creepy. She forced herself to look away from the clownish man when he looked at her. She ran her eyes over all the other people in the room. Monet was calming standing off to the side, quietly observing everything, including Law. Neo tried not to let jealousy rise back into her chest and pulled her eyes away from the woman to the others in the room. There were so many men lying in the hospital beds. One was a very large man with brown hair and a brown beard that looked rather familiar to her.
'That's Brownbeard. He was a former pirate that disappeared one day.' Law thought to her.
'I thought he looked familiar. I saw his picture in the newspaper one day. So all of these men are former prisoners and can't walk because of the poisonous gas that use to be here?'
'That's correct.'
'And you can heal them?'
'Possibly. I need to examine them first, but I know I can heal them in one way or another.'
'One way or another?' Neo blinked at him in confusion.
Law forced himself not to think about one particular option to solving this problem. He knew she wasn't going to really like the solution.
"Let's get this underway, shall we?" Caesar asked so Law didn't have to answer her.
Law nodded and stepped away from Neo knowing she wouldn't want to get too close to these strangers just yet. She waited patiently for him by the door as he examined the former prisoners.
"Well?" Caesar asked.
"I can fix them by giving them legs from other animals," Law reported. He twitched when he felt Neo's confusion then fear. He expected her to voice her concerns over this, but she remained quiet instead.
"I see. Well, as you can guess, we don't have many animals on this island. But I can have them shipped in within a couple of days," Caesar said.
"M-Master!" Brown Beard cried. "Is this true? We can…we will be able to walk again?"
"Yes, my faithful followers! Rejoice!" Caesar threw his hands up into the air. "This man, this Trafalgar Law will be giving you new legs to walk on! Just be patient for a few more days! Then you shall be able to walk again!"
Neo raised an eyebrow at the scientist's back. Something about his words didn't seem to ring sincere for her. He came off as fake. She let her eyebrow lower back down. She didn't know this man at all. So who was she to make a claim that he wasn't being sincere? Law's voice brought her attention back to him. "Just get whatever animals you wish. It doesn't really matter just as long as they are large enough to fit these guys body types properly."
"Yes, of course." Caesar smiled. "I'll get on that right now. Thank you for your assessment of this situation. I think that will be all for today. I'm sure you and your lovely little wife would like some more time to settle into your new home. So go ahead and do that for the rest of the day. We can chat more later on what all I expect you two to do here."
Neo twitched at the scientist calling this place their home. She lowered her eyes to the floor and tried to forget he had said that. She kept her eyes down until she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Her eyes shot up. She carefully looked around the room, wondering what would have caused her to feel so alarmed.
'Neo, are you okay?'
'Yeah. I just got a really weird feeling. I'm not sure what it was, but it made me very uncomfortable.'
'I know. I felt it too.'
'What was it?'
'It felt like someone was leering at you.'
Neo flinch when she felt Law getting angry. 'What's leering again?'
'It's a look or gaze in an unpleasant, malicious, or lascivious, a sexual way.' Law carefully ran his eyes over the men in the room. He was careful to keep his expression in his Doctor Mode, but inside he was ready to rip apart whoever thought about his love in such a way.
'Just hurry up here so we can leave this room.' Neo rubbed her right hand on her arm and shifted on her feet.
'Yes, love.'
Neo lowered her eyes back down to the floor and waited. She didn't move until she felt Law standing close to her again. Without looking up at him, she turned and they headed for the door.
Law waited patiently for her to speak her mind about what all had happened in the infirmary room. Halfway back to their temporary room, she did. With out of place venom in her voice, she hissed, "This place is not our home. Our home is on the Polar Tang, with the crew."
"He didn't mean anything by that. He doesn't know your past or how attached you are to the crew and the Polar Tang," Law said. He switched his sword from his right should to his left. He then put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side, kissing her temple. "I'll have a talk with him about this later. He won't call this place your home again."
"Thanks, Law." Neo smiled. "You always take such good care of me. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve it."
"You do deserve it. And you know I'm going to do whatever I can to make your stay here as stress free and comfortable as possible," Law replied with another kiss to her temple.
"You are incredible." Neo wrapped her arms around his waist. "But do you really have to use animal legs on those people? I can understand eating meat for food and survival, but this just doesn't feel right. And it's going to feel even weirder having to feel the combination of humans with animals. It'll probably be worst than it is with zoan users. I don't like it."
"I know you don't. And I'm sorry. But this has to be done." Law gave her shoulders a squeeze. "Look at it this way, you'll be able to easily sense them. Not a single one will be able to sneak up on you."
"I suppose your correct," Neo said thoughtfully. "Anyway, about that leering thing?"
"Don't worry, love. I'll make sure all the men on this island know you're off limits to touch. And if one does, I guarantee they will die," Law hissed protectively.
"Okay." Neo nodded. She poked him in the ribs. "Calm down now."
"Right. Come on. Let's go back to our…" Law trailed off when Neo gave him a warning glance. "…very temporary room."
"You are such a good boy." Neo pushed up on her toes and pecked his lips. Once back in their temporary room Neo removed her thick coat and sat down with Law on the couch. She tucked herself into his side as he wrapped his arm around her waist with one arm while pulling out the map of the facilities from his pocket with his other hand. They then settled into going over their surroundings until Law got bored with that activity and started enticing Neo into more intimate activities, that ended up with both of them half undressed, until it was time for them to head out for dinner. The two then pulled their clothes back on and headed for the dinning hall. After standing in line for a short while, they made their way over to an empty table. Law sat at the head of the table and she sat down on his right just like they would be seated back on the sub. They were also sitting near the exit so Neo had a quick escape if she felt the need to use it. They sat quietly among the excited chatter of the former prisoners.
Neo frowned as she spooned some of her grits and plopped it back down in the bowl. She glanced around the large room where all the men were hovering around in there little balloon machines. They were happily chewing down their food and talking nonstop since they arrived. She wasn't sure if they were happy for dinner or just happy they were going to be able to walk again within just a few days. She figured it was the latter. No way anyone could actually think this cold slop was good. 'Law, I'm grateful we have food here, since I know what it's like to go hungry, but this food is fairly terrible. I know I'm not the greatest cook ever, but don't they know what spices are for?'
'You are a wonderful cook. Since these guys are former prisoners and pirates it's not like they've had a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.'
'Surely they've spend enough time in the kitchen to learn how to use salt and pepper. Those are the basic spices. How can one not know how to use them?' Neo sighed. Propping her left elbow on the table, she placed her chin in her hand, spooning out and dumping back in another glob of grits. 'I get the feeling I'm going to be spending a lot of time in this kitchen if we're to get some decent food while were here.' She giggled through their bond when alarms when off in Law's head. She snickered at him. 'Now who's the jealous one?'
'I'm not jealous.' Law grumbled. 'You're suppose to stick with me.'
'You said only for a while.' Neo pointed out making Law grumble even more. 'You just don't want me around strange men.'
'You got that right.' Law shoved a spoon of his cold grits into his mouth.
'I'm not worried. I know soon enough you'll be begging me to cook for you. I make a mean grilled fish and onigiri.' Neo smiled when Law's cheeks turned pink. Both knew it wouldn't be very long before Law started craving his favorite foods. And both knew he would want only her to make it for him. He only wanted her to cook for him and the crew, no one else. But he also knew he couldn't deprive her of one of the joys she really loves doing. Cooking occasionally would help her pass the time and not feel so lonely without the crew.
'Fine. If you want to cook sometimes, then I won't stop you. But you will not be cooking every single meal here. You'll only help occasionally. If you do anymore than that I will personally drag you out of this place, divide you up and attach you to my body so you have no choice in following me around everywhere.' Law told her with his eyes closed as he chewed grumpily on his food.
'You're such a good boy.' Neo giggled. She tucked her left hand back under the table and placed it on his leg. She ran her hand up his leg as far as she could until she got him to twitch for her. The pink reappeared on his cheeks.
'Neo.' Law warned. He swallowed hard, divided on wanting her to continue, but knowing they couldn't. 'Not here.'
'Yes, love. I know.' Neo retracted her hand. 'But it's fun when I get you to squirm for me.'
Law's pink cheeks tinted a couple shades darker as his hat fell over his eyes. A smile pulled across her lips when his mind fell into a spinning mess of sexual intent. They sat quietly for a while, as he continued to share his intimate thoughts before he finally spoke up again. 'You have seriously come a long way from that scared, shy little girl who use to cling to me like a monkey.'
'I'm still that shy, scared little girl. She'll always be a part of me. She's just grown up a lot because of your wonderful care and attention. She can take care of herself now, but knows where her limits are and when she needs to ask for help. Plus, she can always cling to you like a monkey if you ever really miss it.' Neo shot a smile at him. He returned it while switching his spoon into his left hand. He tucked his hand under the table and placed his hand on her knee. She placed her hand over his. He turned his hand over, stroking his thumb over her skin while they continued to eat their less than desirable meal before returning to their temporary room for the night.
...
Neo sighed as she lay there in the bed. She never noticed until that moment how much she had gotten so use to the hum of the sub engines around her while she slept. Now it wasn't there. She had fallen asleep as easy as always, but suddenly woke up. She wasn't sure what time it was, but knew she hadn't slept all that long. She sat up and looked around their semi-dark room. Enough light from the hall was peaking through the cracks of the door. It lit up their room just enough for her to make out the shapes of everything in the room. She shifted uneasily at the still unfamiliar surroundings before looking at Law sleeping peacefully beside her. She hated to wake him up, but she knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep on her own. Before she could proceed with waking him up, he did it on his own. He rubbed his hand on her arm. "Love, you know you can wake me up when you're having trouble sleeping."
"I know. I was going to," Neo replied, adjusting the plain dark blue shirt of his she was wearing over a pair of shorts. Her mind wandered over the bare minimum essentials they had brought with them. They only packed a few change of clothes, which they could leave behind if necessary, toothbrushes and toothpaste, Neo's back and wing cream and several boxes of condoms, which Neo thought was far too many, but Law said he wanted to be prepared in protecting her from getting pregnant, and of course she brought Penguin's ribbon with her. "I was just…"
"Come here," Law called. He shifted his position from his side to his back and held out his arm for her.
She leaned into his hold, draping her left arm over his stomach while crossing her leg over his legs.
He kissed her hair and started rubbing her back. "You'll get use to this place soon enough."
"I don't want to get use to this place," Neo whispered quietly. "I just want to get this over with and get back to the crew."
"I know, love." Law kissed her hair again. "I know."
Neo sighed and snuggled into his chest while forcing herself to relax and fall asleep to the rhythmic rubs of Law's hand over her back.
…
"I'm still not sure about this," Neo said as they walked down the massive halls to the infirmary. The animals Caesar had shipped in arrived this morning. They were heading to the infirmary for Law to make the switch of body parts.
"Would you prefer to stay out in the hall?" Law asked.
"And leave you alone in a room with Monet?" Neo narrowed her eyebrows and frowned. "Absolutely not. I still can't believe she wants to turn herself into a harpy. What the heck's up with that?"
"I don't know, love," Law replied calmly. "And I won't be alone with anyone. All the others are in there too."
"I'm going in," Neo stated stiffly. "No matter how much I'm going to hate seeing what you're going to do to all those poor animals."
"All right. At any point in time, if you are really uncomfortable with it then I want you to come out here in the hall." Law paused at the door and gave her a stern look. "Don't force yourself to stay in there."
"I won't," Neo relented.
Law nodded, satisfied with her honesty, and then opened the door for them.
Neo remained near the door while he walked farther into the room. Her eyes roamed over all the animals in the room. Horses, an alligator, a giraffe, leopard, and several others stood around nervously or tried to escape their restraints and cages. She tried her best to block out the terrified cries of some of the animals as they continued to struggle in desperate attempts to escape. She tried her best to pretend she couldn't understand them or their fear. She tried her best not to think about everything that had happened on Kiko Island with those animals. She tried her best to convince herself that this had to happen; this had to be done for them to stay on this island. But she just couldn't ignore the guilt of standing by and doing nothing spinning in her mind and chest.
Law pulled out his sword and held up his hand. He forced himself not to think about how this was affecting Neo as he proceeded with his assigned task. "Room."
Neo closed her eyes and turned her head to the right when Law's blue film washed over the room. She couldn't bring herself to actually watch what he was about to do. She had no idea how much time had passed before Law walked back over to her. She didn't even notice she had somehow blocked out all of the noise in the room. She jumped when he placed his hand on her shoulder. His touch brought her back to her senses, back to all the happy cries that vibrated throughout the room from the men. It was done. All of the poisoned prisoners now had animal legs and Monet was a harpy. She forced down a gag at the tangled mess of human bodies merged with animal bodies.
"I can't believe it!" a man cried out. Tears were pouring down his face.
"This is incredible!" another shouted.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you so much, Trafalgar Law!" Brownbeard said as he walked over to them with his new alligator legs and with his hands outstretched. Tears were pouring down like waterfalls as he respectively thanked the surgeon. "Thank you! Thank you! You are a savior!"
"I'm not a savior at all. I'm only a doctor with the ability to do this," Law said.
"Ho ho! It is! This is a miracle! I never thought we would ever be able to walk again!" Brownbeard smiled while stomping his alligator feet. "We are eternally grateful to you and your wife here! We are so lucky you two came to this island! Thank you so much!"
"Yes! Thank you so much!" the rest of the men cheered.
Neo flinched when all the men started to come closer. Her head and stomach spun with the overwhelming feeling of the multiple species now combined. She stepped behind Law and grabbed onto the back of his coat and took several deep, slow breaths to try and halt the spinning before she emptied her stomach all over the floor.
"Huh? Is she all right?" a man asked when he noticed Neo's quick retreat.
"She's fine. She's just shy," Law said glancing over his shoulder at her while sending her comforting thoughts. He brought his gaze back to the men before him and glared at them. "She'll come around and get more use to you all in time. But you all are forbidden from touching her. If any of you do, I will kill you."
"I see. You are very protective of her. It makes sense since you two are married. Am I correct? I recall reading a newspaper about that. Or am I mistaken?" Brownbeard asked.
"You are correct. We are married," Law replied with a nod.
"You have nothing to fear," Brownbeard said with a smile. "We will do nothing to disgrace her. We will keep our distance until she is use to us. Understood, men?"
"Yes!" they shouted.
"Good." Law nodded. With that he turned around to Neo. Putting his arm around her waist he rushed her out of the room. He then warped her back to their current room and right into the bathroom. The second she realized where they were, she broke from his side and bolted for the porcelain throne where she emptied everything she had in her stomach. Propping his sword up against the wall, he walked over to her. Kneeling down so he could hold her hair for her as she continued to retch.
A few minutes later, she finally stopped. She took several shaky breaths before her voice finally came back to her. Her bangs fell over her eyes as tears dripped from the corner of her eyes. "It hurt. It hurt so much. They were crying. They were scared. And I couldn't do anything to stop it."
"I'm sorry, Neo. I'm so sorry." Law pulled her into his arms. Burning his nose in her hair, breathing in her sweet, intoxicating scent while he soothed her. "I shouldn't have let you stay. I should have ordered you to leave that room. It's over now."
Neo just nodded. Nothing either of them could say would make this better now. Only time would help her adjust to this situation and get over the guilt of ignoring the cries of help from those scared animals.
…
Neo rocked back on her heels as Law continued to listen to a couple men thanking him again once again for giving them legs and explaining some of the island weather to them. She thought it was unnecessary since she could easily feel the weather changes, but knew Law would continue listening to them. After five minutes of listening to them men she caught movement down the hall. A flash of white crossed a partially closed door. With her curiosity getting the better of her, and with Law so close, she inched her way down the hall until she reached the door. Giggles and a few muffled words came from the room. They were different from the men's voices. So she slipped up to the door and peaked inside of the room.
"Huh?" Neo tilted her head in complete confusion at the sight before her. She stepped into the room. There were kids, a lot of them, of all different sizes in a colorfully painted room with blue walls and rainbows that was labeled as the Biscuits Room. The kids were all dressed in simple white colored clothes.
"Huh?" one of the kids repeated her when she was noticed. The kid was a tall girl with wavy black hair and purple eyes. "Who are you?"
"Neo," Neo replied without thinking about it. She took an uncertain step backwards when all the kids started to introduce themselves.
"I'm Mocha." The black haired girl smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Neo. These are my friends."
"I'm Doran."
"I'm Sind."
"I'm Ally."
"I'm Jero."
"My name is Uzu."
"You're new here, aren't you?" Mocha asked when all of them had finished introducing themselves. "We've been here a while and haven't seen you before. Did you just arrive on a ship? Are there other kids with you?"
"Uh," Neo muttered. She wasn't sure what she should say here. Her mind was completely blank. She didn't even register the kids thought she was a kid as well.
"Would you like to play with us?" Sind asked while holding up a ball. "We don't have that many toys, but we would be happy to share with you."
"How is it you're running around so freely? All of us kids are suppose to remain in the Biscuits Room," Doran asked.
"I, uh," Neo muttered again. "Well, I'm not really a…"
"Neo, come," Law called from down the hall.
Neo glanced over her shoulder at him before looked back at the kids. She apologized while walking out of the room. "I'm sorry. I have to go."
"Oh," Sind said with obvious sadness in his voice.
"Well, you can come back later and play if you want!" Mocha called out to her.
Neo didn't reply back. She just continued to run down the hall until she was back at Law's side. She grabbed onto him and giggled. "Law!"
Law chuckled at her childlike display as he led her down the hall.
Neo looked back at the corridor she came from then looked up at him. "There are more than just that one kid I saw the other day. Why? Who are they?"
"I don't know," Law replied. "But it doesn't matter. We won't have anything to do with kids while we're here."
"I suppose you're right," Neo replied with a smile. "What would we possible have to do with a bunch of kids?"
