Chapter Text
All of Law's closest friends are certain that he's keeping something from them, and none of them are being subtle about it. He's being bombarded with even more texts than usual, and he's met up with at least one of them on four separate occasions in the past week alone, which is a lot more than their usual once or twice every two weeks.
At first, Law had believed they just missed him. It was the first time that he wasn't sharing an apartment with at least one of them in years, and he'd ended up with a stranger of all things. Law had hated the idea of it more than anything, but he was the only one who could get approved by the complex, and the place Penguin and Shachi had found only had two rooms.
Fortunately, after more than three months of a rapidly increasing number of visits and messages, Bepo had let it slip that they were concerned about him, but not why. So Law did what he does best, and he began the process of overthinking everything. He's a month into analyzing all he's done upon moving into the flat, and he can't find a single thing that should have worried them.
Sure, he had complained about his new roommate at first, but since he and Luffy had talked a few things over, there hasn't been any more issues. He is terrifyingly easy to get along with, and even when his friends are over, Law doesn't mind them as much as he thought he would. Hell, a few of them could almost be considered his friends now as well.
So that can't be why they're concerned, which sets Law back to square one.
He's tempted to outright ask them about it when he sees them later, but that brings him around to the second problem of the day. He's late, and there is nothing he's going to do to fix it. For the past eight or so hours, his roommate has been a living weighted blanket for him, and fighting off the urge to fall back asleep is an uphill battle.
Luffy's nose is pressed firmly into Law's neck, each exhale soft and steady. One of his hands is between Law's head and the arm of the couch, keeping the uncomfortable stiffness from bothering Law, and the other has a loose grip on Law's tank top, right above his waist. Their legs and the blanket are so tangled that Law's sleepy mind can't fathom what's going where, so he doesn't bother to try. All he needs to do is keep his own arms around Luffy to keep him from rolling off the couch, and to hope his friends will take a rain check on their meeting.
It's unfortunate that he is only in control of one of those two tasks.
There are two spare keys to the apartment, and he knows that it's Penguin because he immediately shouts Law's name upon entering. "LAW!"
A loud shush rips out of Law without a thought, and Luffy presses his face deeper into Law's neck, muttering nonsensically. Law watches him until he stills, duly noting that his friends have stayed quiet. He can't help the way his face flushes when he sees the way his three oldest friends are gaping at him. "Don't wake him up."
"Dude," Shachi whispers, mouth stretching into a grin, "You didn't tell us your roommate was adorable."
Law knows his blush is worsening, if only because he knows where their minds are heading, "Shachi, I will throw you out the window."
Penguin's expression is quickly starting to mirror his husband's. "I don't think you will. You don't wanna wake up your secret boyfriend."
"Not my boyfriend." Law glares at them with as much force as he can muster, but none of them take it seriously. "I mean it, he's not."
"You're canoodling on the couch with him and are two hours late because of it." Shachi is giving him the most incredulous look he can manage, and Law knows he will never hear the end of it after this, from them or their other friends.
He gives a half-hearted shrug with the arm that isn't pinned beneath Luffy, "It's not canoodling either. He just fell asleep, and now I'm stuck."
"Law of Cat doesn't apply to people you aren't dating," Penguin states it like it's a fact, and Law points to Bepo, who's been watching all of this quietly. "Yeah, well, Bepo's an exception."
"Luffy's an exception," Law retorts, "Besides, it's the first time he's crashed in days."
Bepo steps forward, and speaks much quieter than he needs to, "is he okay?"
Law nods, "He's as much of an insomniac as I am. Just been a bad week." There's a moment of thoughtful hesitation before Bepo raises an eyebrow. It's a silent question, and while Bepo is more than capable of lifting Luffy off of him, Law doesn't want him to. "He's fine. I don't mind, Bepo. Even if he's denser than my twelfth birthday cake."
The second Law makes eye contact with Penguin, the quieter atmosphere is broken by laughter. That cake had been the most unappetizing thing any of them had ever seen, created by the over mixing of the batter and too many eggs. It was closer to gelatin than cake, and even though his god-parent had sworn up and down that an extra egg was only supposed to make it more moist, that isn't what happened. That cake and its subsequent attempts are the reason Law can barely stand to eat anything with the texture of bread as an adult.
Luffy grumbles into Law's neck as he lifts his head and blearily opens his eyes. He doesn't appear to register anything around him for a moment. "Did I fall'sleep?"
The way Luffy's shoulders crack mildly concern Law as he sits up and rubs his eyes, but he makes no move to stop him. He almost feels guilty for waking him up. "Yeah, sometime after four am."
"Oops." The smile he gives Law is lopsided, and makes him appear far less apologetic than he is. It turns into a blinding beam the second he processes that they aren't alone, "You must be Torao's friends! I've heard about you guys! I'm Luffy! It's nice to meet you!"
Bepo is the first to recover from what his roommate's friends lovingly refer to as The Luffy Effect. "Nice to meet you too! I'm Bepo, and that's Penguin and Shachi." Both of them make finger guns as they're pointed to.
"I'm terrible with names, but I'll remember it eventually." Luffy nods as he says it, but Law knows he might ask again in the next five minutes. "I like your bear hat!" Luffy's already moved onto the next topic before Bepo can say thank you, "Why's there so much light in here? What time is it—" He barely gets the words out of his mouth when he sees that it's almost two-thirty. He scrambles off the couch, the blanket tangling around his legs worse and nearly sending him careening into the floor. The midair turn that Luffy does to keep himself upright is impressive in its own right.
Law watches him as he scrambles down the hallway, "I thought you didn't have anywhere to be until Monday?" He holds up a hand to silence his friends before they can start anything, or tease him for knowing his roommate's schedule.
Luffy peaks back out of his room, already in new clothing, and cramming his shoes onto his feet while walking. "Sanji tests new recipes on Sundays though!"
Law's nose scrunches up, "I thought he got fired?"
"Oh, his dad fake-fires him any time he wants to force Sanji to take a break." Luffy walks over to the closet by the door, quickly ruffling through the jackets and hoodies, but not finding what he seems to want. "Now if only someone would do the same to your workaholic ass."
"Agreed."
"I wish they would."
"Even your roommate knows, dude."
"First of all, fuck all four of you," Law mutters, "I'm not as bad as I could be. Second of all, Lu-ya just steal one of mine. There's plenty." He doesn't miss the odd glances his friends are giving him, nor the way their eyes widen when he says nothing against Luffy choosing one of his favorite hoodies to yank over his head. "If I send you money will you bring me back something from the Sanji's?"
Luffy tosses his keys and wallet into his pockets, and yanks his phone right off the charger. "Yeah, sure. No bread, nothing sour, no plums... did I miss anything else?" His eyes light up with a little pride when Law shakes his head, "Cool, sorry I couldn't stay longer, but Sanji's food is to die for. See you around!" All three of his friends wave back at him as he speeds off without a care in the world.
It's Shachi who restarts the conversation, still gawking at the door as if Luffy would reappear at random. "How did he go from dead to the world to having the energy of a crack addict in less than ten minutes?"
"He's just like that, Shach." Law shrugs again. If he had an explanation for Luffy, he'd have introduced them all sooner.
"So..." Penguin plops down on the couch and elbows him playfully, "not a boyfriend?"
Law groans, "No, Peng. Not a boyfriend."
"Then does Cora-san know you have a sugar baby?" He fails to dodge Law's fist, and it hits his shoulder a little harder than could be considered playful. The embarrassment plastered on Law's face is what he wanted anyways.
"He's not a sugar baby either!"