Work Text:
Law soon came to realize that his relationship with Luffy wasn't a very equal one. It was probably supposed to be equal, but Luffy tended to naturally walk over Law without even noticing doing it.
This inequivality was manifesting itself most clearly when they wanted to get some attention from their boyfriend. If Luffy happened to want cuddling or sex or whatever, he simply attacked Law and demanded attention. He tended to wrap his limbs around Law so tightly there was no getting away, pull books out of Law's hands when he was trying to read, sing loudly and off-key while Law was having a serious conversation with someone else. Luffy simply was impossible to ignore.
If Law happened to want cuddling or sex or whatever, Luffy turned out to be completely blind and deaf to all of his signals. It was quickly driving him out of his mind.
It was a beautiful, drowsy afternoon, when Law decided to try out his luck once more. Luffy was with Usopp, sitting on the railing and fishing. It seemed to be really boring, since they weren't talking and there was no luck with fishing.
Luffy might think that a nice roll in the sack was an agreeable idea, at least Law hoped so while approaching him and leaning on the railing.
"Ah, Traffy," Luffy said, smiling widely. "You want to fish too?"
"Not particularly. It seems to be pretty boring."
"At least it's something to do."
Law congratulated himself for reading the situation so skillfully. Luffy really was lacking something interesting to do. So was Law. They could entertain each other in his bed, this just had to work.
"I'd rather do something else," he said, the corner of his mouth curling into his most suggestive smirk.
"Oh, what would that be?"
"Was thinking about going to bed. Will you come with me?" Law felt awkward about flirting so blatantly while Usopp was right next to them, but their relationship was hardly a secret. He just didn’t like feeling ridiculous most of the time.
Luffy considered a while. "Hmm. Nope, not tired."
Law's shoulders sagged.
"You go, you look really tired."
It was a good idea to leave; if Law were to stay, he would soon want to push Luffy overboard. "Yeah, I'll go. If you happen to change your mind, I'm in my bed naked."
Usopp made a choking sound and Law knew he'd die from embarrassment, if he had to continue like this. But he couldn't say it more clearly even if he was holding a big sign with text 'I want sex'.
Luffy nodded, perfectly calm. "Yeah. It's pretty hot today, so that would be more comfortable."
Law went to his cabin to bang his head against the mattress.
About an hour later he had swallowed his frustration. There was a possibility that Luffy just didn't get verbal suggestions. Maybe it would be worth trying to give him some visual signals to back up words.
Luffy and Usopp were still fishing, half asleep. So far they had only cought some seaweed which wasn't looking particularly appetizing to Law.
"Couldn't sleep?" Luffy asked, when Law came to stand beside him.
"Nope."
Luffy touched Law's face and traced lightly the shadow under his eye. Law was suspecting they were even darker than usually, and it was chronically bad.
"Poor Traffy." Luffy pecked the tip of Law's nose.
"I can feel my teeth rotting," Usopp muttered.
This atmosphere definitely was nice and promising. Law cupped Luffy's chin and stole a kiss, which ended with drowning in each other's eyes.
"You should come inside for a while," Law said. "At this rate you'll get a sunstroke."
"It's not that hot."
"Yes, it is. I can't stand my shirt..." Law gave himself goosebumps with his behavior, but maybe this would make a point. "I think I'll just take if off." He grabbed the hem of his shirt and slowly started to lift it, finally pulling it completely off. The performance made him realize that he should never pursue a career as a stripper. That wouldn't go well with his personality.
"Is it helping?" Luffy stole a glance at Law's bare form, but immediately returned to stare at his bobber swaying on the waves. It was apparent that he didn't notice the sexual aspect of stripping, or maybe he just wasn't interested in Law anymore.
Maybe their thing was over as quickly as it had began? It wasn't just about Luffy flat out ignoring Law's suggestions – it also had been two days since Luffy had initiated any kind of intimacy, which was alarming. Law couldn't help but wonder if Luffy tried to kill the relationship by distancing himself, even if it seemed to be un-Luffy-like behavior. What else could this be? So far as Law knew, they were not in the middle of an argument.
And Law... really liked Luffy, even if Luffy frustrated him to death about a hundred times a day. He knew several persons who would say it was good for him. He would have gone as far as agreeing with them.
"Not helping at all." Law turned 180 degrees and leaned his backside on the railing.
Robin, Nami, Franky and Zoro had apparently been watching from the fore deck, because every one of them raised a piece of paper with points written in it. If they were judging his striptease performance or his body, Law didn't know. Truth to be told, he wanted all of them to drown.
At least nine points from Robin flattered him a bit. Had Law been a sensible man, he might have gotten together with Robin. They would have understood each other. On the other hand, it would have been like watching in a mirror, and that was something Law wasn't very fond of. Two days, and they would have killed each other with depression.
Zoro, that prick, apparently thought Law was worth four points. Nami tried to give him tips about love life – for a good price, of course – and Franky gave him thumbs up; hey, it had been a nice try.
Law flipped them off, marching inside. After getting there he was just leaning his forehead against the wall and being miserable. Why wasn't he spending his time doing something more constructive, like reading books he had lent from Robin and Chopper, or jerking off in the bathroom?
It was Sanji, who found him on the way to have a cigarette.
"Do you want some coffee?" Sanji asked.
"Yeah. Definitely. Thank you." Law suspected looking even worse and more desperate than he had originally thought, because Sanji wasn't easily giving compassion for any male and never spesifically offered them coffee, either.
It was nice and peaceful in the kitchen. While coffee was brewing, Sanji was chopping vegetables for salad and putting appetizers together with the kind of effortless ease that spoke of true virtuosity.
"May I offer you a sandwich?" Sanji asked, smirking.
"Screw you."
"Yeah, sometimes, because there's nothing else I can get. Unlike some people, so I don't exactly understand what's your problem."
"Apparently I'm not getting anything else, either," Law grouched.
"Dumbass!" Sanji slammed a cup of coffee in front of Law so forcefully that it spilled.
Law blinked, completely stupefied. Not many people had called him dumbass during his lifetime, it was a common opinion that he was more of an intelligent side.
"We're talking about Luffy," Sanji sighed.
"I am well aware who I'm trying to date – and failing miserably."
"He's an idiot who doesn't get hints, and your problem is being too discreet."
Law tried to see his earlier actions as 'discreet', but failed. There was no way he could have been any more obvious; hinting about nudity in bed was the same as screaming his desire right next to Luffy's ear. Also, it was absurd that he was having this conversation with Sanji – maybe this was a dream? He took a sip of his coffee, deliberately careless, and got a burnt tongue for his efforts. Apparently he was awake, then.
"You just need to be more straightforward," Sanji said, starting to mix a dressing for the salad.
"How?
Sanji shrugged. "Take a loudspeaker and use it to declare you're horny. Or maybe you could attack him, tie his fingers into knots and carry him to bed. Or something like that. That might do the trick."
Suggestions were utterly terrible, but if Law came to think about it, they didn't actually differ much from Luffy's way of doing things. He started to realize just how straightforward he should be, if he wanted Luffy to get his point. He didn't know if he had it in him.
"The main point is this," Sanji continued, picking up a fork from a bowl and pointing it at Law pretty dangerously. "Whatever it is you decide to do, try not to strip off right in front of my kitchen window. That's not a performance I want to see while cooking. I want to see beautiful, curvy women, not some shitty beanpole. Got it? If I'm forced to see that again, you'll get a nice special diet consisting only of sandwiches."
Oops.
This explained why Sanji bothered to give Law some advice. Not because of compassion, but to minimize the amount of exposed male bodies Sanji had to see. The situation was suddenly much more normal and understandable now, so Law relaxed a bit.
"Sorry about that," he said. "That was pretty desperate."
"I could tell."
Law's coffee tasted even better, when the mess in his mind was starting to clear a bit. Half of the mess was solved, now he knew what he was doing wrong. But what the hell was Luffy's problem...? Oh well, this was a good start.
There was no way he could be very demanding with his approaches, not before he was sure about Luffy not trying to put distance between them. If there was a possibility of getting embarrassed and rejected, Law definitely wasn't going to shout while everyone was listening. He had even less desire to throw a potentially unwilling Luffy onto his shoulder, because Luffy threw pretty damn hard punches.
He needed a bit more discreet method, but it had to be also foolproof. Something he didn't need to do in public. Something that would draw Luffy into his cabin, with some delicious lure...
And Luffy had one weak point. A big one.
Law gave his thanks for getting coffee and advice before leaving the kitchen, with a heap of meatballs. Sanji was looking at him like he was crazy; maybe he really was.
Apparently the non-existent luck with fishing had made Luffy fall asleep, his fishing rod being loosely held in one hand. Law put a meatball on the railing next to Luffy's hand, feeling like he was both a genius and an idiot at the same time. The end result would show which one it really was.
Usopp opened his mouth to ask something – probably something like "What the heck are you doing?" – and Law raised a finger to his lips. Silence wasn't broken, but it was full of question marks.
Law made a trail of meatballs, and it was leading to the cabin he was occupying. He also put a couple of meatballs on the floor of the cabin, leading towards bed.
It was pretty hot inside, so it made perfect sense to take off almost all of his clothes and leave only boxers on. Law laid down in the bed, put the last meatball onto his stomach, and waited.
This had to be the stupidest idea in known history, he didn't understand why he had given in to his bout of insanity. It was true that Luffy was able to smell food from a pretty considerable distance, but this was going too far. What was Law imagining he was trying to do – lure some wild animal into a trap?
He was overestimating and underestimating Luffy at the same time, that much was sure. There was no way he could show his face during the next meal, he'd be too embarrassed. He gave a bitter laugh, thinking that at least he had meatballs to eat.
Maybe Sanji would try to win Nami's grace by telling her about Law's idiotic plan. Nami could show up at any moment and take the most mortifying picture of the century. Law would be forced to pay her if he wanted to prevent it from ending up in some newspaper, with a title 'Read more about ex-Warlord's secret meatball fantasies'. The price of the picture would probably be something like ten million berries and the newest purse from Crimin brand, and that would be getting away easily.
The door was opening. Law almost pulled a blanket to cover himself before noticing that the person entering really was Luffy, he had been so sure about his misfortune.
Damn, was this really working? This couldn't be true.
He watched incredulously, how Luffy picked up a meatball and stuffed it into his mouth. Then did the same thing with the next one, coming closer to the bed.
Things like this, they happened only in fairy tales or when trying to lure wild animals into traps.
Luffy straightened himself, noticing Law and grinning. The next moment Luffy was sitting astride Law's thighs and leaning down to pick the last meatball with his lips.
That was all the stimulation Law needed to became hard, which didn't go unnoticed.
"Oh, you were horny?" Luffy asked.
"Indeed." Law let the back of his head connect with a pillow pretty violently, just because of frustration.
"Why didn't you tell me, Traffy? It's been a really, really boring day."
And what had Law been trying to do the whole day? He didn't comment, though, in favor of memorizing the fact that Luffy really was incapable of getting hints, even really obvious ones.
"Doesn't matter," Law said. "I was kind of thinking what you're... You haven't approached me for the last couple of days, and I was wondering –"
"Really?" Luffy burst into laughter, which continued for far too long. Sometimes Law wanted to hit him because of this annoying habit. About ten times a day, usually. "I was thinking –"
Luffy was thinking? Such a thing couldn't be good.
"I was thinking, too," Luffy repeated, trying to get started. "It's always me, and that started to feel kinda unfair or something like that. Thought that maybe I should 'give you some space' or whatever those fancy words were. So I decided to not do anything until you say so, but you didn't..." Luffy's lower lip was protruding in a sullenly cute way.
Now it was Law who was about to laugh. He was momentarily ready to admit that there was not only one, but two idiots in this relationship. He raised his hand, petting Luffy's hair. "Idiot. I've been trying to seduce you all day long."
"Really? I didn't notice."
"I noticed that you didn't notice."
Luffy gave a thoughtful 'hm'. "Hey, was it that thing with taking your shirt off? I didn't dare to look, didn't want to be drooling all over you immediately, so..."
So... both of them really were idiots. In very different ways, but definitely idiots.
Law let his fingers slide through Luffy's messy hair. The mixture of calm relief and frustrating impatience was a strange one; it was good to know that they had sorted this out, but he wanted to have sex. Luffy was squirming on top of him and making his cock ache.
"Next time you're trying to seduce me, tell me. So that I realize to be seduced, okay?" Luffy asked.
Law just had to laugh at that until his abs started to hurt. "Okay. So be it." It sounded like a pretty foolproof procedure.
If being straightforward was the theme of the day, he still had something else to say. "Could we just fuck already? This is starting to get uncomfortable." His cock was nudging Luffy's stomach in a way that made thinking extremely difficult, yet it wasn't even close to being enough.
"Yeah, sure." Luffy started to take off his shirt, grinning. "I thought you'd never ask."
"Next time I won't. I'll just swing you onto my shoulder and carry you away."
"That'll work. But only if I haven't made it first."
Law wrapped his hands around Luffy's neck and pulled him closer. The kiss tasted of meatballs, and Law was about to burst laughing again.
It had been a pretty weird and enlightening day, but apparently their relationship was more equal than Law had been interpreting. Maybe they even would work... some day.