A Good Man Is Hard To Find

by Masked Deuce (MaskedDose)

Summary:

“And you?” He asked, a tease in his tone that threw a blanket over his otherwise still frazzled demeanor. He took the free moment to count his breaths mentally. “Being out so late at night makes one wonder. Are you safe, sir?”

The man’s smiles were making Law sick, but the way he tossed his head back and laughed made him rear back a few inches. “I think it’s good to be cautious, but all I can give to that is my word: I’m a good man.”

Notes:

The title is inspired from the short story A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor. It, however, is very much not the same story. Read the tags and determine what you are able to stomach today. Thank you!

Chapter 1

The dial tone rang in his ear, just over his hushed, gasping mutters to the empty room, “Pick up, pick up, pick up-”

On the second call, the second ring, the phone is answered. The background noise on the other side flooded his ear canal and his stilted reality was jolted forward: people talking in the background, jingling noises, some pop song to move to. Life went on normally even while he seemed to have been at 11:32PM for the past four hours. He screwed his eyes tight and took a ragged breath. What a time to call.

“Law!” Rosinante greeted with enthusiasm unmatched by how he was likely beaming. It’s been weeks since his last call and for a good reason.

“... Hi Cora.” Law slowly unraveled himself. He had been perched with his knees to his chest on a chair in the dining room, pushed into the center of the room to not be anywhere near the shadows of the table or hallway. He loosely dropped his legs down, his socked feet quivering as he felt the cool tile– still wet. His knees ached, bones groaning as they shifted beneath his skin like maggots. “I need help.”

There was a pause and some rustling. Some lighter voice cried out beckoningly to Rosinante, and was answered half-heartedly by the giant of the man but Law couldn’t make out his words. He should hang up. Excuse himself, say his car was making a noise and needed the number for a good mechanic. Claim he accidentally took four aspirin instead of two and needed to hear confirmation that he wouldn’t die. Rosinante would see through all that bullshit. If Law asked for help, so foolishly might he add, then it had to be an actual emergency. He stared down at the mess on the floor. No. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. He needed to be honest while he had the nerve.

“Law, name three things you can taste.”

“Um.” Law licked the roof of his mouth. It felt like his mouth was filled with phantom cotton, like after he got his wisdom teeth removed and he could feel but not really. “Salt.. Cheese.. Uh, chicken.”

“Well, at least you ate.” A thud and then there is silence. Rosinante breathed out; he probably lit a cigarette. Then, in a softer, gentler voice, he whispered. “How are you doing, Law? What’s going on?”

“Not good,” Law laughed bitterly, his eyes welling with tears. He always cried when he did this: when he thought of coming clean and telling Rosinante. Tonight was the final straw. He couldn’t allow himself to do this anymore. “There’s… there’s something wrong with me and I-I can’t keep doing this.”

“Law, what’s wrong? Is it the white lead? We can get you to more doctors if it’s appearing again—” He cut himself off. Inhaled. Breathed out. He’s definitely smoking. Law didn’t know if the visual was comforting or not. He always seemed to have a cigarette in hand since he took him in, but he didn’t want this to be treated as a smoke break. Then, like a draft of cold air, Rosinante spoke.

“Or are you in trouble?” When Law didn’t answer right away, the man decided to keep pushing. “If it’s something like that, you are going to have to tell me. You know I don’t like him, but Doffy is always willing to help. If you need to lay low or… did something you maybe shouldn’t have, we will still help you. Fuck, Law, you know we’d do anything for you. Tell me and I’ll have it solved.”

No, Law thought, I can’t be forgiven from this. I know it was wrong, but I did it anyway. I didn’t get caught, but it keeps me up at night and now I can’t stand the shadows in this fucking house and I’m losing my grip on reality. Everything is spinning and it only stops hurtling me through space when I hear you inhale your fucking cigarette.

“You will hate me.”

“There’s nothing in the world that could make that happen.”

Law knew that. He didn’t deserve it, sure, but that didn’t make it false.

“Law, will you be alright by yourself for a few hours? I’m driving up to you, but it’ll take a bit from where I’m at.”

He wanted to protest, but Rosinante probably had the better plan. If he saw for himself what Law was capable of, he’d haul him to the sheriff in an instant. And Law would never be able to tell him over the phone what he had done. He’s tried to for months. Years.

“I can.”

Rosinante paused, as if waiting for more. “I want you to drive into the town at the base of the mountain. Get a motel room for the night— I’ll cover the charge. I’ll be there by morning, okay?”

“I’m fine staying up here.” He had to clean up a little after all. He didn’t want Rosinante worrying about the mess he was living in and thinking he needed to move back home if not to a prison. He was a twenty eight year old man; he didn’t need to be living with his father figure. He needed to be caged. But the dishes had been piling in the skin. a growing mound of tissues in his room and it had been weeks since he last swept and now there was something in the corner of the room preventing him from clearing the dust bunnies.

“Not to be blunt, but I can hear something in your voice that tells me you need to be away from the cabin for a bit. I won’t hang up until I hear your car running.” Demanding as always. A gentle suggestion was always an order in disguise, which works given that he is the brother of the infamous Doflamingo. “One second, I need to grab my keys. Oh shoot, I took off the keychains didn’t I? Oh! Oh, wait, no, this is someone else’s… There! This… isn’t right too. Hm.”

“Why are there so many keys with yours?” Law asked, not surprised his father figure had found himself in a dumb predicament. He was just curious. His life may be a roller coaster, but it lacks the mini miracles and misfortunes that follow the blond like locusts. That, and the jingling of the keys were jarring enough to get him to stand up and find his own in his key bowl.

“Oh, I’m at a key party.”

Law’s eyebrows furrowed. “A key party?”

“Yeah! It’s- Found them! It’s where you all throw your keys in the bowl and— how old are you again?”

“... I don’t want to hear the rest of this story.”

“I might tell you later.”

“Please, don’t.”

Rosinante took another drag of his cigarette and lots of other noise followed which could have ranged from him leaving the party or tripping down a flight of stairs. One could never be sure with that man. “You sound calmer now. Let’s get you in the car, alright?”

And that’s where Law ended up. He took a few deep breaths, swallowed some tablets Doflamingo had given him for anxiety (he called them Lexapro if anyone asked, but he was 80% sure it was LSD), then buckled up. They tended to work, thought the effects were accompanied with light-headedness, some skewed judgment on his part, and usually helped him relax. Rarely did they give the opposite effect. Either way, he’d be half way down the mountain before they kicked in.

He didn’t enjoy the idea of driving down a dark mountain in the middle of the night, but he liked the idea of staying in his cabin less. The town was a good forty minutes away, a decent drive but one he made nearly daily to get to the clinic he owned— well, the one handed to him. He worked hard and long enough to pay it off– if he ever were needed to. It was a gift from Rosinante. Most fathers gave their sons dinky cars or a surprise vacation for graduating college, but Rosinante lived a modest life at best and spent every penny he had on spoiling others or being conned in some way. For an ex-marine, he could be spaced out. Law wasn’t ever sure if it was a result of substances or if Rosinante just rolled with any and all punches gracefully like he was never the fool.

He had bought the building, helped renovate it between stints of injuring himself during the construction. Law accepted it without a word. He couldn’t imagine working under anyone or being stuck unable to work his prefered hours, or being made to go overtime. His clinic was open 8 - 6, and he catered to the small towns nearby. Less than an hour outside their radius was a major city that served as a good base when needing to get out of the mountain air. Or away from the cabin. There’s been a handful of times he’s needed to vacation there just to clear his head.

Also the gnawing guilt.

He knows it’s best not to linger on those thoughts, not when he needs to focus on driving. People always say to think happy thoughts at times like these, but Law always finds himself full circle. He’s 29 years old, not married, not even dating anyone. He always reassured his uncle and dad that when he finished med school that he’d stretch his wings and have fun, mingle, explore… How pathetic was he. Almost thirty years on this planet and he’s never had a girlfriend.

He had one girl he liked back when he was in school. They met in a class– one where they were taking apart cadavers to learn anatomy. Very romantic, truly. She was new, as they typically are, but she was breathtaking. Pale skin, light eyes and long, brown hair. She wore white, and not like a dingy lab coat like most of the others. She reminded Law of a bride on her wedding day, serene and gentle.

He didn’t talk to her. He knew he shouldn’t– He had to focus on his studies and nothing in his books said anything about being lured away by the delicate arms of a woman, but oh. He longed to know what her voice sounded like.

And as it turns out, she must have wanted to hear him too.

Long past any university class, Law went back to the classroom. He didn’t know what possessed him. People come and go, and she certainly wouldn’t be there at this hour. She’d likely be gone within a week from the university anyway. All those who join at this point in the year are bound to leave swiftly and without a word.

However unlikely it was: she was there. There was only a small trickle of moonlight from the windows along the far wall, but that was all the light they needed. Without a word, they connected like magnets. Lips locked, hands exploring and teasing. Her fingertips were cool and the glide of them against his thigh was enough to have him shuddering. He had never done this before; he didn’t know much of what to do besides assist in lowering his pants and lifting up the white fabric from over her uncovered pussy.

He was panting as he slid his cock along her slit, watching as his precum rubbed off onto her pale, supple skin. Parts of her thighs and ass were red from nervousness and lividity, but she still bared herself to him with that same calming embrace. It took… a while of pushing to get his dick to cooperate and breach the tightness, but she didn’t complain when he pushed inside, his tip immediately being squeezed unlike anything he’s ever felt.

He still jacked off some nights to the memory of taking her virginity– He hadn’t had sex before that, but he has since never had someone so tight. He knew she had to be innocent like he was. Later on it had him wondering: How old was she? What was her full name and not just how the professor referred to her? Did she want to be here? Why did she refuse to look at him?

“R-Relax, I- Ah.” He had dared pressed in a little more and suddenly his vision went white. His cock twitched violently as he felt spurts of his warm cum empty into her fertile pussy. He groaned, trying to thrust it in deeper as though that action was an instinct. It only was once he calmed down did he realize his mistake. He had gotten excited and went too fast, came inside her and fucked his cum further into her. All within the span of wishfully two minutes, most likely less than one. He dropped his head to rest against her slick chest.

After a moment or two of just breaths filling his ears, he licked his lips. “D-Does it, uh, does it feel warm? Me inside you like this. I didn’t mean to cum, but… I can pull out this time, okay?”

He began to thrust again, and though his cum was as good of lube as any, she was so unbearably tight still. He hadn’t gotten much further before it was too painful to continue. A few quick pistons of his hips had him tilting over the edge. They remained fucking like rabbits and drenching their lower regions with drying cum until Law felt utterly spent and knew he needed to go home.

The next week, she was gone from his next class. He only wished had some way to contact her, but that was impossible. She was gone and he had to move on.

But it didn’t stop there. She was all he could think about. Applying any lesson of love is endless, you never forget your first, what have you, and it would fit nicely to how Law felt. He wanted to relive that danger and high, the feeling of being suffocated inside someone and spilling regardless of the risk. He wouldn’t say he had a virgin kink– he knew ones around his age were harder to come by as the years rolled on and he wasn’t attracted to innocence in the form of a newly sprung chicken getting their sea legs now that they were of age.

That didn’t mean he didn’t crave that tightness.

He didn’t always pick up sex workers in the city. Most of the time they were women hitchhiking down the road that got either lost from camp, had a lover's quarrel, or were trying to get to the city. They were easy. Law’s journey to recreate that tightness, that lust, could be fulfilled if it wasn’t for a few things: the fact he ate himself up into a bundle of nerves when seeing single and hopelessly alone women, their eyes always watching him with caution. They didn’t outright pay him no mind and that made sense! A man going out of his way to help a vulnerable woman was always to be viewed with caution! Hell, every week there were stories in the news about the horrors of the night and finding yourself alone in it. He probably contributed to some.

Law took a deep breath as he realized the radio wasn’t on. Shows how trapped he was in his mind, he supposed as he turned to a rock station. He wasn’t a Queen fan, but he didn’t change the channel from Another One Bites The Dust, a song that aired no more than five years ago and yet was still always playing. It was playing four hours ago when he drove up to the cabin.

He closed his eyes. This drive needed to end. As he turned along the winding road, he tried to collect himself once more. He always did this. He was a wheel turning the same way endlessly. Only Cora could stop him at this point, and by morning he’d be at rest.

He swerved his car tight in his lane, a turn unexpectedly more sharp than he remembered. He’s going 45 miles on this road; that was a bit of overkill. Might even kill him if he makes a wrong move. He smiled tirelessly and rubbed his eyes.

As he pressed lightly on the breaks, a flash of red shone in his path. Not a deer, he thought as he squinted to see what traffic cone was there and if it was blocking his path. White, hot panic hit his veins when he made out a ghostly face staring at him, unmoving from the center of the road.

He cursed out loud and slammed the breaks, his heart thundering in his chest as his car slid. A screech could be heard from the jarring contact of his wheels on the ground, fighting the sudden change but eventually rolling to a complete stop as Law heaved forward, gasping for breath. He looked back into the center of the road once he collected himself only to find the area empty. He was truly losing it.

Then he heard a light rap against a window. Steeling himself, he turned to face the passenger side where someone was standing. He could make out the red of their shirt and the yellow of a hoodie tied around their waist, the fabric snug and tight… Law stared for a moment, his mind distracted by the tie, how snug it looked and how- Oh god, he’s here again. The wheel is moving again. How many times has he been here before in the middle of the night just like this? How many times was she here?

He rolled the window down a few inches and held his breath as the stranger tilted down from their waist to look inside. It was a boy. Law released the air he had trapped. That… was surprisingly new. He always paid close attention when he spotted someone: he never entertained the possibility of a man. It didn’t feed his amorous side. Though, his man had his features. Curled eyelashes, plump rosy cheeks and midnight black eyes that would be described as pools of obsidian if he were in a romance novel. They twinkled with specks of light bounced off lit up buttons in his car, even if one side of his face was shrouded in shadow.

“Lovely night,” The man said with a smile and Law had to wonder if they had the same past two minutes. If he was even a bit more distracted, this man would have been splattered across the pavement and likely eaten by animals before the cops would be called. Law wouldn’t have called them, that’s all he knew. “Didn’t think anyone else would be out here this late.”

Law’s eyes flicked to the dashboard of his car. “Could say the same for you. These woods are dangerous at this time of night. Drunk drivers, wild animals…”

He was surprised how smooth his voice came out. It was just like all those other times before, but different. It felt the same, but this time there was a boy without an ounce of fear in his expression smiling down at him. Law averted his gaze to the man’s hands, stained with dirt from his journey.

“I know how to hold my own! I’m strong.” The stranger flexed his arm, but they looked bone thin even with the muscle definition they did have. And smooth. His skin looked smooth and youthful, unblemished. Law licked his lips as the stranger leaned his arms against the door, his hand dipping into the inside of the car where his finger toyed with the downturned lock. Law’s jaw tightened.

He cleared his throat before continuing, “What’s got you out here so late? Are you lost?”

“Well, I was looking for someone,” The man replied, elongating his words as his eyes roamed upward in a ‘well, what can you do’ sort of gesture. Law was starting to pick up on that: the man was animated. Noticeable gestures, cheery-toned, and over the top in his expressions which… deviated from the norm. Normally people who approached his car were scared or he could at least feel their anxiety. This man was calm. Like they were talking at a gas station to spend their idle time as their tanks fueled up. It didn’t sit right with Law, and his fingers twitched with the urge to roll his window up and get his finger from the lock that he stroked up and down methodically. He paused. His fingers curled against his palm as he glanced down at his tattooed knuckles. What was this feeling? This uncertainty that welled in his stomach made him feel lightheaded. The urge to pull away kept pushing him to act, but he remained rooted in place. The man’s eyes met his and he smiled with a shrug. “But now I think I need a ride. I’ve been walking for hours.”

Law pursed his lips. A funny thought crossed his mind: that this wouldn’t be the first one he drove someone today. If he invited the man in, that is. But then that nagging came back. The demand to reject and flee.

There’s this movie he watched once with Rosinante. A man stood by his bedroom window as a creature on the other side begged him to open it. He was the man’s brother, but he didn’t appear like that. He was dangerous, all teeth and dark, sunken eyes. He was a vampire, needing the window unlocked and a few words whispered in order for him to enter the home. The whole point of it was when to tell if something was human or human enough to trust. If a monster was a monster just because it appeared like such. This man didn’t look like one. He looked like someone's brother, but his gut opposed that assessment.

“Where are you heading?”

“Not too far from here. You are heading down the mountain, right? It’ll be on your way, I’m sure.”

Law frowned. “Where are you going?”

The man gave him a closed lipped smile. “It’s not too long of a drive. I can pay you a little if you’d like.”

He stroked down the lock once again and Law’s jaw tightened. He tuned to look back at the road, his hands finding the wheel once more.

“I don’t,” Law muttered, hands flexing on the steering wheel, “need anything.”

There was a moment of quiet between them before the man nodded. “Look, I don’t mean to be a bother, but I’d really, really appreciate the ride. I’m not making much progress on my own, and you look safe enough. It’s not far at all. I’ll even settle for you pulling over to let me out so you can go back on your way.”

Law’s eyes darted to his phone which sat in one of the drink holders. No doubt he had no service out in the sticks, and the man likely didn’t either. Why did that make his stomach churn? Usually this situation felt like heaven, but instead he felt torn. Because he was a man? Or perhaps he was finally coming to terms with his actions of the past and knew that if the man joined him, he’d end up on his cabin floor. Or maybe it’s the others' insistence on being let in like a vampire at the window. It’s just a ride, nothing more, yet he sat there without giving the stranger the go-ahead.

It isn’t possible this actually ends up being just a ride. The man himself knew that.

No. Stop that. The paranoia from earlier that had him trembling away from the shadows in his room– that has to be it. He’s panicking, he’s not in the right state. He can give the man a fucking ride. He can show he has the potential for good before he’s sentenced to death.

“And you?” He asked, a tease in his tone that threw a blanket over his otherwise still frazzled demeanor. He took the free moment to count his breaths mentally. “Being out so late at night makes one wonder. Are you safe, sir?”

The man’s smiles were making Law sick, but the way he tossed his head back and laughed made him rear back a few inches. “You know, not many people ask hitchhikers that. I should know; I’ve seen many things. I think it’s good to be cautious, but all I can give to that is my word: I’m a good man.”

His finger had stopped to rest on the top of the lock. Law eyed him wearily and then nodded once. He clicked down.

He climbed inside Law’s car, rolling the window up as he got cozy. “I’ll let you know when, sir.”

Law shook his head and eased his foot off the breaks. They rolled forward, then began to travel down the winding road once more. He was a bit more controlled with his movements now; all too aware of those eyes watching him, he kept his gaze focused.

“Mind if I turn on the radio?”

“Suppose not.”

He reached over to the dial and began to turn it. Station after station was static— You hardly get anything out here, and he eventually settled on a news station or something else that talked in a boring tone. Before he drew his hand back, it latched onto something up a cup holder. “Oh! Doctor Tora- Torafu- Torao Law. You are a doctor?”

“Yes.”

“That’s pretty impressive! Lots of schooling for that, huh?” Law didn’t deem it needing a response because he knew the man would just keep talking. “I never really could do school or that med stuff. I mean, I did pretty good for dissection days, but making that a career? You must be incredibly talented with your hands.”

His nose scrunched. “I am a pediatrician, so I don’t often get that invasive in my practice. I think you are envisioning a surgeon or mortician.”

“Oh. Well, I thought if you were a doctor you did that too.” That helped explain a bit. If he thought doctors crossed into multiple fields like that, then it made sense for him to be standing in the road without a thought in his head in the middle of the night. “You look young for a doctor.”

“So I’ve heard.” He glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. “I didn’t catch your name? It’s only fair since you know mine.”

“You might have heard of me– Or, well, you may have heard of my work? Monkey D. Luffy. I’d shake your hand, but I’d prefer your attention on the road. Possum.”

“Poss-?” Law swerved as a tiny, terrified face appeared from the side of the road. “Christ. Thanks.”

He cleared his throat. “Your work? Are you an artist then?”

Luffy leaned forward in his seat, tilting his head as if to try and steal Law’s attention even after he told him to focus on the road. He grinned a little, like a mischievous child when Law’s eyes darted to view his expression, then back to the road. “Something like that. Take a right up ahead.”

Going into town? Convenient. Law turned.

The radio crackled as voices came in clearer than before. Luffy leaned forward to turn the volume down by two then leaned back to hear the broadcast. It was the basic run of the mill news as usual, however this one tacked in a story Law has only heard on occasion. He usually keeps the station off. A missing teen who ran away from home. Her mother was still looking for her. Shortly after that announcement, the broadcaster began another segment much like the one prior.

In the surrounding area, over the past five years, there have been a total of nine bodies discovered within the county. All of which are women below the age of 40. They were all either hitchhikers, sex workers, runaways, or were deemed unworthy of a large scale police case. there was a warning for those listening to be careful at night or with strangers. Some simple advice on how to keep safe—and that was the end of the broadcast.

“I’ve heard of these.” Luffy turned the radio off with a booming click. “People have been theorizing it’s a driver going around doing people in, but I’ve been around. I know better.”

Law raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Well, think about it!” Luffy exclaimed, throwing a hand in the air to count out: “There’s so many different things I’ve heard. Some say the victims are never found, some only find bones. Some claim the deaths are in one area, like a county, but there’s death all over this side of the coast. I’ve heard of slashing, asphyxiation, the bodies being chopped to bits– Can’t just be a driver.”

“A slew of drivers, then?” Law chuckled to himself, running a hand under the corner of his eye. He had only moved there in the past five years, but he wasn’t contained. He knew there were more than the announcer mentioned, but it was hard to make connections between jurisdictions. “You have an active imagination. Please don’t scare yourself with those thoughts.”

“Scare myself?” Luffy laughed. “Maybe I’m trying to scare you. Think about it. So many bodies spread out everywhere with all different deaths or no clear common weapon, right?”

Law huffed through his nose.

“You know,” Luffy began, intercepting his own story with another instruction. Turn right again. That wasn’t toward town, but Law obeyed without a word. “I’ve heard other things too.”

“Like what?”

Luffy leaned again to check his expression or gain his attention. Law didn’t give him it this time, his mind running through all the places this road led. He had been here earlier that day– even before then he knew this road like the back of his hand.

“I’ve heard some of the bodies were picked clean through way faster and more precisely than an animal would. Clean cuts on the bones unlike any claws.” Luffy relaxed in his chair. “People down the coast think it's some sort of demonic ritual requiring the deaths, but I think it’s simpler than that. What are your thoughts, doctor?”

Law breathed through his nose. “Let me see… I believe your working theory is that killer drivers, killer hitchhikers, and a cannibal are loose in the area. Does that sum up your thoughts well enough?”

“I’m not a policeman or nothing, but I’d say it’s a solid looking theory!” Luffy claimed, puffing out his chest. “And then just imagine, how likely would it be that one of those were us?”

Law’s hands eased up on the wheel. He made a left turn without his passengers' suggestion, but Luffy didn’t comment on it. Without the radio, the rumble of the car on a gravel path was the only noise to background their unspoken thoughts. The wheel kept turning surer than before.

“And the chances it’s both of us?” Law mumbled tonelessly as he pulled into an inlet and made his way down. This led to a trail head, though an uncommon one far from the designated campsites. It was a place he was all too familiar with.

“I think those chances are good.”

They continued down the road until Law felt secluded enough to stop the car on the side of the road. The engine groaned as the key clicked it off. They sat in the dim car light.

Luffy tapped a finger on the door, but it wasn’t to unlock the door and scramble out. He looked comfortable like he didn’t even believe their conversation was as accusatory as it was.

“Eating people,” Law repeated, the sick churning in his stomach coming back at the thought. He had seen plenty and dissected for the sake for growth and understanding of how the body worked, but he never tried eating the women he helped. He had never thought of it; the idea was too disgusting.

Luffy must have sensed it in his tone. “Don’t get self righteous with me. I saw you with that girl today.”

Law rested back against his seat. His eyes closed. How had he not noticed someone watching hours prior? Was he that desperate? Yes. He hardly had the time to park the car before his urges gave in. She tried to run, scrambling out of the car with Law racing to catch her. She slipped on the rocks and Law was able to club her in the head with the tire iron stowed away in his backseat. The action was repeated as he straddled her hips until there was a gaping wound and blood slipping all over her face, now disfigured from the fight.

Law never usually aimed for the face: it made the initial reason he did this so much harder. His craving needed to be met: an intimacy he had failed to be fulfilled from several times before in order to break the cycle.

Avoiding her broken skull with his gaze, he bashfully shuffled his hips. His erection brushed against her stomach which was still plush under his ministrations. Warm. He moaned and insistently bucked against her, his cock eagerly jutting forward to find that tight, tight hole. Before he had even begun to remove her shorts, his vision went white and his pants burned from his release. God, he wanted her. She might not be a looker, but he knew she was going to feel amazing once they were home.

But she wasn’t. He couldn’t bear facing her and her smashed in head after he dragged her into the cabin, chunks of skull sticking every which way. The urgency and desperation had faded and made way for disgust. He threw up, mixing the blood and the brain matter with his vomit and the sight caused a snap. It was as if he was finally seeing how far he had gone. He contemplated his path sometimes, almost admitted to others like Cora that he needed help, but this was the first time he picked up the phone. There he sat, cowering in his kitchen and staring at his work like he was a victim in all of this. He didn’t feel like a perpetrator, but he wasn’t naive enough to say this was all completely beyond his control. He did his actions, now he’d lie in what happened next.

But instead of police custody, it was a potentially cannibalistic passenger with likely more bloodlust. How shitty of an end.

“If you saw, why didn’t you go to the police? Instead you got into my car.”

Luffy nodded to himself, a hand curling around a lock of his dark hair. He flashed another upturn of his lips, but this was more of a grimace. “I’m sure you sensed you were with kindred spirits. After all, you knew where I was guiding you and went there on your own. I had a feeling you would.”

“I’m not sure where you are expecting this to go,” Law admitted slowly. “This is your stop though, right? You can get out of the car.”

Luffy’s smile dropped. “I’ll remain here for now. We are having a good talk.”

Law licked his lips. Luffy unbuckled his seatbelt and stretched his legs a little, groaning under his breath as a pop was heard from somewhere under his skin. Law watched as his back arched and a hum reverberated into the car, rumbling with satisfaction.

“I feel a little sheepish. Here I have you all figured out and yet you aren’t asking me a single question about myself.”

“You talk enough that I think I have a good idea what you are all about,” Law admitted with a weary glance. “You said you were looking for someone earlier; that person was me?”

“Yep! I figured I’d keep following up the road and ask around if I found houses. Didn’t see your car come back down, so I knew you were up there somewhere.” If Law had the right to say it, he’d deem that a creepy observation. But creepy was less pressing than dangerous, and there was no good way out of this situation.

He wondered how Cora would handle this. He’d likely throw a fit upon realizing Law wasn’t in town, hadn’t bothered to call, then panic and drive up the mountain. He’d see the state of the cabin and Law’s car gone and… He couldn’t imagine what would happen afterwards. He just hoped Cora wasn’t the one to potentially find his body. As he was, alive and well, he couldn’t bear the thought of Cora seeing him mangled and ravaged.

How did the mothers and fathers of those he met feel if they did uncover their sons and daughters remains? He closed his eyes and exhaled. Sometimes he wished he got into smoking like Cora, but he’d always bat Law upside the head if he even dared inch his fingers toward a pack in his youth. When Cora smoked, it looked like all the tension and worry he had was blown out of his lungs. In exchange, he’d have hacking coughs that last for minutes. Law would hear them from his childhood bedroom and he’d sit in silence to hear a noise once they died down. He was always afraid he’d die.

“You too then, huh. You are contributing to the disappearances.”

“Have for years,” Luffy answered easily. “Can’t starve out the hunger.”

Law’s nose wrinkled at the choice of his words. Luffy turned his body so he could prop an elbow up on the dash of the car. He pondered for a moment, mouth quirking side to side as he assessed the driver, who remained sitting and envisioning the tire iron in the backseat. Luffy had to know about it if he had watched earlier, but that didn’t make it less valuable.

“What happened to you?” Luffy grumbled, his eyebrows furrowing. “What happened to the you from earlier? That spark, the excitement… bad lay?”

The joke wasn’t met with any amusement, but he pressed on as if Law indicated it was worth lingering on. Law’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. “You were so into it, lost in the feelings… I’ll be honest, I never thought of fucking a corpse, but everyone has their tastes.”

Law stared into his wheel.

“I was curious- not that I want to go at it-” Luffy interjected. “Why dead people? Aren’t they like… cold and smelly? I guess it works for some things. Corpses can’t say no. Is that what makes them better than alive ones?”

Alive ones, Law thought deliriously. It was like they weren’t talking about people anymore. He was right, though. His days were spent in a windowless room, checking children’s temperatures, testing their reflexes. He’d feel their soft, plush hands against his arm, squeezing his wrist when he had to give them their shots. On occasion a mother would ‘accidentally’ brush him as she walked past. There was always a distinct warmth he felt, like a lizard sliding along a sunbaked rock. When his hands later slid against a tense, rigor mortis processing wrist, it didn’t feel the same. It felt more human, almost. More welcoming despite the cold. Free from the disappointment, the disgust or rejection.

A warm smile breached his thoughts and he craned his neck back a fraction. He breathed out and imagined smoke pooling past his lips. He should pick up smoking. He wanted to feel that same peace Cora felt that his own exhales could never grant him. He’d probably make a face if he saw Law tugging out a cigarette one day, an expression he avoided at all costs from everyone. One that made him overwork himself and under-hire at the clinic. One that made him stay up at night alone to take care of himself. One that made him obsessively keep himself tidy, both externally in the presentation of his spaces and his body. He wished he could afford to be tired and melt into a couch without that horrific feeling coming back. It was like living in a panopticon without having the actual threat looming over him. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried it the other way.”

He jerked his head to face the younger man. Luffy wasn't in a position to be scrutinizing him, or at least as far as he knew about the man. He was younger, scruffy around the edges like a true hitchhiking soul. He probably never felt what haunted Law. Maybe he didn’t feel anything at all. “And you? Eating people?”

Luffy shrugged. “Never knew it any other way.” He glanced down, then raked his eyes up Law’s form. “Virgin? Or do you not always cum before getting their clothes off?”

Law almost wished the man was eating him instead of grilling him. There weren’t many questions he could throw with the equal harm Luffy’s did. There probably was, but the thought of sinking his teeth into a corpse made his head spin and stomach heave.

His hand found the door handle and he pushed it open, but before he got a foot out, Luffy jolted forward. Without warning, a hand snagged his and forced the door closed, the man vaulting over the center console and landing with one knee jammed between Law’s legs, his predatory eyes staring him down from above. His breath hit Law’s nose squarely, and he reeled back at the smell of iron. He wasn’t the only one busy it seemed.

“We were talking,” Luffy whispered, hand squeezing down on Law’s as the doctor pressed himself into the driver's seat, putting as much space as he could between them. “I was just teasing you. Ease up.”

“I have someone waiting for me in town. He’ll call the police if I’m late. He’s crazy.” There wasn’t a lie in there. Cora was always a wild card, and has called quite a few times for house checks on Law. However, if he was on his way up to Law, he wouldn’t call the police. Especially if he didn’t know what he’d find. He couldn’t let Cora come with this creature here.

“Yeah, you have someone waiting for you.” Law’s frown deepened at his tone. He didn’t believe him, and there wasn’t much Law would be able to do to convince him. He wasn’t planning to bother. They are cut from a similar cloth. Law never listened to his victims; why should a cannibal listen to a meal?

Talking wasn’t the way to go, and that left Law in an unfavorable scenario. There’s hardly room with them crowded together to get his trusty tire iron from where it rested behind his seat out safely without endangering himself. He may have been killed, but when it came to brute strength, the stranger proved himself enough when he forced the door closed.

“You know what I think?” Luffy cut in, voice kinder than before but only by a fraction. “I thought I’d find someone up here like me if I looked hard enough, and I did. I watched you let her out, all sweet like, then come up from behind her and hack her skull to bits before you got your rocks off with a few pathetic humps on her thigh. And really? A handsome doctor like yourself resulting in this to get your dick wet doesn’t make sense.”

If Luffy wasn’t less than a foot away, his weight partially pinning Law’s hips down, he’d have punched him. Kicked. Something. Even if it was fruitless, any chance to overwhelm him would give him an edge that he lacked in his current state. He remained there as Luffy grinned, teeth glinting in the soft light that the car's headlights provided despite them being plunged in the dark.

“Are you going to try and psychoanalyze me? I’m sure you are a more interesting case.”

“You keep trying to deflect.” Luffy pouted and if it wasn’t for Law’s pounding heart, he’d have dared to venture that it was cute. Childish. Innocent. This man brought an unease he couldn’t describe, constantly shifting from expectations and making Law feel paralyzed. “Just humor me for a bit and answer me back.”

“You didn’t ask a question,” Law grunted, eyes glancing at his side rear mirror. Only darkness reflected back and his barely illuminated face, ghastly and wide-eyed.

“Alright, first question then!” Luffy announced, his hand finding Law’s chin. He tilted his attention back to the pitch black eyes. “Why don’t you look people in the eyes?”

“Hard to want to when you are invading my personal space,” Law replied without hesitation.

“If I wasn’t here, you’d have tried something by now. I feel safe here,” Luffy said, his pout sinking down as he settled further onto Law’s lap, lowering until Law could feel his tough, muscular thighs against his own. The man scooted a bit closer to avoid hitting the wheel too harshly, his clothed crotch brushing Law’s stomach. The movement was fluid, a gentle roll of his hips to relax into his seat, and Law’s eyes glued to it. “Hold still, doctor.”

Luffy leaned forward, his chest pressing up against Law’s as one of his hands came up to his shoulder. He stooped lower, his nose brushing Law’s before his other hand reached down. Law choked on his breath, his cheeks burning as a hand brushed his thigh, and then he was falling.

With a squeak, Law fell back until he was jarred to a stop, his seat reclined and shoved harshly back with Luffy’s weight on the seat. The younger man remained still as though the seat hadn’t moved, now not invading Law’s space. He leaned back, organizing himself until he was seated a bit further up on Law’s lap.

“... I think I have a few more things to ask you.” This new position, with Law practically laying down in the front seat, seemed to elicit something within Luffy. His mouth settled in a straight line, but it wasn’t menacing. Thoughtful. “I think I get it, but Sanji says I always jump the gun.”

Sanji? Was he like them?

Luffy sat there for a moment, seeming to mull over his thoughts patiently as the hand on his shoulder gave a gentle squeeze. Law watched him, only slightly distracted by the fact his arm would need to bend more obviously, more uncomfortably to be able to retrieve the tire iron from the backseat. Was that intentional? Likely. He didn’t know enough about Luffy to make an accurate assessment on his intellectual abilities, and seeing as the man was controlling the situation without worry, Law knew the chances of this working in his favor were slipping the more he let him get away with things without retaliation.

“No, I’m certain I’m right,” Luffy grumbled to himself, biting his lip as he concentrated, staring directly into Law as though he was a diagram to study. “But I’m bad with tact, that’s what he says. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s a little too late for that,” Law snapped. Luffy’s eyebrows rose.

“Oh, really?” Luffy blinked. A smile grew across his face. “Then you don’t mind?”

Law stared back incredulously. “I’d mind a few things, yes.”

Luffy giggled under his breath, then paused. His eyes narrowed. His hand tightened. “Wait, Torao… Do you think I’m gonna hurt you?”

Law didn’t bother to give that a response. He had to be fucking with him again; however, Luffy seemed taken back. He drew his hand back and gave a smile, this one a little bit tighter and more like a guilty dog than a person threatening his life. “Torao, I wasn’t looking for you to kill you or anything. That wouldn’t make much sense. I promise you: I have not once had the intention to cause you major harm- not that you can say as much yourself. I can see your eyes and your inching toward the iron in the backseat. You aren’t very subtle.”

Law swallowed. Luffy tilted his head and smiled.

“It’s okay, I guess I’d be a little scared too.” With a long exhale, Luffy rested his hands on Law’s stomach, one hand on each side. His fingers crawled up and extended along his covered ribcage, his palms digging up to push his shirt up and expose some of his tan skin. Law shuddered, his gaze trained on the movement. Luffy pouted. “I just wanted to get to know you. Didn’t know what to expect, honestly. You are different than I imagined: better, for sure. I mean, look at you…”

His tone was reverent as his wandering hands slid under Law’s shirt, his dull nails scraping under Law’s ribs, sunken in a fraction from the sleepless nights and persistent inability to stomach more than a meal a day or less. The guilt had been gnawing his bones clean for months. Luffy’s eyes traced the lifting fabric and Law’s chest, which rose and fell in small bursts as his touch crawled up to his pecs. Law’s hands clenched around the seat, eyes trained on the younger man, who hummed over the rumble of the car engine.

“You’ve been working hard, haven’t you, doctor?” Luffy whispered, running a flat hand down Law’s chest, his flesh molding with the cavernous divots of Law’s body until his hand rested just above his belt. “Helping so many people, but not giving yourself the attention you deserve. I bet you are tired, aren’t you? Just looking for someone to take care of you.”

“Luffy, I don’t-” Law whimpered, his own voice surprising him as it cracked the moment Luffy’s hand dipped and grabbed him through his jeans. His smaller hand felt him up momentarily, a pleased purr of a hum leaving his throat before he gave Law a squeeze. Law pressed further into the seat, shying back from the rough hand, his head becoming lighter before Luffy let out another laugh, loud and boisterous.

“That’s all I wanna do, Law. We’ve both been alone for so long, we need someone to rely on. Someone to see us at our worst and still love us. Someone to take all our skeletons out of the closet for us when we can’t face them ourselves. Someone who will hide them.” Law’s cheeks burned as he ducked his head. Luffy bent down to try and recapture his gaze regardless of his attempts to hide and squirm away.

“There we go, now you are getting there… Before you looked ready to snap, glaring down the world, all that knotted tension in your shoulders. It must be hard to carry that burden alone, and to not be satisfied in the end.” Luffy sighed, hand moving back and forth along his crotch, gaze dipping on occasion to witness the stiffening fabric beneath him. Luffy bit his lip and paused his ministrations, his eyes flickering to Law’s chest falling up and down in pants. With a soft chuckle, Luffy leaned down and pressed a kiss to Law’s cheek. It was warm, and so was the tip of his nose as he nuzzled against Law’s face, curling up like a kitten. “Look at you. You’ve mellowed out so fast. You just needed someone to be sweet on you, give you some lovin’.”

A whimper fell from Law as Luffy kissed his jaw, his eyes fluttering closed as his hand reached around and under his pants and the band of his boxers, his burning hand wrapping gingerly around Law’s twitching cock. His lips caressed Law’s ear, his tongue snaking out to probe the loop of his first earring with a mischievous snicker. “How does it feel, Law? Is it warm? Do I feel good for you?”

Law couldn’t think straight. He tried to take the steps back in his mind to process the progression of the night: the woman, her death, the breakdown, Cora, Luffy, and after that it became muddled. Luffy jerked him in slow, sensual glides of his hand, the friction burning with discomfort despite how his hips kept moving upward into his hand.

“Have you ever been touched like this, Law?” Luffy asked, his free hand coming to grab him by the scruff of his chin to meet his eyes. Law struggled in his grip, trying to turn his head from the others harsh, black eyes, and Luffy eventually dropped it and let Law coil back, his hips resuming their desperate bucks. “That’s it, baby. Use me.”

“Luffy,” Law repeated uselessly. He moaned as Luffy’s thumb brushed his tip, smearing precum and using it as lube to smooth out his movements. It didn’t help for long– within the next minute Law lifted from the seat, his hips fucking up into Luffy’s hand as his head fell back. Luffy remained seated in his lap, his hand moving up and down as Law came. He could feel the ropes of cum spurt out, covering Luffy’s hand. It was disgusting: he came in his pants again, this time all over a stranger’s hand who looked down at him like he had hung the stars. When Luffy withdrew, he admired his sticky, cum-drooling hand before he licked a strip up the side of his hand to his pinky finger.

“So much,” Luffy praised, “you were made to pump your seed into someone, huh? That, or your body knows to produce so much for the chances you do get to breed someone full. Even if you wore a condom, I’m sure it’d somehow burst and paint my insides with your cum. It’s a good thing we don’t need one, right?”

Luffy leaned back and unbuttoned his jean capris. He tugged them down before awkwardly clambering around to get them down his legs and off. Law stared up through his breathless groans, still reeling as Luffy settled back on his lap, throwing his pants into the passenger side seat. He wasn’t wearing anything underneath, just his jacket around his waist, and maybe under different circumstances Law would have thought to question him, but he couldn’t formulate words as Luffy sat up and took Law’s cock back into his hands.

“I bet you haven’t had a pussy this warm, hm?” Luffy whispered, rubbing the head of Law’s dribbling cock against his ass. “Never had someone want you this bad while still breathing, right?”

Law shook his head with a gasp, eyes seeing stars as his tip dipped into a vice-grip heat. Luffy cringed, teeth gritting momentarily as he arranged himself, not popping Law’s dick from his heat. “Is it tight enough for you, baby? Tight like the others? Sure, women are good, but I can be that tight without dying. I’ll milk you for every last drop you have.”

Luffy eased himself down, no more quips or praises leaving his lips as he sunk down onto Law. He was right— He was blazing hot inside and squeezing him like a constrictor. Law had to wheeze and pant and whine just to keep himself from cumming again, the feeling overwhelming inside. He had never tried it this way before with anyone, not even the women he had been with. It never crossed his mind, but now he wished it had. Luffy’s thighs met his, the swell of Law’s balls meeting the passenger’s skin like a kiss.

“Is this,” Law managed between breathless whimpers, “is it always this tight?”

Luffy, who had closed his eyes while easing himself down, slowly gathered himself and leaned forward. His lips brushed Law’s before his dazed eyes fluttered open. “No, it’s just me. I’m so attracted to you; I just want to keep you here.”

Law licked his lips. With some hesitation, he raised his hips to press harder against the younger man, who hissed under his breath and pressed Law’s shoulder into the seat.

“We have all the time in the world,” Luffy purred, his lips twitching to retain his usual smile. He rocked his hips experimentally after a deep breath out. Law nodded along, his hands shakily coming up to either side of Luffy’s hips, right underneath his yellow sweatshirt, to rest there. He wasn’t as plush as a fresh one, not as stiff and solid as a decaying one. It was an interesting mix that made Law squeeze, massaging the area between his tattooed fingers as Luffy sang for him, delicate moans causing the windows to fog up.

Luffy’s hand found his cheek again and he forced Law’s face up, pressing the sides of their noses together. His pants hit Law’s cheek as he stared him down through half-lidded eyes, keeping his sights on Law’s own quivering gaze as he began to bounce.

“You are so big,” Luffy groaned, his tongue darting out to lick Law’s lips. He couldn’t follow the movement. He could only see those two eyes boring into him, clouded with desire as the sound of their skin slapping echoed in his ears. The sound muted even with Luffy going faster. It was like suddenly cotton balls were filling his ears and Luffy’s whimpers and groans went silent despite Law having a clear view of his parted lips. He could only focus on those eyes staring down into his wanting to meet his gaze.

“Mmmm, mmm… Mm? Hm.” Luffy hummed, eyebrows furrowing as he stopped moving, sinking back with a quirked expression. He pulled away and ducked his head down to look as best as he could where they were connected. “I never finished telling you my theory of you, but I kinda understand now..”

Luffy knelt up, Law’s softening cock eventually strained enough to pop free, his old cum marking them both. “Your proclivities make more sense now. You need some care, some attention, but you don’t like being seen.”

Law’s breath stuttered as Luffy reached down to the yellow sweatshirt he still had tied around his waist. It had loosened in their lovemaking, so it took little effort for Luffy to tug it free and pull it up toward him.

“Is that why you do it? To avoid their eyes, the judgment?” Luffy draped the fabric over his face and tied it behind his head like a veiled god on his lap, body curved perfectly and the sweat beading down his skin reflecting in the minimal lighting. His hands carefully slid away once the knot was secured, blindly reaching for Law. They relaxed once they settled on his stomach as though he needed to confirm Law was still with him despite being pinned. “I promise, I’ll love however you decide to do me. I’m trusting you to use me. To make me feel good.”

Law stared up at Luffy incredulously. The moment their stare broke, a flood came over him. Cannibal. Tire iron. Blinded. He could fucking do it. He could reach over while his companion was in a weakened state and club him in the head.

His hand crept forward, eyes trained on Luffy’s relaxed, unmoving form. He licked over his dry lips, momentarily accessing the younger man’s cock, which had been mostly covered by his sweatshirt arms loosely flopping back and forth. Now that it was exposed, Law could see it was smaller than his own, likely thicker, and dark red around the tip. It was definitely a change from the women he normally slept with, but based on how his own cock was beginning to react again without any direct touches, he assumed gender didn’t actually matter. When Law’s cock suddenly jumped, hitting against Luffy gently before dropping, the boy giggled.

“You do like this better,” Luffy stated in confidence, a more genuine smile reaching his lips. “Is there anything else I can do for you, doctor?”

Law’s hand continued to move until it found its destination. He curled his fingers around Luffy’s cheek, cupping the baby fat that clung high on his cheeks before he pressed their lips together. It was just a gentle peck, and when he pulled away, he whispered, “Don’t talk.”

He guided his cock back to Luffy’s gaping hole and sunk in. With the sweatshirt, Law couldn’t see Luffy’s expression anymore. He couldn’t sense anything either, not in the way Luffy remained still or in the way he squeezed around Law experimentally every few moments. When their hips became flush, Law moaned needily and reeled back. Without a moment of grace, he slammed back in and began a harsh pace. His hips bucked into Luffy’s pliant body without his direct intention, his instincts chasing the pleasant, tight heat.

Luffy remained voiceless as Law clenched his hands around the boy’s hips, dragging him up and down. Luffy didn’t reach out. He didn’t touch. His hands had died and rested limply at his sides without clenching in on themselves or doing anything to anchor himself. He could feel the ghosts of Luffy helping Law lift him up and down on his reddening cock. Though Law didn’t mention it, he was internally grateful for the lack of motions within his partner. It was familiar, comfortable, better.

He leaned back in his seat, guiding Luffy like the fleshlight he used on nights he couldn’t find someone to help get him off. He almost wished he could tuck Luffy away to use as he pleased, always open and ready for him and always this goddamn needy. He could imagine vividly coming home from work and finally being able to collapse on the couch, uncaring of how he presented to the world because his house was clean, dinner was made, the facade of normalcy was kept, and Luffy was kneeling before him unzipping his trousers with eagerness.

He’s tried to keep his flings before, but the smell or decay would snap him from his fantasy and he’d need to dispose of it. Luffy was alive. Luffy could be kept alive. Why would he need to be dead?

“Tell me you like this,” Law urged, sitting up. His nose brushed against the sweatshirt which jostled with his thrusts. “Tell me you want me. How good it feels. Tell me everything.”

“Law,” Luffy moaned immediately, “Fuck, you are so deep, keep going. Just like that– Fuck, you are so perfect. You feel so good. I want to live to serve your fuckin’ cock. Take it whenever, swallow it, keep it warm for you. ”

Law felt a familiar coil blooming in him and his mouth fell open. Luffy bounced more insistently, taking control when Law’s thrusts became too sloppy for his liking.

“Wake you up every morning with a blowjob, walk around the house bare so you can take me over the counter whenever you want,” Luffy pressed, his hands finding Law’s that were digging into his waist. “Fuck you down into the bed every night until you pass out, and keep fucking you unconscious until you can’t cum anymore.”

“Luffy, fuck,” Law stammered as his hips jolted. Luffy pounded down, impaling himself onto Law’s twitching cock until Law’s vision turned white and he let out a deep groan. He could feel himself pulsing, pumping inside of Luffy and filling up his tight, little hole. He gasped as Luffy slowed to a gentle roll, body moving like a dancer to milk him of whatever he could give.

When he began to hiss from the overstimulation, Luffy rose up, dribbles of cum falling back onto Law’s lap as the boy slowly dragged himself into the passenger seat. He blearily noticed Luffy’s cock, still red and bouncing as he settled down and slowly untied the cloth from his head. When he was able to see again, he immediately looked to Law’s lap. After a moment, he looked to the road in front of them.

“Have you ever had roadhead, doctor?”

Law was still catching his breath as he cranked his seat up to a normal angle, his flaccid cock spent and becoming cold surrounded by his drying semen. His insides felt tight, not eased enough from the last orgasm to trust Luffy’s hunger despite the temptation.

“I know you haven’t,” Luffy answered for him. He ran his tongue across his lips. “Let me know when you are ready because you are going to turn on the car, drive me home, then fuck the daylights out of me again. I’ll help get your cock wet and ready.”

Law couldn’t find it in himself to argue. After five minutes of collecting their breaths and silence, Law put the car in drive and Luffy leaned over to take him in his mouth.

 

Law awoke to the feeling of eyes. That wasn’t uncommon despite living alone. He always felt as if he was watched, but this time there was an active viewer watching him from the corner of the bedroom with arms crossed and a frown. Rosinante. A lit smoke was dangling from his lip. Law’s heart dropped to his stomach.

With a gasp, Law sat up, eyes wide. The living room. The kitchen. He hadn’t cleaned up. Rosinante was here. Had he… had he never left? Was he dreaming? Was he that far gone?

“Law.” The tone in his voice was enough to make Law freeze, ice shooting through his veins as Rosinante closed his eyes. He let out a sigh. Took another drag. He sat down on the side of the bed, looking over at Law all the while. Law scooted, noticing how the blanket around him tumbled into his lap and exposed his bare chest. He couldn’t feel his boxers underneath and internally cursed himself. The fucking pills. The ones Doflamingo slipped him that were most certainly LSD. He hadn’t actually left the house, had he? He must have stumbled back at some point from the car, fell asleep to dreams of a black-eyed demon riding him, panting in his ear with a too wide smile. Fuck. Focus. “It’s okay.”

Law stared at him. Of all the things he had been dreading, acceptance wasn’t one of them. He never thought that was a possibility. He didn’t deserve it. Fuck, didn’t he see what he had done? Was his head still reeling from party booze and unable to realize that his adopted son was a monster? Had destroyed families, had mutilated and raped? He needed to be put away, to die, to something. He couldn’t do this anymore, and though he knew that, he was aware he still would unless he was stopped.

Rosinante reached forward, his large hand encasing Law’s shoulder. He squeezed once and Law realized his breaths were quickening, pants leaving his lips. His hands felt numb even as he grabbed at the blanket, holding it tightly against his lap. “Law, name four things you can touch.”

Law felt a whimper in his throat, depraved of fully inhaling the oxygen around him before stammering out, “Blanket. Sheet. Your… your hand. Um. Uh…”

“Why wouldn’t it be alright, Law?” Rosinante continued, his tone light and real like glass on the edge of a shelf. “I mean, I kinda figured it was this way after some time. You never, uh-” He cut himself off with a little laugh, forced and awkward, “--never brought any girlfriends home or showed much interest.”

He could do little but gape at the giant of a man as Rosinante took in the last puff of his cigarette then put it out on the heel of the boot he was wearing inside. If Law had a straighter mind, he would have scolded him, but his father’s expression made him pause. “Did you think I wouldn’t approve or something? I just want you to be happy; I’d have never said anything rude.”

“Cora,” Law muttered, pale as a ghost as he looked up at the man who raised him, who had taught him better. “What the fuck?”

“Language,” Rosinante chided.

“Cora, I’m disgusting. You can’t be alright with-”

Rosinante shook his shoulder. “None of that. Of course it’s alright! Have you forgotten when I was dating that one army guy when you were younger? I’m the most accepting of these things! Love is love!”

Law stared. A moment of silence passed between them until Law uttered, “I don’t think this is equivalent.”

The door to the bedroom busted open. Someone entered, and Law’s eyes were too bleary with sleep to process anything except that it wasn’t a SWAT or armed policeman who shot over the bed and tackled him, head butting into his chest. He wheezed, arms shooting up to grab the person who quickly got to his knees, one on either side of Law’s lap. A wide, unnerving grin greeted him.

“Dear, you didn’t tell me your dad was coming to visit!” Luffy whined, his arms coming up to wrap around Law’s neck as the doctor sat stock still. Luffy leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before whispering, “If I had known sooner, I would have cleaned up a bit more.”

“Yeah, Law!” Rosinante butted in as he stood and fished another cigarette from his coat pocket. He took longer to find a lighter. “Your sink was piled high with dishes– Can’t you hire a maid or something if you are too busy? That’s probably why your mental health is getting worse. I’ll hire a service to come up here– I’ll find one!”

“It’s alright, Cora!” Luffy replied, leaning back. Law’s eyebrow twitched at the casual use of his nickname he had given his father when he was a kid. “I’m in the process of moving in, so I’ll make sure my little love doctor is safe.”

Rosinante fanned himself as he brought the lighter to his cigarette. “Such a cutie! Law, I’m kicking your ass for not introducing me to him sooner. Now c’mon, your boyfriend was making breakfast while you were being lazy.” He stalked out of the room, muttering under his breath. “Sleeping til noon! How was it me that raised you?”

When he was out of earshot, Luffy turned back to him with a goofy grin. “Don’t worry, I cleaned enough to not raise alarm bells. You sleep like a bear after a few orgasms, huh?”

“Luffy.” Law tried to sit up, to push him away, but Luffy tightened his grip, forcing his shoulder’s down. His hands scrambled up to push up on Luffy’s arms, but they didn’t budge an inch. The younger man frowned, shifting on his lap. He grimaced as he moved, then settled further onto Law with his weight.

“Doctor, you really know how to hit it rough,” Luffy groaned, moving his hips in careful stretches. Even with him brushing Law’s cock through only a thin sheet, Law remained soft. “After Cora leaves, you better make this up to me. Warm bath, maybe a massage…”

Law stared at the ceiling as the boy’s nose brushed his neck. His plush lips pressed to his pulse, tongue sneaking out to give a kitten lick to Law’s tan skin. “Luffy, how did you get into my house?”

Luffy drew back just enough for Law to see both his eyebrows raised incredulously. “You let me in? You fucked me against the front door, the couch, and into the sheets. Did your post-nut daze from the car never clear up?”

Yes, Law thought as Luffy rolled his eyes and crawled off. “Well, get your ass dressed and make sure Cora stays out of the fridge.” He casted Law a look. “You know why.” And with that, he left. It was only then that Law realized he wasn’t wearing his clothes from earlier, but instead a pair of Law’s plaid boxers and one of his old band t-shirts from his rebellious teenage years. Yeah, Rosinante definitely didn’t have any idea.

He got dressed and joined them in the dining room at record speed. Rosinante had settled himself in a chair by the window to keep smoking without getting scolded too heavily by Law, who walked past to start up his coffee pot. There was already coffee warmed up inside, ready. He spared a glance toward Luffy. The boy didn’t meet his eyes, but the tugs at the corners of his mouth was telling enough that Law knew where the coffee came from. He poured a mug and went to sit down beside Rosinante.

“I want to reiterate that I am disappointed that you didn’t trust me,” Rosinante immediately fired off, though without malice in his tone. “He seems like a good one. Got his head on straight.”

If only you knew, Law thought as he sipped his coffee. Luffy trotted around, never asking Law where anything was. It was unnerving to think this boy had been up several hours without Law being conscious and had since mapped out his living area enough to do domestic labor. However, the boy butted in peaceful comments and mundane anecdotes as they all stayed in the dining room. When he was done, Luffy made them each a plate with toast, bacon, and an egg mixture with minced ingredients. Law tossed the toast onto Ronsinate’s plate as he inspected the eggs. Peppers, onions, and other bits he couldn’t quite place that immediately set him on edge. Luffy dug into his eggs first.

“What do you do for work? It seems like something involving food,” Rosinante complimented as he placed both their toasts on Luffy’s plate, actions so casual that most wouldn’t have noticed the change. Luffy didn’t seem to.

“I honestly kinda bounce around. I don’t tend to stay in one place; however, after meeting Law I kinda feel like I can put my feet down here.” Law bit into his bacon with a grimace. “I help out on farms a lot. I like being active.”

“Hopefully you drag my son out too. He needs more sunlight.”

“That’s what I keep saying!” Luffy laughed as though this problem were recurrent and he hadn’t just met Law, who was still scrambling in his brain for something to do in this scenario. “I keep him on his toes for sure.”

Rosinante excused himself to his car after a moment, a curse under his breath about forgetting his vitamins in his cup holder. The moment his hulking frame exited the room, Law hissed out, “What exactly did you put in the eggs?”

Luffy tilted his head. “Some stuff lying around.”

Again with the word choice. Law took a deep breath. “Luffy, this isn’t funny. I can see peppers and onions, what else?”

“Why is it stressing you out so badly? You look like you’re gonna blow!” Luffy giggled, hiding his mouth behind his hand. Law could see the curl of a smile and his eyebrows furrowed. “You think I put your date from last night in it, don’t you?”

Law didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. Almost right after Luffy said it, he glared down at Law, most of his amusement gone. “Really?”

“Luffy, you need to be honest with me.”

“Oh, I’m the one who has to be fuckin’ honest here? Because you now seem very eager to shut up and let me handle everything. And good. I’ll gladly help you out, but that doesn’t mean anything if there’s no trust. You have to fight through this too, not just me.” Luffy slapped his hands on the table and leaned over, his face pressing against Law’s. “Tell you what. You be a good boy and eat a fucking bite. Choke it down for all I care. Then I’ll tell you.”

He plopped back down in his chair, now blank faced. “Or Cora can eat it and be none the wiser. I don’t really care.”

Law’s hand trembled. He could hear Rosinante lock his car twice, little beeps chirping in the air as he made sure it was extra closed despite them being in the middle of nowhere. The front door turned and Law uttered, “One bite and you will tell me right now.”

Luffy dug back into his food, now gnawing on the bread he was given as the front door was jostled wildly, the man having forgotten if it was a push or a pull. He might have locked himself out. It bought Law time though, and with a ragged breath, he pinched the bridge of his nose and shoved a spoonful of the eggs in his mouth, dry swallowing it all like a pill. His throat heaved at the sudden barrage, but gave him no further difficulty in pushing it down.

He dropped the utensil with a clatter, coughing onto his plate. Nothing fell out, all settling deep in his gut with finality. Oh fuck. What had he done?

Luffy pushed Law’s coffee toward him which was taken eagerly to burn down even a potential taste of his food. Luffy just stared back, eyes half lidded in annoyance before he rolled his eyes. He scooped up his plate and grunted, “You had italian sausage in your freezer, asshole. That and some mushrooms.”

Law bowed his head to gather himself as Luffy sighed and turned to wash off his dish. Before he made it one step, Law heard the fridge across the room cracking open.

“Oh.”

Cora.

Law jolted out of his seat as his father stared into the fridge. He didn’t move. Luffy, too, stood frozen as the seconds ticked on. Then, he laughed.

“I was hoping you didn’t see that!” He chuckled, taking his spoon and knife off his plate. Law choked back a gasp as Luffy wandered over, utensils lowered as he came to stand right behind Rosinante, who hadn’t moved.

His finger tapped on the knife, drawing it close as Rosinante whistled. “Wow, you must be a hunter too! I’ll be honest, all that stuff gives me the heebie jeebies.” He drew away from the fridge with a grimace. “Can you be a dear and get me a drink for my pills? This grosses me out a little.”

“No problem!” Luffy tossed his dishes in the sink and threw open the door. Law dared to peak inside only to see…. his fridge fully stocked, unlike before. Instead of groceries though, it was meat wrapped in cling wrap with tape, neatly sliced in steak-like forms. There was also a large glass pan with extra bits in it that would have made Law feel faint too if he opened it without a thought. That said, it wasn’t like there was a head lying with its tongue sticking out.

Luffy poured Rosinante a glass of orange juice and the large man took it with a note of gratitude. “Law actually hunts too, but he gets queasy with the meat as well.”

“You do?” Rosinante said, throwing up an eyebrow at him. He threw his head back and swallowed down his pills with a sip of juice.

“He prefers the easier prey, but he’s pretty good at it. Just doesn’t have the best supplies for keeping the meat. I’ll be fixing that first.”

“Yes, it’s not good to let any of that go to waste, I suppose,” Rosinante agreed, but his gaze returned to Law and he could see the cloudiness in his eyes and the way his maroon lined lips pulled as he thought. He must have settled on keeping it to himself because he sat back down and continued eating breakfast as Luffy cleaned up, babbling a nameless tune to himself.

When Rosinante was satisfied with his visit, Law walked him out of the house. To his surprise, Luffy simply gave Law a kiss on the cheek and hugged Rosinante goodbye, but he didn’t follow them out into the yard.

“He seems nice.” Rosinante nudged Law’s shoulder.

“He’s something.”

Rosinante sighed. He dug out his jangly keys and put one in the lock on his door, turning it until the car clicked. He stopped. “You know, last night… when you called, you sounded frightened. I’ve been through your panic attacks, your night terrors, and your dumbass teenage drunken stupors, and I’ve never heard you sound like that.”

Law licked his lips, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked to the side to avoid meeting his fathers gaze and made the unfortunate discovery that the curtains to his room were cracked open. He knew his room well, and though he didn’t know if Luffy had just moved them before, he could feel eyes on him again.

“I’m not,” Rosinante sighed. He patted his pocket only to come up empty handed. Law wished he could smell his smoke for just a minute longer. “I’m not going to twist your arm to tell me the truth, what is really going on, but it’s… It’s been really good knowing you have someone here looking out for you. I worry. A lot. I know you are capable and strong, but god, I fucking worry.”

He dragged a hand through his dirty blond hair, his breath hitching momentarily. Law could see his eyes swelling with tears, but said nothing. There was no shame about Rosinante, but it wasn’t like him to cry. He wasn’t afraid to: he just never did it.

“If you could spare time when work isn’t bad, let me get you out to lunch, or we could go fishing or hunting, I guess,” Rosinante laughed, his shock still portrayed in his words, “you’ll have to hook my worms and just let me carry the bags, but I miss spending time with you. I still want to be involved in your life.”

He wiped his eyes with another chuckle. “Sounds good to you, Law?”

Law bit his cheek and nodded. “I’d like that.”

With an exhale, he added, “I think we can make that change. I think there’s going to be a lot of changes this year.”

“That’s part of growing up,” Rosinante said as if Law was still a kid. Sometimes he wondered if he ever aged in that idiot’s head. “Things change, but it all works out for the best.”

“I hope you are right.”

 

Luffy was still making himself at home when Law joined him a good five minutes after Rosinante left. He had stripped himself bare, making good on an earlier promise of his. When he met Law’s gaze, he gave a little shake of his hips before letting out a joyful laugh, as though they were flirting at a party or somewhere far more normal than this. His thin arms found Law’s middle as he got another mug of coffee, chin struggling to rest on his shoulder before giving up to needily press his cheek between Law’s shoulder blades.

“I went ahead and drew us a bath,” Luffy murmured, nuzzling against him. “We can soak and talk, sound good? I’m still a little hurty.”

He had already seen his most intimate parts. And hasn’t killed him yet. Law followed him to the bathroom. Luffy got in and waited for Law, who eventually got in, sitting opposite of Luffy despite the others' protests for Law to lay against his back. Like they’d get any talking done.

“Can we be honest,” Law began, rubbing his nose, “and to the point with this all? I don’t feel we need to dance around this any longer.”

“You have a clearer mind today,” Luffy noted with a smile. “And are a lot more relaxed. And Your tattoos are hot.”

Law threw him a glare, then sighed and dropped his hand into the steaming water. “What exactly do-”

“Can I touch them?”

“What?” Law furrowed his brow. “Another time. We need to-” He groaned. “No. Forget that. What do you want from me?”

Luffy shrugged his shoulders, the water lapping at his chest. Law hadn’t noticed before, but there was a large scar there. Several others littered his skin, but none as pronounced and dark. He understood Luffy’s desire for touch, but didn’t vocalize the inappropriate action. He had restraint.

“I thought I made it obvious.” Luffy’s foot tapped his thigh. “We both are hungry. You have your urges, I have mine and… I think we could work, you know?”

“I don’t.” Law sighed. His hand found Luffy’s ankle and held it.

“I’ve been traveling around for years now. Leaving whenever the starvation sets in.” There were a few times when Luffy’s cartoonish glow seemed to fade into reality, into a face Law could recognize from a stranger and interpret as emotion. This was one of them, and Law ached. It was like a mirror, but reflecting back a younger face, more disappointed than Law’s acceptance of his fate. “I have to leave to eat, but I don’t want to keep doing this. I want somewhere to call home, you know?”

Luffy sat up, crawling on his knees until he was close to Law again. He didn’t meet his gaze. Law wasn’t sure if that was for his sake or if, for once, Luffy was bashful. He reached a hand out to his shoulder and gave him a squeeze like Rosinante had done.

“I’ve been on the hunt for someone like you. Someone who is like me, but different enough where we won’t step on toes...” Luffy giggled after a moment, hiding his grin behind one of his hands as he looked Law up and down. “I didn’t expect to get such a stud though. We can hunt as we please, you can get your rocks on whoever we come across, or me. I really don’t mind. I encourage it. Andddd lastly, I get leftovers. You’ve managed to hide your skeletons well, so I’ll also get to gain that luxury. I think it’s a pretty fair deal.”

Law bit his lip in concentration; the boy in front of him gave him all the time in the world to think as he eventually came to sit on Law’s lap and stroke his short fingers through his hair. Law leaned into the touch mindlessly, tensing only when Luffy leaned down to whisper, “Did you wanna fuck my mouth? You are more agreeable after you get off.”

Later on, while they laid beside each other in bed, towels discarded on the floor, Law conceded.

Chapter 2

Notes:

Added trigger which is hilarious when paired with the first thing Law does in this chapter: mistreatment of sex workers. Sex work is work, you guys are kings and queens.

Once again, Dead Dove, beware.

Thank you for your time.

He crept through the dark room with purpose– and a healthy dose of fear. It was one of those constant emotions always lingering for him, always wanting to tap him on the shoulder to remember to consider everything, to be aware and act accordingly. It was 4 AM when he untangled himself from his overcrowded bed and tiptoed his bare feet around two blankets that had fallen off the bed as well as three hoodies lying around. No other clothes joined them.

With a stammering breath, Law grasped the brass knob of his bedroom door and turned it, moving one millimeter at a time. He must have stood there in the darkness for at least three minutes until the door had clicked and he could pull it open. He repeated the process on the other side, gently easing it back to its former place with precise movements, not emitting a noise any louder than a buzz of a fly as it settled back in place.

He didn’t dare turn on the hallway light in case it casted a glow from under the door, so he waded through the dark with a hand on the empty walls until he reached the living room. He fumbled for a lamp, then blindly tried to find the button beneath its boring, beige shade.

A soft yellow hue lit up the room enough for his eyes to not strain, but all the windows were pitch black, not an ounce of light trailing outward. He partially blamed the amount of goddamn windows at the cabin for giving him the feeling of eyes, of surveillance. Law always felt watched. It caused goosebumps to remain permanent residents across his arms and the bags under his eyes to grow as he sat up late at night, ears straining to catch the slightest noise. He simply had to remind himself of a basic fact: He was the scariest thing in these woods. The second scariest, more accurately rivaling his status, was in his bed. Though he has gotten better sleep since he was joined in the secluded cabin, the feeling of eyes has since intensified. From the moment he stepped into his house, he was under a microscope.

He took a moment to sit on his couch, which had become infested with fluffy throw blankets and stupid looking stuffed animals over the past two months. He had to nudge one on the floor to make room for himself, and it stared up at him with beady, judgemental eyes. It was a pug, or something equally as misfortunate appearing, and its expression on anything other than this pink monstrosity might have convinced Law to cut his losses and return to bed. He didn’t have to be up until 6, where he’d run around like a maniac for things that changed their place due to Luffy’s constant rearranging, grab a prepared breakfast waiting on the kitchen bar, then head off to the clinic.

But now he had miraculously found two hours to himself that wasn’t time he was actively driving in a car. He was going to spend it as he had been craving the past month.

Law made his way through the dining room and into the kitchen. He hardly used that room before, but now it was the designated table where all of Luffy’s boxes would go. The day they met was a Wednesday, and Rosinante had called on his behalf to tell his nurses and receptionists that Law was taking an impromptu vacation until Monday. Apparently they had all been ecstatic to hear their boss was taking time off and gladly dealt with the new workload. When he came back, Shachi and Penguin congratulated him for taking a breather. Law would hardly say his vacation was relaxing and meditative, but he was thoroughly exhausted and not pent up. It was good.

Within two weeks of Luffy’s… move-in date, Law got fed up.

He’d come home after an exhausting day only to be bombarded with nonsense. Sure, the dishes were down, the lawn was cared for, everything Law ever dreaded doing after a long shift was done wordlessly like there was never a mess, but Luffy had been alone for the whole day and like a rat in a cage now craved attention. This usually came in the form of nagging.

“Law, you never wanna go anywhere!”

“You have nothing to do here.”

“You aren’t even trying to make this place nice for me.”

Law began to develop headaches on his drive up the mountain at the thought of him waiting, ready to fire off his complaints to Law like he was a dissatisfied customer. By the end of week three, Law was practically ripping his hair out. If Luffy was like his usual mute companions, he’d think on more than one occasion, his life would be perfect because despite Luffy’s tirades and bitching, his preferred way out of boredom late at night was getting pounded into the mattress or keeping his mouth occupied. Law had fantasized more than once that Luffy would one day greet him instead by dropping to his knees in the front entry and sucking his cock like he was deprived of a delicacy for too long.

Those thoughts soured in his head one night as Luffy was going on and on about something that didn’t matter. It had been only recently that the real issue occurred, so it wasn’t worth the endless bickering, and Luffy served to make Law’s state worse with his ceaseless blabbering.

Law slammed his hands on the table. The words died on Luffy’s throat. The silverware rattled along with Law’s untouched dinner as Law forced himself up to his feet and stormed into their room. Luffy didn’t follow, but Law could feel his disapproval sinking in the air and making it harder to breathe until he came back and threw his credit card on the table.

“I don’t want to fuckin’ hear this. Just get what you need and leave me alone about it.”

Some might call that stupid, but Law couldn’t envision any other solution since Luffy admitted to him that he didn’t know how to drive. Not that giving the brat a car would have solved everything; in fact, that’d likely raise more questions from anyone who noticed Luffy just suddenly being in Law’s life and now owning a car that Law just gave him on a whim. It’s not like he trusted the kid to hold down a job either. He’d probably pack a lunch in the first week which would lead to their arrest.

Digressing from that revolting thought, now the dining room table was crowded with junk, catalogs and empty boxes. Law’s house was decorated, albeit not with much sense to it. It looked like a bachelor pad if that bachelor was always cold or needed brightly colored things to keep him happy like a baby.

The thought of his home becoming a nursery lingered momentarily, and he wasn’t sure how that sat with him.

He went through the kitchen and to the divet where another hall splintered off into a half bath, the pantry, and the door that led into the garage. He opened the last door and, once it closed behind him, let out a loud sigh. Free at last, he thought as he flicked the garage light on.

When it came to changes, Law honestly wasn’t that bent up about it. His house looked lived in, if not a little excessive. He enjoyed having the chores done and meals cooked whenever he checked. Luffy wasn’t horrible either, truly (at least he wasn’t after he had Law’s money in his hands. So be it. Law didn’t do much with it anyways). He often bought games for them to play together or items with Law in mind, like massage oil or when he eventually filled his side of the closet to stop wearing Law’s clothes just a few weeks ago. He had sat on Law’s lap, head on his collarbone, and consulted Law’s opinion on most of it, like he was nothing more than a doll with the purpose to please Law. Law never demanded anything of him, just offered his input. Luffy always seemed to read him like a book though because after going through shorts and shirts, he changed the tab to lacey, feminine pieces and accessories like stockings and garters, all the while purring in his ears, “Which do you prefer, doctor? Pink or white?”

Those garments remained untouched since their arrival– at least, according to Law’s knowledge.

… There were some changes he didn’t like getting behind. Anymore than once meant it was a routine to Luffy, and twice now they’ve butted heads over the treatment of their guests. Well, Luffy did what he wanted and Law stewed about it and never said anything, but he couldn’t find much good about the switch Luffy enacted.

Law’s women would be taken inside after their departure. He’d always set them nicely on his bed, occasionally having a quickie on the floor if he had gotten tired of dragging them and needed a boost, but they’d all eventually end up there. Then, over the course of a few days, Law would keep her there, sleeping beside her and trying to squeeze his dick in her cold entrance when he needed to get off. For years he had practiced stuffing a rag or old shirt in their pussies to keep them from being entirely impenetrable as the body naturally stiffened, slipping out the garment to make way for his aching dick.

He’d keep her there with the thermostat on a low setting, rousing in the dead of night to rut against her. He had a limit: three days and then the body needed to go, no matter what. It was due to one instance two years ago.

Sometimes he had odd moments. He never had a relationship before (not including whatever Luffy was), and he occasionally craved that closeness, to be loving and sweet. On that fateful night, he had woken up before the sun and looked over to admire her marbled skin, her parted lips, the bloat that began to swell her body in the beginning stages of putrefaction. Her long tresses cascaded down her pillow like the image of Sleeping Beauty herself in his bed and he felt the pull of the moon beaming down through the window to lug himself on top of her, parting her legs with slight difficulty.

He had never felt the urge to do this with Luffy, he noted dully as he headed to the freezer in the garage. It’s not that sex with Luffy wasn’t good, but things had changed in their first month and now here he was, opening the white door in front of him. It used to store hundreds of boxed dinners for when Law was too lazy to cook, but now it was reserved for Luffy’s purposes along with the garage fridge. Law didn’t want anything but store-bought meat in the kitchen fridge, and Luffy obeyed without complaint.

… On the night he got on top of her, comfortably bracing himself against the pillow next to her head, she stared up at him, clouded eyes unseeing but still too intense for his liking. He ducked his head to her shadowed, hollowing neck and pressed a kiss to her cold skin. In his mind, he recalled late night soaps that’d play in the background of his studying, of men laying their women down before buttering them up for intercourse. His inexperience did hinder him somewhat, along with his limited pool of anyone remotely willing to spare him the time when he could hardly not talk in stilted, impersonal language as a physician even in his daily life.

It’d be nice to have someone reach out. To be intrigued, to lean into his touch, wanting to see what he had to offer. He pampered her up, his hands petting her sides in gentle caresses, taking extra care to not disturb the development of the rot yet to be released from its brewing inside her stomach. If he closed his eyes, he could ignore it. Licking a stripe up her neck, he ran over the hard skin and then something that gave in. His eyebrows furrowed, kissing over the spot once more, soft and pliant under his ministrations, and then he felt something drop onto the pillow case. Rearing back, he stared into the darkened shadows, eyes straining to examine the sheets, and eventually he stumbled out of bed and turned on the light. He returned to her side only to rush out soon after and straight to the bathroom where he ended up leaning over the toilet bowl for the next half hour.

So, he learned a valuable lesson that day. Maggots can fester within three days.

Luckily with Luffy he never had to worry about bugs. Luffy processed the meat almost immediately: both a blessing and a curse in the end. One on hand, no smells or maggots in his mouth. Then there was the predicament that had Law waking up at early hours on this particular day. He still recalled when they brought the first girl home and he picked her up bridal style to bring inside.

“Where are ya going?” Luffy asked, heeled at his side like a mutt. Law’s cheeks burned at having to voice what should have been naturally assumed, but responded back anyways to avoid confusion.

“I’m bringing her to bed,” Law replied… And so occurred the conversation of Luffy not wanting a dead body in their bed. Why he hadn’t just bought another bed already with Law’s credit card was lost on the older man, who had to settle for lying her down on the living room couch. He had stripped her to her mismatched gray bra and red, cotton panties. Even seeing her, the swell of her breasts and divots in her hips, wasn’t enough to get him up. It wasn’t a great experience to say the least. The thought of Luffy walking in kept the sensation of needles on his skin, and after only thirty minutes of having her, laying beside her and staring, Luffy promptly came in to ask to have her since he was done.

He wasn’t done, hadn’t managed to stay hard long enough to even get started, but he wordlessly handed her off, regret bubbling in his chest as he sat on the couch.

This second occurrence was worse: Luffy didn’t want her in the house at all. The garage had been sectioned off early into their relationship as Luffy’s personal space- His little oasis to do whatever he needed to do and Law was content staying out of it. At that moment, he had no other choice but to bring her into that sacred space. There was a lawn chair and an old dining room stool he always meant to get rid of, and neither were a comfortable place to have her, so Law leaned her against some boxes and stared almost helplessly down at the display. To his dismay, it was hardly romantic. It made him feel dirty as he stared down at her in their cluttered garage. Luffy shut the large garage door. The mechanical grinding kept piercing their ears until they were bathed in only the artificial lightbulb emissions.

Luffy sat on the stoop that led into the house, knees up and one balancing his elbow so he could prop his head in his hand. Law twisted his fingers upon noticing his audience, clearing his throat. Luffy seemed to understand his delayed actions, his mouth forming a cute little ‘o’ before he waved his hand. “Don’t mind me. I wanna watch.”

Law stared him down, but Luffy’s expression didn’t break. He was serious. “You don’t like this.”

“Figured that out?” Luffy laughed, slapping his knee. He wiped the corner of his eyes. “Yeah, I don’t. Show me why you do. I want to understand it.”

There were probably eight things wrong with that. Law scowled as he knelt down in front of the girl. When they were fresh like this, their bodies were more pliant. He liked puppetting their hands to touch him, their smooth hands on his cheeks or dragging down his chest to his crotch. He knew he should start slowly like always to get into it. Ease into it. Ignore him. Dismiss the eyes on him…

He could feel Luffy’s pitch black eyes burning into the back of his head. With a trembling hand, Law cupped her cheek, soft and smooth against his skin. Luffy’s sandal scuffed the ground as Law leaned in, forcing his eyes closed to block him out. A sigh escaped the boy. It jarred him enough to pull away completely and storm past Luffy to go inside. Luffy didn’t stop him. When Law came hours later to check up on her, ready to try again in peace since Luffy had gone for a walk in the woods. She was no longer sitting on the ground. Law took the time to investigate the fridge and slumped against the door when he did. At least he was organized– the fridge stuffed with meat wrapped in butcher paper, organized with little marker notes on them: ‘flank’, ‘8oz’, ‘brunette’, ‘bitch’.

Then there was the decapitated, unprocessed human head sitting on the top shelf, staring at him.

He scowled and slammed the door closed.

He was back not ten hours later, sitting on the concrete ground with a head in his hands, contemplating. He placed his fingers to her lips and attempted to pry them apart further, but they remained stone cold and still under the pad of his thumb. It was 4:30AM now.

“Fuck this,” Law grumbled to himself, moving her in his hands to keep his fingers warm. He relented and ducked a hand down to his boxers, pulling them down to tug his cock out. With not much time, and certainly no easier way given it was just a pretty face and locks, Law got to a kneel and pressed her face against his arousal. He gasped at the chilly sensation, but grit his teeth and began to thrust against her. His pants echoed in the cavernous space, hitting back in his ears and allowing himself to imagine it was her encouraging gasps, pleased he was using her so degradingly on the dusty floor over his king bed.

God, he wanted to cum in her. Opening her mouth would lead to him prying pieces of her jaw apart it seemed, and because of that useless cannibal there was nothing else but her stilted beauty. He wondered if he could have put makeup on her; turn her blue tinted lips to a deep ruby red. It’d likely get washed away by his sweat and ejaculate, but the thought of staining the red all over her cheeks and his cock head was enough to have him whimpering under his breath, forcing her face harshly against his lapping hips, shallowly pistoning himself into her.

He closed his eyes, moaning as he imagined breathy whines, a rosy face nuzzling back on his cock encouragingly, black, half lidded eyes meeting his own. Through the rough treatment, the disregard for his own pleasure, he could practically feel Luffy’s tongue licking his cock, “You are so big; I want you. Please, I’ll be a good boy.”

Law gasped, shooting ropes out as his vision turned blurry. He ripped the head back by the hair and shot toward her lips, groaning as his release strained to reach and cover her until his twitching stopped and his cock began to soften. As his release dried, the more his brain clicked it together. Luffy was still in bed. She was with him.

With a heavy breath, Law cursed under his breath. His head hung for a moment, then went about cleaning her off with one of the paper towel rolls on a tool cart. He used two paper towels: one was used to wipe his mess, and the other was used to lift up some of the garbage in the garage’s trash can before dropping the evidence of his actions.

Pleased enough, he tucked himself inside his boxers and turned off the light. In the time he had spent out there, he had forgotten to be quiet when opening the door, but it hardly mattered since sitting on the counter right in front of the door, staring blankly at Law, was none other than Luffy wearing one of his old t-shirts. His luck was running out by the day.

“Oh, looks like we both got up early,” The boy chortled. He wasn’t kicking his feet back and forth. He usually did that when Law stumbled into the kitchen for caffeine.

Not much had changed in the time Law knew Luffy. He fluctuated and Law had gotten better at picking up on his emotions based on how he acted, but Luffy never adjusted to hide his thoughts from Law despite probably having realized that Law could now read him. He likely always intended for Law to learn.

When Luffy was animated, he was either just excited or having one of his ‘moments’ where his hunger was showing. When he was like this… it was best to appease him by talking with him or offering him something. Or, at least, that’s as far as Law has gotten with understanding Luffy’s blank side. It wasn’t necessarily scary, but it could turn south. Maybe it was on its way to heading south and Law either managed to successfully navigate the scenario, or fail miserably and end up with one of the worse versions of Luffy to deal with.

“Did I wake you?” Law asked calmly, averting his gaze as he went to get a mug from the cabinet on his side of the kitchen, keeping some distance between the two.

“Been up.” Liar, Law thought as he started up the coffee machine.

He threw a grimacing smile over his shoulder at him. “Would you like some tea?”

“Why was Torao in the garage?”

“I was looking,” Law muttered, taking a second to portion out a little extra coffee and to come up with something believable, “for some oil. I need to do an oil change on the car soon— hopefully before the first frost. I was going to see if you knew how to do one.”

Luffy stared at him as the coffee machine rumbled to life and began to brew. With a deep breath, Law turned and leaned against the counter. Luffy waited for more, then eventually hopped off the counter and made his way over to Law. He stopped in front of him, barely a foot away, then smiled.

“I’ll take care of that tomorrow. Let’s have a good day together, mm?” Luffy ran a hand up Law’s arm, then back down to curl his smaller fingers around his hands. Law nodded, holding his hand back and that seemed to please Luffy because he was practically bouncing on his toes.

“Alright. I’ll pick up some oil on my way home.” The smile broke. He rocked back onto his heels, body going still.

“Oh. You are going into town today. For what?”

Law’s eyebrows furrowed as Luffy’s hand tightened, that blank look entering his eyes again, flooding over like a fish tank filter starting up. He ran a thumb over the younger man’s hand placatingly. “Did you forget? It’s Friday, so I have to go see some patients.”

Luffy pouted, something that usually got Law to cave, but now made his head feel light. “You didn’t ask off?”

“I… usually don’t?” Law bit the inside of his cheek. “Did you have something you wanted to do today?”

Luffy rubbed his eyes and shook his head. Still, it took him a moment to drop Law’s hand, now moving it to graze along Law’s tattooed chest. His dull eyes examined him, taking in Law’s unsteady lungs before trailing his hand to the band of his boxers. “Mm, maybe a little something. We have some time since it’s early, you know…”

Law grabbed his wrist before his fingers could dip inside. Without a definitive idea as to why, Law knew if that continued, Luffy would find out about what he had done. It was one thing for him to want to witness Law coupling with another, but that was drastically different from fucking a body part because Luffy had been making it harder to… He shook his head. He wasn’t going to let that frustration out. “I’m going to lie down for a bit; I didn’t sleep well.”

“Lie down with coffee?” Luffy replied, tone mild as he ripped Law’s grip away. “That sounds a little counter intuitive to me.”

“I wanted to make sure it was ready when my alarm goes off, Luffy.” Law sighed and brushed past him. He had anticipated taking a shower, but since Luffy was following him he knew he’d just have to sit in the residual feeling of clammy death a bit longer. He got into bed, lying back and Luffy didn’t ponder for a second before he climbed up onto his lap, sitting back near Law’s knees.

“I can help you get to sleep,” Luffy offered. “I was sad you left so early. I wanted to wake you up with head.”

Head. Law coughed into his fist and bucked Luffy once. “Not right now, I’m fine. Really.”

Luffy squinted. After another attempt to get Luffy off, the brat sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes before flopping into the space beside Law. No words were exchanged between them, and Law didn’t fall asleep. He had a sneaking suspicion Luffy was still awake when he got out of bed at 5:45 to take a shower and scrub himself down. When he got everything together for work, Luffy hadn’t made breakfast nor left anything out for him. He took his coffee and left.

 

Truth be told, living with a cannibal wasn’t easy, but neither was working with his best friends.

“Captain, please. She bit my arm.”

“She’s four,” Law replied with ease as he sorted through his calendar at his desk. He hadn’t asked off in a while, he noted as Shachi held his bandaged hand. “They tend to do that.”

The red head wheezed out once, then collected himself enough to muster out. “She has to be part doberman. Please, go use your doctor charm and draw her blood, please! I won’t ask for anything again!”

Law penciled in to take a Friday off three weeks from then, then closed his journal with a firm hand. “You are telling me that in the seven years of schooling and seven years of working as a nurse… a four year old has bested you?”

“Sir, I might need stitches.”

“And?” Law quirked an eyebrow at him and Shachi scowled, throwing his arms in the air.

“You are heartless! You have to be some kind of unemotional robot, something inhuman to make me go out there and-”

“BOYFRIEND!”

The two men froze. They exchanged a glance at each other, then looked to the office door just as it bursted open, Penguin joining their talk with a beet red face and quivering hand. He pointed at Law, teeth grit as he mustered out, “You!”

“Me?”

“Boyfriend?” Shachi parroted back.

“You, mister,” Penguin said, ignoring his bleeding best friend whose hand now seemed to not be in extreme pain at all. Not that Law was paying attention to that. He was going to be sending him back to the clinic room soon after Penguin was done with his nonsense. “You never told us you had a boyfriend.”

“I don’t.”

“You so do!” Penguin cackled in disbelief. He ran a hand through his hair, a true sign of summer. Usually Law had to hide his hat so he didn’t wear it during his shift. “Really, I thought we told each other everything.”

“I certainly do not,” Law replied coolly as he peered around them to see a familiar face skipping down the hall, a satchel at his side. He felt his stomach fall as Luffy made his way past the receptionist area and the break room, stopping at the foot of Law’s office in the most mocking form of politeness Law could think of.

Penguin braced himself against Law’s oak wood desk, leaned over the papers and files to whisper, “Who the hell is he then?”

Law didn’t really know how to answer that, especially with Luffy staring him down twelve feet away. A blessing came in the form of Shachi joining Penguin, getting in his face to introduce a new, upsetting question, “Law, that’s pretty gross. He looks like a highschooler.”

“He’s not,” Law tried, then paused. His eyes flickered to Luffy, who gave him a toothy grin and excited wave, a bit too childlike for his assurance. He didn’t think he ever picked up on Luffy’s age, but he was certainly younger. Did people with his proclivities attend a school? Or has he always been stumbling around the roads and woods waiting to be picked up like a stray?

“Kid, how old are you?” Penguin asked, now turning to Luffy.

“Just turned twenty.”

“Twenty,” Shachi repeated, casting a Look at Law. Law sighed. It would be hard to explain, no, it’d be impossible to make this situation out to be less weird without going into what their relationship actually was. He’d have to roll with the punches of this over the next year. Shachi and Penguin tended to not let go of anything they found that either was teasing him or dragging him through the coals. “Just turned?”

“It’s my birthday today, actually!”

Oh, Law thought as he sunk into his chair. Had Luffy ever mentioned that? Penguin threw him another look and then headed out of the room. “C’mon Sha, let’s not steal birthday time. This isn’t the end, Trafalgar!”

“Not by a long shot,” Shachi hissed as he gathered himself to face the fearsome toddler. He closed the door on his way out, and Luffy made his way to Law’s side of the desk, throwing his sling back onto important documents. Law didn’t murmur any complaints as his roommate straddled his hips, humming a happy tune to himself as he leaned in and kissed Law’s nose.

“Hi, dear,” Luffy cooed just as he did when Law came home at the end of the day. He’d always race from wherever he was in the house to jump onto Law, wrapping his legs and arms around the tired doctor’s body. The only exception was when he was working with meat. He’d instead waddle, eying the ends of his apron to see if he was trickling blood anywhere until he was within Law’s view, where he’d give a smile, wave, and a welcoming few words. In those instances, to make up for Luffy’s inability to do so, and partially out of gratitude Luffy hadn’t sprang up to snuggle him whilst drenched in foreign blood and gut fluids, Law would approach him and kiss him somewhere on his face without stains.

“Luffy,” Law muttered as he held the boy’s hips, keeping him in place as Luffy began to rummage through his bag, pulling out a square container. “How did you get here?”

 

“I’m an expert hitchhiker, Law,” Luffy laughed as though it was obvious. “I wanted to bring you lunch. Close your eyes and open your mouth.”

Law frowned. “You of all people should know not to hitchhike. If you wanted to come to town today, I could have driven you.”

“You seemed awfully eager to leave this morning.” Luffy popped the lid of the container, then placed a hand over Law’s eyes. “Didn’t even come to say goodbye.”

“I was running late,” Law lied, stopping when he felt something press against his lips. He closed his mouth, pursing his lips much to Luffy’s chagrin. He poked Law’s lips once more, then groaned when he didn’t open up right away.

Luffy wasn’t just interested in his own eating— he enjoyed messing with Law. Though he had never, and promised to never, feed Law his unique diet (“I don’t want to waste a delicacy on an ungrateful tongue.” It was probably the most poetic line Law had ever heard from him.), that didn’t mean Luffy didn’t feed him some downright awful things. If Luffy wanted to feed Law, there was little he could do but submit until the boy was satisfied.

It wasn’t all bad. If Luffy was in a good mood, he’d feed Law chocolates and strawberries whilst he held his wine for him. When he was in a good mood, but feeling mischievous, he’d either slip in his tongue or feed him through kisses, something Law wasn’t entirely fond of, but was welcomed all the same. When Luffy was in a bad mood, he gave Law bread.

This felt like bread.

Cringing, Law parted his lips and took a bite of the sandwich provided. Just bread and peanut butter: the one substance that made chewing and swallowing down a mouthful much harder than in any other circumstances.

“Good boy,” Luffy cooed, dropping his hand to Law’s jaw to make sure he held it shut and swallowed. He did, but not without feeling the urge to spit up that and all the coffee he had drank earlier. “If only you were as good at giving orders as you are with taking them, huh.”

He shoved another bite into Law’s mouth and he chewed the spongy substance, twitching with annoyance at the comment. It was better to scarf it down. He knew that. Especially after his idiocy. Of course today was Luffy’s birthday. It made sense that he’d be frustrated with Law, and by caving and doing as he wished, it’d be fine. He just had to eat a sandwich.

As he chewed his last bite, he obediently opened his eyes, which had been uncovered except for his own lids. He licked his lips to get the residue peanut butter off, taking in the boy who was eating jerky with doe eyes and a tilted head. Law remembered himself. “Thank you for coming all this way to give me lunch.”

“Thank you…?” Luffy pushed, dragging out his words.

“Thank you, Luffy. I appreciate it.” Luffy only rolled his eyes, then reached inside the box to grab another strip of jerky. Law’s eyes followed his hand, which fumbled along the side of the box, smudging a glob of peanut butter clinging to the side before retrieving his jerky nestled nearby. Law’s face turned white. He usually separated their food. No, he always did. “Did you make that?”

“Did you want a bite?” Luffy offered, biting one end and leaning forward, offering the other. Law reared his head back and Luffy shrugged, nibbling on his end. He grabbed it back in his hand before announcing, “I want to have a weekend getaway.”

“We can certainly plan something. I’m taking a Friday off in the next few weeks. Anything you want to do, we’ll do.”

“Thanks! But we are also starting one right after your shift tonight.” Luffy bent in his grasp to pull a plastic bag from his satchel. He tossed it at Law, who let it hit his shoulder without an attempt to retrieve it before it fell to the floor. “I packed some nice clothes, called a hotel in the city… A few days away will do us some good.”

Law wondered what the limit on the card he gave Luffy was. He’d need to check that sooner or later. Still, if it went through, and he was as secure as he was when it came to money, he conceded. “Alright. If everything is taken care of, we can go to the city tonight.”

Luffy grinned and wrapped his arms around Law’s neck, pulling him in for a tight squeeze. He kissed Law’s temple as he hugged him, his embrace warm and firm. Law slide his hands around Luffy’s back, squeezing him back as he rested his chin on Luffy’s shoulder. That seemed to ease the boy, as he sank into Law like puddy right after, pliant under his hands. Still. Law sighed.

It had been like this for weeks.

He pulled away, giving Luffy a peck on the neck before they separated. Luffy’s cheeks were puffed as he was pushed back. He scrambled out of Law’s lap, fixing his hair all the while until he was satisfied, then snagged his bag back to throw over his shoulder.

“I have more time, if you want to tell me about your plans,” Law offered, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Luffy threw him a tight lipped smile. He reached into his cargo shorts and pulled out a crumpled napkin which he held out to Law.

“You have peanut butter on your face.” Law took the towel gingerly, then watched as Luffy made his way out, closing the door with a too-loud thud.

Law picked up the bag from the ground and unraveled the straps to reveal a folded pair of black pants, a maroon long-sleeved button-up shirt, matching red briefs, and socks. At least Luffy had packed an entire outfit, he thought as he placed the clothes off to the side. He stood to find a framed photo in the room with a decent reflection, then inspected his cheeks for the smudge Luffy mentioned. He came up empty, but it wasn’t a perfect mirror. With a grumble, he wet the paper towel with his tongue and brushed along his face to try and get it, pausing when he felt something stiff brush his fingers. Upon pulling back, he noticed the stains in the towel.

He crumpled it in his hand.

He knew.

It’d be a hell of a weekend.

The rest of his shift passed with ease. He gave out some referrals to those who needed further examination, assigned prescriptions to a few kids in ailing health, and did basic run-of-the-mill check ups on some newborns whose siblings he knew. While weighing one of them, he had to suppress the urge to whisper, “Please grow up to not be as afraid of needles as your brother.” His mother would likely laugh, knowing fully well that her son was a terror, but Law didn’t like the feeling he got when a mother was friendly to him, whether through cracking little jokes or too closely brushing him when taking their children back. He always kept a stern expression and a pronounced veil of emotional constipation (not a hard act by any means) to deter them from getting too close. As he closed up the clinic, the last parent hinted that if he was free, they should grab dinner soon, then left with a pep in their step. He watched with tired eyes as the pair marched to a minivan, but he couldn’t picture joining them. He wouldn’t be able to keep up that good of a facade of happiness.

Suddenly, his eyes went black.

Something pressed to his eyelids and he could hear rustling and a snicker. He leaned back, falling into an embrace as the hands on his eyes dropped down and wrapped around him. “You heard me coming? I thought for sure I’d scare you.”

“I was shaking in my boots,” Law hummed, settling his hands over Luffy’s to hold him there. Luffy bit his ear lobe lightly, tugging on his piercing.

“You are such an awful liar, you should know better than to try.” Luffy tried to pull away, but Law held him there, smiling to himself as the younger tried harder, flailing about until Law eventually gave him mercy and let go of his hands. Luffy spun him around by his shoulders, giving him a little shake. “Go change into the clothes I brought you and don’t leave me waiting, okay?”

Law’s eyes raked down the man in front of him as he spoke, lingering over the clothes he most certainly hadn’t helped pick out. He licked his lips as he brought a hand to Luffy’s upper arm. It was getting colder out, but Luffy never seemed to change what he wore anyways: shorts and a shirt or vest, sometimes one of Law’s hoodies, but nothing too big of a change. He did dress all pretty for Law on occasion, but the look of a gift could only be so loved before the inability to get inside it gave way to misery.

Still, Luffy’s appearance had his hands becoming clammy and his interest piqued. Luffy had a golden chain dangling from his dainty neck, a black crop top with a zipper down the front, some of his tan, unpainted canvas of skin exposed. He wore a thin, faux leather mini skirt with a gold rope tied at his hips for added flare. He really had been looking through catalogs; he looked like he stepped off the cover of one.

“Don’t worry,” Luffy whispered conspiratorially. “I made sure we match. Wanna see?”

Luffy’s hand toyed with the hem of his skirt and Law sucked in a breath. He held up his pointer finger, then stepped back, ducking back over to check the window. The two patients had left, and from his vision, Shachi and Penguin had also gone on their way home. Straightening his coat, Law straightened his back and cleared his throat. “I left the clothes in my office. You don’t have to wait out here.”

He received a grin. “Lead the way, doctor.”

Biting his lip to keep off a smirk of his own, Law took his hand and led him through the door into the hall of exam rooms. Luffy’s other hand found his back and clawed pleadingly at his garments, a silent beg for them to be discarded soon. Thank god for his neurotic tendencies keeping him from hiring more staff, especially ones overeager to work after hours on a friday because Law could feel the blood running in his veins, the hopeful uptick of his head, the warmth of his lovers youthful glow as Luffy pushed ahead to open the door to his office.

The moment the door shut behind them, Law crowded Luffy against the wall, his hands falling to that skin tight skirt. The spark in his chest bolstered when Luffy’s fingers found his white coat, then crept closer and began to frantically poke the buttons open on his pressed shirt. He could feel the hitched pants fanning down his neck; Luffy craned his head down to press chaste kisses to his throat and a single bite.

Law rolled up Luffy’s skirt to reveal his partner had told the truth: he was wearing red panties, his dick tucked in a way that would make Law pale if he had to perform it himself. Luffy licked a stripe along his jawline. “You didn’t pick these ones out, but I thought you’d like them.”

Law swiftly dropped to his knees to get a better look at his gift. He treated Luffy to a kiss over the base of his clothed dick, eying him up all the while. The panties weren’t anything special. Law’s preference, which Luffy knew, was lace or feminine designs, smooth against his nose when he nuzzled into his crotch. These were plain, just a cotton blend and singular color without any added flair. Something struck Law— A distinct voice in the back of his mind much like the paranoid one that persistently caused him anxiety and sleepless nights. It repeated a bland thought: that he had seen this before. Had Luffy worn this for him in the past and forgotten? Even if that was the case, he would never voice a complaint.

Luffy’s hand was in his hair.

He was staring down at Law like he was at his mercy, and Law wanted nothing more than that.

And he was reacting. He was touching, sighing, pleading out, “I think you owe me for leaving me high and dry earlier.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” Law kneaded his lips against the panties. He hummed under his breath as the taste of skin dripped through the moist material. He only pushed them down to Luffy’s ankles when the material was thoroughly soaked with his spit and Luffy’s head hit the wall behind him. “That was very mean of me, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Luffy’s hand smoothed against his head, petting frizz down as Law untucked Luffy’s cock and gave it a few strokes to soothe the ache. “I missed you. Especially seeing you like this.”

I missed you. Law groaned, his wrist picking up the pace before ducking down to kiss the head of his precum dribbling dick. It bounced under his ministrations and he let out a breathless chuckle. Law ran the length of Luffy’s dick with his tongue, shuddering as he craned down, licking a line of saliva along his pert balls. He sucked one in, lavishing it as his hand tugged Luffy’s tip insistently. He released his suction with a barely audible pop and leaned his forehead against Luffy’s stubbly happy trail. “It’s your birthday, right? What do you want me to do for you?”

“Fuck me,” Luffy snapped. His tone almost jarred Law from his work lapping along Luffy’s taut skin, right back up to lay affection on the head of his cock. “On the desk. I want you to fuck me on the desk.”

Law’s mind stuttered, but his hands didn’t stop mapping out the feel of his ass and length. “You want to ride me, baby?”

“Nooo,” Luffy whined. His hips bucked and Law took him in a few inches to relieve his neediness. He curled his fingers on strands of Law’s hair. “Want you to take me on the desk.”

Law could feel himself softening in his scrubs. It took him a moment to come to terms with fate, but he still felt optimistic. It had been a while since Luffy engaged him in this way: certainly that bodes well for the rest of their day. Bobbing his head once more, he gave a last lick against Luffy’s slit, then patted his ass. “Alright. Get comfy.”

With a delighted squeal Law didn’t reciprocate, Luffy bound over to the desk. He nearly tripped on his discarded clothes, but managed to safely make it behind Law’s desk. He unceremoniously swiped all his files to the side and plopped in the center of the desk, hissing in discomfort when his bare cheeks hit the cool wood.

Law’s hand found the light switch and he flipped them off. Luffy never indicated he noticed a difference as he shucked his top off as well, throwing it to his growing puddle of clothes on the floor. As the doctor made his way to him, he tugged the gold beaded string of his desk lamp on to cast them in a golden glow surrounded by darkness. Candle light, almost, he thought as he moved between Luffy’s parted legs. They eagerly wrapped around his waist and pulled him close until his clothed crotch pressed against his wetted one, thighs squeezing him in anticipation.

Luffy leaned back against the desk, shoving anything in his way until his back was flat against the surface, his hands lying uselessly in front of him. Law felt the urge to take a step back, but the heels digging into the small of his back prevented that grace. The only semblance of life and vigor in his limpening body, his eyes dazed with a dull sheen. Law could feel the blood rush from his cock, leaving his cheeks too. He shifted on his feet, noting his softening dick in the way his pants didn’t tug at him like before.

“Ah, Luffy,” Law began, a hand reaching to scratch at his neck, “I don’t have lube here.”

Luffy raised his head a fraction, a smile on his lips. “And?”

“It will be too much for you,” Law replied, his hand dropping to caress the boy’s hip with gentle swipes of his thumb. “It’s your birthday; I want today to be focused on you.”

“Law, dear,” Luffy purred, eyes glinting as he braced himself up on his elbows, “you didn’t even know what lube was two months ago. Besides, you like it tight, don’t you?”

Law swallowed as Luffy’s legs squeezed him once. His eyes flickered to his trash can, locking on the used paper towel he discarded earlier. His thumb paused, nail sinking into pliant, warm skin. Something was up. What was Luffy even doing when… Law bowed his head, preparing for the onslaught.

“You didn’t really seem like you wanted to focus on me earlier,” Luffy continued teasingly, but Law could sense the underlying tension in his words. His lungs constricted. “I even made it clear what I wanted, and you denied me. It was such a hard request too: receiving a blowjob. Woe is you.”

Law decided to come clean– if only to evade this game from playing out. “I forgot it was your birthday.”

Luffy forced himself to sit up. Law waited, his stomach taut as he waited for a response. Luffy could be a wild card, but Law had his ideas pinned down: Luffy would either laugh and play it off, saying Law needs to make up for it; he’d get angry and give Law options as to how to make it up- therefore tying Law’s hands in what was the method of reconciliation-; or would give him that damned look he hated. It seems that’s where Luffy settled because all he had looking back at him was an expectant look and his old smile in a straight line. Law ran a hand down his face.

“Okay,” Luffy said after at least a minute of Law’s internalized agony, like that would help the situation. Okay. Nothing else. Law almost preferred when Luffy would verbally tear holes into every inch of his skin, picking apart the way he ticked. It was almost as if Luffy found the book of his life and on occasion decided to show off his knowledge of it. Last week, Luffy corralled Law onto the living room couch with the goal of them watching a movie together. Law was reading the summaries out loud as Luffy felt up his arm like a shameless whore, sneaking kisses to his tattoos. Midway through reading a description, he flipped to the next one. “Why’d you skip that one?”

“Don’t like the premise.” A man searching for his family in a deserted wasteland after a natural disaster wasn’t his cup of tea.

“That makes sense,” Luffy replied, not straying from his doting as he casually mumbled, “Family must be a hard thing for you since you lost a sibling.”

Law jumped and snagged his arm away. “What are you talking about?”

“That’s probably why you are always so jagged and fussy when I try to give you affection,” Luffy lamented with a somber look. It took a fraction of his muscles to force Law back in place, which he allowed to happen because there was truly no way around whatever Luffy wanted.

Luffy was creepy. Law acknowledged that long ago, had noted it less fondly when Luffy wanted to watch him fuck the woman on the garage floor, but he’d have to live with it. They had each other's worst secret on the tip of their tongues. Luckily, Law would rather have that appendage exploring Luffy’s mouth, and wished the same to be thought in return.

“Law,” Luffy spoke, breaking the silence between them. His expression and tone was devoid of anything as he released Law’s waist and turned, hopping off the desk. Pens and some documents fell to the floor after him, but he ignored them as he walked over to grab his panties off the ground. Law watched his back as he bent down and stepped into them, pulling them back up his spit-dried thighs. “You are really starting to piss me off.”

Helpless, Law watched him get dressed and tidy his clothes. His calloused hands smoothed out the wrinkles on his crop top before finding their way to his hair to pat loose strands down. He turned, sparing a sideways glance to Law before muttering, “What? Get dressed. We are leaving.”

Luffy left before Law could discard his shirt, something Luffy used to eagerly sit back for, eyes hungrily taking in every inch of him.

With a sigh through his nose, Law changed in the darkness of his office. He never used that space to strip before. His nakedness was felt more distinctly than it had for months, but he didn’t feel eyes on him. The windows were always drawn shut, he hated technology and kept it far from his quarters, and he was alone. It didn’t bring him the relief he hoped for.

He needed to make it up to Luffy.

When he finished dressing, he pushed his used clothes into the bag and shoved it under his desk. He grabbed his keys from his bag, opting to leave it there and grab it on the way home after their spur of the moment vacation. Luffy would be livid if he brought work with him, and Law rarely needed to, especially not today. If he did, he’d have called up Penguin or Shachi to make sure he didn’t incur that wrath.

He closed the door behind him. He couldn’t hear Luffy anywhere, so he headed to the guest reception and waited to be joined. Three minutes later, Luffy appeared from the direction of the bathroom appearing more put together than earlier. In a quick move to appease him, Law swooped to his side, one hand trailing from the small of his back to his ass as he placed a kiss to Luffy’s forehead.

“Are you done?” Law’s hand twitched. He dropped his hand as Luffy took a clear, intended step out of his grasp. “Take me to the city.”

Law remembered himself and walked ahead to hold the door open. “After you.”

Luffy was quiet on the drive. He usually talked Law’s ear off or listened to news reports on the radio. Despite his joyous demeanor, he was aware and attentive on current events, including the media coverage for their victims. Law didn’t know how to break the silence. At every red light, his hand would find Luffy’s knee or thigh, or he’d try to swipe his hand to settle placating kisses across his knuckles, but each attempt at something Luffy would usually coo at was met with a nose wrinkled with distaste and a swift scoot away from Law’s hands.

If he was braver, he’d have staged how they first met. He’d pull over to the side of an unknown road and force Luffy into his lap, drag him up and down on his cock, punctuating that his desire for the boy hadn’t died. He still got off in the shower imagining Luffy’s wild eyes and stretched grin, even if he dismissed the hands that came upon him the moment he stepped into their bedroom.

When did it become such a mess? Law leaned his forehead against the steering wheel when they reached the city, taking a moment to rest his eyes. Luffy broke their silence, “I want you to get to 3rd street and find parking between 27th and 29th. Wherever.”

“Do you want me to drop you off in front of where you want to go and I’ll join you when I find a parking space?”

Luffy glanced over to him and paused. “I’d appreciate that. Go down to 28th, I’ll tell you when.”

Law stepped on the gas and began flickering through each street sign. It took him a good moment, but he found 3rd and turned down the road when it was clear. Luffy unclipped his seatbelt, sitting up to get a good view at the outside until he spotted their destination, “Right here, tiger.”

Law huffed in amusement and pulled aside as best he could with there being no open spaces to parallel park into. Luffy bounced in place until the tires rolled to a complete stop. With a squeak of anticipation, Luffy reeled back like a rubber band, pressed a kiss to Law’s cheek, then snapped forward to throw the door open. Glimmering lights met Law’s gaze as Luffy got out, sending him one last smile that curled around the edges, a teasing glint reflecting off his dark irises. “Don’t leave me waiting, doctor. You want to take me home, right?”

The moment the door shut, Law floored it, gas pedal to the floor. He veered to the left of the building, miraculously finding a spot a block and a half down and across the street of where Luffy was heading. What a brat, Law seethed as he marched down the street, weaving as best he could between groups of tipsy friends and depressed suits biding their time before returning to their unhappy wives. At least their bed partners remained docile at home and didn’t enter a club, leaving him to park the car while she got up to God-knows-what. Sure, Law had suggested it, but for Luffy to accept it and go ahead of him in a place like that? Law’s never stepped foot in a nightclub before, much less any place with music heard blaring even from the street, or with scantily clad whores draping themselves on the walls out front.

It’s his birthday, he repeated, a new mantra in his head to reel back the ugliness bubbling in his throat. He’s upset and wants to get back at me. He isn’t going to do anything. Law wouldn’t allow him to do anything. He was the driver for the night, and he would not permit a stranger into the car with them. Luffy could have a few drinks that Law would have to buy for him because he was still underaged, let him dance or bob his head a little if the dance floor was splattered in greasy men or a general sexually charged atmosphere.

To Law’s chagrin, there was a bouncer at the door and an ever growing line. It wasn’t long, only a handful of people before him, but his anger sparked the longer he was separated from Luffy. He didn’t want to imagine what he was doing in there, but his mind kept wandering with each passing second. Would he find Luffy right away, or was he dragged off to some random corner by some sleaze who recognized the youthful wonder and trust in his vibrant, inky eyes? His fists were clenching at his sides as he drew closer to the entrance. He could imagine oh too clearly a man creeping a hand down to Luffy’s entrance, chuckling to himself when he felt how wet Luffy was down there from Law’s tongue, the sucker who didn’t get to satisfy his lover enough to keep him from wandering.

The moment the door opened, Law darted in. He wanted to throw a punch at a wall as he noticed the darkness inside, how hard it’d be to spot a short, small boy in black in the midst of all the moving bodies. Luffy was vulnerable; he had to be dragged off somewhere by now. Grinding his teeth, Law headed straight for the back area, scanning along the walls and crannies. He wasn’t there. The dance floor then. The boy always had too much energy: he’s likely running all around, absorbing the alcohol that spilled from others cups and getting drunk on the ambiance.

They have to have a microphone in here– Law could ask them to announce Luffy to the bar like a child lost in the grocery store. He’d be furious no doubt, but he’d be safe where Law could keep an eye on him. Law would rather have him batting Law and screaming in embarrassment then stumble upon Luffy much later with another man between his legs.

That’s probably what he was doing now. Getting back at Law for denying him, for not being able to please him when Luffy was the one who made it unbearable to try and stick his dick into him.

Law made a beeline to the bar, brows furrowed. His expression parted the masses until his hand settled on the bar top. Before he could utter a command to the bustling barkeeps, he felt a smaller hand settle on his forearm. Goosebumps rose on his skin as he turned to see a familiar blinding smile.

“Good to see you made it,” Luffy greeted, giving him a small squeeze. “Order me a drink?”

Law felt like the water bubbling over receded and all he could do was return Luffy’s stare. As if he wasn’t surprised by Law’s pause, Luffy wrapped his other hand around Law’s arm, clinging to him like a whore, his chubby cheek nuzzling his bicep. Law licked his lips. Right. Luffy was good, good to him. He was just as obsessed. He could read Law like a book, knew more than he let on, and he most certainly knew Law wouldn’t take it well if he wasn’t sitting in one place, eagerly awaiting his return like this. Swallowing, Law turned to the bartender, “Whiskey neat and a tequila sunrise.”

Luffy gingerly took his drink when they were settled in front of them. He knew immediately which drink was his. Law found it adorable. He hid his smile behind the rim of his glass as he took a sip of his drink. He didn’t drink too often, but he was certain he’d be able to drive them to wherever Luffy had in mind later if he limited himself to two glasses. Luffy could have as much as he wanted. Law didn’t have much booze at home, and he had never seen his bottles depleted when he did fetch an occasional drink. He figured Luffy wasn’t interested in alcohol.

“I want to dance,” Luffy shouted in his ear after taking a few long sips of his drink. He eased the glass into Law’s hand, which had settled around his partner’s waist as they stood by the bar. He frowned at the cold touch, but took Luffy’s drink anyway. “Watch my drink for me.”

“Hey, stay near-” Luffy disappeared in the crowd. Law groaned, setting down his whiskey to pinch the bridge of his nose, “-by, asshole.”

He’d come back for a drink soon, Law reckoned as he tucked the tequila drink close to his chest for safety. Law could entice him with another drink or lavish him with the attention he wanted, draw Luffy in to stay in his grasp.

Luffy could have his fun for now.

He downed the rest of his drink before hailing another. It appeared in his grasp in seconds. He didn’t hesitate to start on his next drink, only scanning the crowd for Luffy once he finished. He was a little surprised that Luffy hadn’t come back in the time Law’s back was turned, but he couldn’t summon that same anger and fear he had when racing up the to club doors. Luffy would come back to him, that was certain.

How he would… was not something Law had anticipated. He had just set down Luffy’s drink, his fingers becoming numb the longer he held it. Folding his hands on the bar top, he debated asking for another drink despite how he knew it was a bad idea. He should settle with what he had.

A hand curled around his arm and he smiled. His own hand found Luffy’s, stroking his fingers over his. “Oh my, such nice tattoos.”

Law’s hand stuttered. He looked to his side to see Luffy hadn’t taken a place beside him in the empty chair, but a blushing woman with long black hair. He ripped his hand away, a furious blush passing his cheeks as she gave his arm a squeeze. He subtly tugged his arm closer to him. “Did I scare you, handsome?”

Law’s eyebrows drew together, lips falling flat as she gave him a polite smile, just a little upturn of her blood red lips. She was beautiful; one could say she was elegant in a way far exceeding the expectations of this place.

“He’s shy.” Luffy. Law looked behind him to see his partner reaching out to stroke his back in soothing pets like a master quelling a dog in the face of a stranger. He frowned, leaning away from her and closer to Luffy. “He’s been nervous about this for a while.”

Nervous? Law pursed his lips, shooting him a look that wasn’t acknowledged as the woman laughed with a hand raised to her lips. Her coy glance did little to ease Law.

“It’s alright. It’s always fun to branch out into something new with a partner.” Law fingers twitched. With a laugh unlike his love’s, she dragged her pointed fingernails down his arm. “So, you two wanted to explore a little?” Not entirely, no, Law thought. Their sex life was already on the rocks, and frankly it felt like a punch to the face knowing Luffy was seeking others to please them. Luffy was enough, if their circumstances were better. If they could see eye to eye. “Luffy-san told me you’ve been wanting to experiment more with a woman.”

He could only hear the pounding of the music’s beat. His ears felt fuzzy as he stared. He couldn’t remember when he called for it, but a third whiskey neat arrived and he could do nothing but down it in less than a minute, eyes burning as hands explored his arms, brushed his neck, ran down his buttoned up shirt, pressing into his chest. He couldn’t comprehend their words, only their lingering glances and touches until Luffy tugged him from his stool and began to guide him toward the door, the woman following at his side. He wanted to snap, turn to her with gnashed teeth and tell her to beat it, but Luffy knew. He always fucking knew, and Law could see in the look he gave him that Law had no other choice but to shut up and take it.

Law had expected Luffy to have gotten them a nice hotel at a five star resort. He had no issues spending Law’s money and Law couldn’t give a shit most days. So he was admittedly confused when he eventually found himself outside the seediest motel he could imagine. Luffy had gotten the keys whilst the woman and him waited outside, Law leaning against the wall as he tried to gather his thoughts, his hurt. She, with all credit given, had settled for entertaining herself with tracing the tattoos of his collarbone and occasionally pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek or jaw, something she strained to place given how much smaller she was. She was nearly Luffy’s height. She looked lighter too; Law could easily throw her off if he wasn’t cautious of the consequences from that offense.

When Luffy walked past them with the key, Law resisted the urge to grab him and pull him into his chest. His tipsy brain couldn’t comprehend it. Luffy didn’t want his women in their bed before, but it was fine now. Now it was alright for a woman to be tucking her fingers in his waistband, needily squishing her breasts into his abdomen. In fact, Luffy was watching her appraisingly. It made Law sick.

When the door to their room was opened, the woman walked in first. Luffy waited, holding the door open as Law slowly leaned onto his feet. He approached the door, eying it warily before stopping a few feet from the light that filtered out from the lamps within. The distant roll of car tires on the paved road filled their silence, perhaps lessening the tension Law radiated. Luffy tilted his head. “Nervous, doctor?”

“Don’t,” Law said in return. He wasn’t quite sure what he was referring to. If possible, he wanted that word to encompass all of this. He’d rather be at the bar. He’d rather be at home. He’d rather be with Luffy in their room without an extra set of eyes. Just him, strewn about the bed in his fuzzy pajamas, summoning Law into their blanket cocoon. He licked his lips and took another unsteady step forward, gaze swimming in the murky pictures supplied by his disadvantaged brain. He shouldn’t have drank so much, or maybe he should have drank more to fully be able to project himself back to their home and not this musty, decrepit place.

“You’ll like this.” Luffy whispered in response as though it was true. Law shuffled on his feet, bracing his hand on the wall. He didn’t stand his ground long. Luffy had him trapped. One caress to his cheek and a loving kiss settled on Law’s parted, bitter lips and he allowed himself to be pulled in. The door shut behind them with a click and Law took in the sight.

Right where the bed was, where Law wanted desperately to pin Luffy and drill him into the sheets, show him this was unnecessary, that this killed him– was the woman. She had slipped off her dress for them– didn’t need to be asked or coaxed. Distantly, Law recalled Luffy’s insistence on this weekend, on his already booked motel and plan. He had to have hired this woman; no one else would have taken in Law’s demeanor and wanted him unless they were dead or Luffy. No, in this case, they just had to be dead. Luffy wasn’t within that factor anymore. The thought had Law remaining by the door even as she beckoned a crooked finger toward him, half lidded eyes tracing his form and ignoring Luffy as the younger man happily made his way to the ratty bed.

He rested a gentle hand on her bare shoulder, his fingers teasing the strap of her lacey bra. Law swallowed the lump in his throat, his feet inching toward the door as his lover looked up at him through hooded eyes. They opened a fraction wider after a moment, and Luffy sent him a grimacing smile, all ducked chin and nervous twitch of his rosy lips.

“Do you want to help tighten her up?” Luffy called as he reached out to her, wrapping his arms lazily around her waist.

She looked up at him with a giggle, “You mean loosen, baby?”

No, Law realized with bated breath. He didn’t. With one last bright smile returning after being away so long, too long, how had Law not noticed its absence until it was beaming like a high beam from an oncoming vehicle, Luffy’s arms jutted up, his hands finding the column of her throat. Law gasped as his pale hands whitened at his knuckles, fingers turning red as he dug into her skin. Dainty gasps for air hit his blood rushed ears alongside the struggles of her slender legs, unblemished by scars or markings. His mouth went dry, her eyes bulging and lips adopting a bluish hue. She was a sight to behold, but Law couldn’t look away from Luffy.

His cheery smile turned into that twisted grin Law only saw fleeting glances of. Those eyes were wider, stars pooling in them from the dingy sconce lights stationed on their end of the bed, crinkled at the corners from the pull of his lips. He looked alive. He looked larger than life, a descending harbinger. Law felt his knees buckle upon realizing Luffy’s gaze was never on her in the first place. He was watching Law, scanning him with interest as he denied her oxygen, keeping her in place even after she fell limp in his hands.

“I told you you’d like it,” Luffy whispered after several minutes. His pink tongue ran along his bottom lip, stare locked where Law had unzipped his pants in her fights for air, his cock pulled through the opening so he could tug himself. Luffy carefully released his hold on her. She fell like a petal in autumn, limp and left for fodder to the elements. He looked to her as he arranged her in the center of the bed, head propped on one of the pillows, but those glances were sparse, his attention finding Law more interesting. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Law asked breathlessly, his hand tightening around his tip as Luffy climbed onto the bed, laying on his side against her. He pulled her legs apart, resting one on top of his. Luffy raised a hand, motioning Law closer. He listened, walking up until his knees hit the mattress, his feet planted right in front of the bed. Luffy shrugged as if to say he wasn’t certain as well. There were a few things he could say, Law was certain of that, but any makings of a grudge he had were dying quickly in his throat.

“She’s still warm.” It was just a comment, something to fill the air.

Law frowned. His eyes flickered to Luffy’s shorts. “She’s fresh. Autolysis.”

“It’s kinda hot when you talk all smart. All the big words and stuff.” Luffy propped himself up on his elbow. He smiled at his partner, but it faded moments later. “Are you okay?”

Law carefully pushed one of the woman’s limp feet aside and sat on the end of the bed, his hand tearing away from his dick to rest on the sheets. “You hired her, right? This was incredibly risky. I hope you had a plan for this.”

Luffy shuffled to his knees and made his way to press himself to Law’s side, hugging his arm. “No. She was supposed to live.”

“Hell of a way to do that,” Law whispered. His hand drew up to hold one of Luffy’s elbows.

“I’m serious,” Luffy laughed. He gave Law a little squeeze and the older man couldn’t help but crack a smile. “I meant to, really, but- she was really getting on my nerves.”

“I’m surprised you let her as far into the room as you did,” Law admitted, eyes drifting to his still erect member. “I’d have preferred you take her into the woods and done away with her.”

Luffy sucked in a breath. With a sighing exhale, he pulled away to meet Law’s eased gaze and threw him the most faltering, guilty grin he had ever seen on the boy before. “I lied to you earlier.”

Law’s attention snapped to the woman, eyebrows raised in confusion. Luffy’s hand snagged his chin and harshly jerked his focus back to him, cheeks puffed into a pout. The annoyance in Luffy’s expression at his split second focus on the girl made his heart flutter and he leaned into Luffy’s hold in a reciprocated comfort. A strong, steady hand on him, a devoted, longing look in return. Fuck, he wanted Luffy to keep moving. To lead the way. To not fall limp under his ministrations, eyes dulled and-

“It’s autumn. My birthday is in spring.”

“Alright.” Never has a lie bothered him less besides the needlessness in admitting it. Did it really matter right now what the truth was? No. There were more pressing and entertaining matters to attend to. He shifted in his seat as Luffy raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed at Law’s disregard.

“This is a gift for you. Take it as a thank you, I guess.” Luffy grimaced a little. He nudged her lifeless leg with his knee and sneered at the movement. “You like… women, and I wanted to give you someone to play with, that you could… you know, end and fuck, but the more I saw her on you, the more I just… felt so pissed. Does that make sense?”

Law nodded. He wasn’t entirely certain he was following, but he did understand when Luffy bit his lip. “And I’m still… not good with this. I had ideas– we can try them, if it works with… Well, for one, I was thinking it might help if I just, uh, well… wear her?”

Certainly few things in the universe would snap Law from his dazed, content lull in Luffy’s hands, but that certainly did. He pulled back, his hand finding Luffy’s to prevent his coquettish reeling him in once more. “What?”

Luffy’s eyes darted to the side and he shrugged heavily. “To make it easier for you.”

Law closed his eyes. Luffy hired an escort for Law, killed her unintentionally in likely the hottest way Law had ever witnessed the shorter man be ever since their first time in his car, and… he stopped following the logic. Was there any when it came to Luffy? He was intelligent, had methods and structure in what he did, knew Law’s mind and acted in accordance to perceived feelings and actions Law has taken.

But was that true? Did Luffy actually read him like the open brochure of a broken man he was, or was he just muddling through it in guesses like Law, but succeeding marginally better? Law opened his eyes once more. Without delay, he shoved Luffy’s shoulder to the bed and threw himself onto the gloomy boy, his knees settling on either side of Luffy as the boy’s hands limply fell to the mattress, one knocking the deceased. Law shoved to further her useless frame from their space.

“I can’t stand their eyes,” Law admitted through a huff. His hands found Luffy’s shirt and began to tug the garment up with great struggle until his lover raised his arms in silent assistance. “They– women, they make me nervous. Everyone makes me feel like I’m treading on livewire, like I’m constantly on the stand and that any minute, the sky will fall and it will all be over. Ever since I was a child, I’ve lived with that dread, that itch. The only comfort I could find was within those who were robbed of those dignities: the gift to see, the gift to speak.” A bitter laugh left his lips as he threw the shirt over his shoulder, not wanting to spend another second with his trembling fingers in the threads, favoring Luffy’s pliant, soft, warm skin and curves. “Even with them, I have to keep telling myself they like it, that I’m any good. That I’m a good man.”

Luffy stared up at him, tension falling from his face as his hand slowly drifted up to stroke against Law’s cheek bone. He felt a hint of moisture being rubbed into his skin. Law insistently pressed back into his hand, pleading. “You terrify me.”

Luffy grinned and Law fell to kiss along the column of his throat, which was extended happily for his access, eager for doting. “You are always watching, always aware. In the cold drafts, the moonlit woods, the crowded streets, I feel you. And you have sight and a voice, and hands that reach for me. I don’t want you to draw away; I need you to touch me.”

“Then why do you keep me at an arm's length?” Luffy asked like the brush of wind against his cheek. Warm and gentle like the summer air that had long since been chased out by the autumn outside. “I am always reaching for you. I want you so bad; I want you to feel the same. What do I have to do? I can’t become a woman, and my current solution doesn’t please you either. I want you to want me again.”

He doesn’t know, Law thought deliriously as he drew upward to insistently nuzzle their noses together, spreading a few fleeted pecks to his lover’s upturned lips. He must have thought it was funny to see Law so frazzled, so out of his skin. Luffy was the affectionate one, but Law could stumble through the dark, clouded uncertainty if it got through to Luffy, if he could feel his lips move against his in return.

“I want you,” Law whispered against his lips. He bit the inside of his cheek before easing back, a hand rising to smooth over Luffy’s chest. He sighed appraisingly, longingly, “As you were when we first met, I want you. That glint in your eyes, your carnal desire. Your hands on me. I want that all directed at me once again.”

“It always is,” Luffy murmured. He clawed up to his elbows and pressed a kiss to Law’s quivering lips. Law could feel the misunderstanding again when Luffy surged forward, knocking Law on his haunches to climb into his lap, knees on either side of Law’s lanky legs as he sunk down so his crotch brushed the growing erection in Law’s pants. Just like the night they met. “You know it always is.”

He lifted Luffy’s hips with ease and tossed him back on the bed, making him squeak in surprise.

Law hiked his hips up and around his waist. Luffy locked his heels behind his back without a second thought, staring up at his partner with his old, lovely smile building on his lips. “If you want me to show desire to you, I think the best way is to let me bounce on your cock until you pass out or... Maybe until I’m finished with you.”

Law raised an eyebrow. “Passing out wouldn’t be a sign to stop for you?”

“I don’t think you need to talk to me about consent right now,” Luffy replied with a wave of his hand. “Anything you do to me, I want. Anything I do to you-”

“I want,” Law cut in, a smile reaching his lips. It was so easy. It’s easy with him. Why was it so hard before?

Luffy tilted his head to the woman. “And her?”

“A headache for later, sweetheart.”

Luffy grinned. He threw his head back with a laugh, cackling as Law swooped back in to gather him in his arms, littering his chubby cherub cheeks with kisses. Law knew better than to be ashamed of his prior desperation, he knew Luffy felt the same given he was tugging off Law’s clothes with just as much rigor. Still, when the fabric between them was removed, they slowed. They didn’t pull away to bask in their states, but instead their touches turned gentle, kisses fonder, enjoying breathing each other's exhale as Luffy relaxed against the motel’s scratchy blankets. How Law wished they were shacked up in a fancy hotel that provided egyptian cotton sheets and silk pillow cases that’d cushion his darling’s head like a downy of angel feathers to brace himself back on as Law devoted everything to him. When the boy’s hands dropped to his sides, pliant, Law urged them up, manually placing one in his hair and the other on his chest. Luffy laughed through a pant in his breath and received a glare in return.

“I want you to keep touching me,” Law muttered petulantly. “You aren’t dead.”

“Don’t you prefer that company?” Luffy teased, but his tone reminded Law of where they were, where they were currently going, and how they got there. He needed to clear up anything that lingered in Luffy’s mind.

Without delay, Law reached over and shoved the woman unceremoniously off the bed. She fell with a clunk, her arms like a disgraced whale flopping below their vision. Law snorted at the prospect of wetting his dick with her.

“So rough; I hope you save some bruises for me.”

“Fear not, my frustrations will be mounting each moment I remember I have to part to dispose of her for you,” Law muttered, leaning down to nibble on his lover’s neck, who sighed blissfully at the spark-like sensation. “You brat.”

“You love it,” Luffy cackled, slinging his arms around Law’s shoulders before pouring his energy into flipping Law onto the bed with Luffy straddling his hips after minor adjusting. He stared down at Law, satisfaction leaking from the tallness in his back and the way he puffed his chest out.

“I do,” Law breathed, watching with awe as Luffy grinned wider, his maniacal glee shown only to some breaching through as he began jerking his shorts down. Law’s neglected cock had been weeping from where it fell outside his zipper, forgotten in their haste to rekindle their desire from the misguided judgements. Even knowing that, Law paused as Luffy loomed over him, reaching down to try and fit Law’s cock into his half covered hole, his shorts riding back up as he struggled. Love. He was sure now more than ever that the way he felt had to be love toward his rambunctious companion, but it was far too soon to admit such a thing when they only just-

Luffy sank down onto Law’s cock, whimpering as he pushed down. A hint of guilt crossed Law’s mind as he thought about the first few times they fucked before Luffy introduced him to lube, carefully breaching the subject by saying they didn’t need to use it if Law didn’t like it, that Law’s pleasure and comfort was most important. Was that around the time they were already hitting a wall between them? Did Luffy worry that his own safety and self care was the reason Law pulled away?

Their love was a haphazard, messy affair of ripping at their clothes to get handfuls of skin, never wanting to part long enough to remove the offending garments. If Luffy dismounted, Law felt he’d never return, so instead he found himself pushing up and grinding his cock against Luffy’s tight walls, rubbing himself off inside so he didn’t have to part. Even with his sensitivities after climax, prayers danced on his tongue begging that he’d manage to keep himself inside even as he softened. They all came out in a slurry of ‘oh gods’, ‘please, my sweet’ and millions of other expletives that had Luffy giggling as he bounced, their skin making audible slaps that echoed in the dingy room.

Moans spilled through Law’s lips as he tried to sit up in hopes of kissing him, doting him with the affections that had been withdrawn for far too long, but Luffy huffed through his exerted pants. He placed a dainty hand to Law’s sternum, then shoved him back with more force than Law thought possible. No, he knew that hidden strength was always present. How else did he dismember with ease, carrying the bodies without assistance, all the other impossibilities his lover defied?

Luffy’s hand slid upward, his fingers curling around Law’s throat. A groan ripped through his chest as his eyes rolled, hips pistoning upward and setting the pace for Luffy, no longer relying on his meager bucks to chase their pleasure.

“Good boy, fuck me,” Luffy whined, adjusting to not get thrown around by his desperate bedmate. “Missed you, baby; missed your big cock.”

“Missed you too. You are squeezing me, baby.” Law praises, rubbing loving circles on Luffy’s hips. The tension ramped up in his system. His heart pounded in his ears, accompanied by the sound of Luffy’s whining gasps and the slick smacks of their coupling. “You gonna let me cum in you?”

“Only in me,” Luffy insisted breathlessly and Law’s heart ached at the implications, at the misunderstandings, at the dead bitch on the floor. So he’d follow suit and do anything Luffy asked. It was hardly a difficult request. Licking his lips, Law dragged a hand down Luffy’s thigh, tracing up to hold the hand that held his neck.

“Anything for you, darling,” Law moaned. “I’ll give you everything.”

“Then cum in me, asshole,” Luffy huffed.

Luckily, it never took much for Law to tip over the edge, something Luffy seemed only flattered by if their previous bouts said anything about his true feelings.

He twitched inside, cock pumping thick cum into Luffy’s tight, little hole that pulsed around his arousal. Law groaned, grunting as Luffy flopped on top of him, hard cock between their stomachs as he caught his breath. After taking a moment to enjoy the aftershocks rolling like waves through the tips of his fingers, Law begrudgingly summoned enough energy to snake his hand between them. His trembling fingers curled around Luffy’s dick and began to pump, running over his slick skin back and forth before Luffy convulsed and covered his hand in warm, batter-like lines that were also on Law’s stomach, dipping into his belly button. He kindly brought his hand up to steal a taste after having been deprived of it so long. It was as good as he remembered even with its odd consistency and burning saltiness. He wanted to end each day with the memory of it on his tongue, consume hints of it with all his meals, Luffy laid out naked on the table with his cock and ass hole presented to him, the way it should have been instead of their tiptoeing, their jealousy-

“Law,” Luffy moaned brokenly as he slumped back down, head on the older man’s shoulder. “If you even think about pulling out, I’ll-

 

“I’m staying right here, sweetheart,” Law chuckled under his breath, nosing Luffy’s hair. Over the smell of his deodorant and cologne was the smell of the sex and Luffy’s gleaming sweat. Some would be repulsed by this, but Law found it divine, like ambrosia wafted under his nose. “We have all weekend, don’t we?”

“She’s gonna start smelling soon.”

“You wanted to clean her?”

“I’d rather leave her as worm food.” Luffy scrunched his nose as he propped his chin on Law’s chest, leveling him a glare his way that didn’t dissipate even as Law lovingly brushed his untamed hair from the front of his eyes. However, after Law nodded in understanding approval, Luffy softened once more. He pouted as he nuzzled his lover. “I want to go home in the morning. I miss our bed. Us in our bed.”

Law hummed against his hair. “We can bring the TV box in. Spend the next two days watching your rerun game shows and having our own marathons. I can get out the grill for you too. I think we have enough in the freezer to spoil you with.”

Luffy shook his head. “On the way home, let’s pick up microwave dinners. Let’s bring the microwave into the bedroom too then.”

“You are making me think I’ll never be able to get you out of bed after this.”

 

“You should be concerned about me allowing you to leave after this weekend,” Luffy threatened back, a devilish smile on his lips that Law had no other choice but to capture with a kiss. They remained, skin plastered to skin as they lazily licked and nipped each other, lashing out only when the other pressed too hard, both enticed with the thrall of the other, but also wanting to remain docked and pliant.

Law groaned as he pulled away. “Lover, it’s late. It’s best I take care of her now before daylight.”

“Then you’ll be mine?” Luffy huffed, sitting up. Law’s cock twitched inside him, a silent plea to remain plugged in the warmth, squeezed every so often by Luffy’s muscles as he jostled and adjusted himself. He internally mourned the loss he’d feel soon when he’d raise Luffy’s quivering hips and watch as cum trickled from his hole, now gaping around nothing as Law’s dick bounced once, searching out its sheath. But for now, Law’s grip tightened around the smaller man, warding off the thought of letting go for a while longer.

“I’ll be all yours.”

Notes:

I had a lot of this done, but once we got to the final confrontation I was struck with Ao3 author curse that I won't go into. I still hope you all liked it; it was an interesting AU for me to pour time in. Thank you for your time!

Notes:

You have just read 30 pages! Congrats!

I've been working on this one shot for a week or two now and need to let it go-- I hope you liked it! If you liked it, please leave a comment or kudo. I'm not opposed to writing more for this AU, but it likely will be a lot of smut.

I also recently posted a chapter story here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54580654/chapters/138297907
The first chapter is... so so much world building. I'm so sorry about that. But if you liked this story, then you'll know what to expect in the upcoming chapters for that. Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed it.