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“Stop pouting Luffy!“ Nami yelled at him from where she sat on the couch between Vivi and Usopp. Luffy, pointedly, did not stop pouting and jutted his lip out even further.
“It’s not as fun if Torao’s not here.” He mumbled while crossing his arms. “Why doesn’t he want to come hang out with us?”
Robin patted his arm in a consolatory manner. “You know why Luffy. He has a date tonight and we should not ruin that for him by pouting.” “And besides,” Nami added “Isn’t that his first date in like a year?”
“Yep.” Penguin agreed from where he was sitting across the room. “First one since… ähm…” He looked slightly uncomfortable. “Since a year ago, just like you said.” Luffy knew that wasn’t what he wanted to say in the first place. He probably wanted to say something along the lines off: “Since Luffy rejected him.” Or something. But it wasn’t Luffys fault that he didn’t like people like that! And Law knew that even before he confessed to him. And he told Luffy that he wasn’t mad because of that. And obviously they were still all friends, so Luffy didn’t know what the problem was.
“This is not my fault, you know!” He protested.
“We know Luffy.” Robin still had her hand on his arm, most likely to try and calm him down. “Nobody blames you. But you have to understand that Torao found someone he wants to spend time with. That doesn’t mean he likes you any less as a friend, just that he’s going to split his time a bit more.”
Luffy DID understand all of that. That didn’t mean he had to like it. He didn’t want to share Torao with anyone else! Torao had so little time next to work to begin with. And now Luffy would get even less of that? That was unfair.
While he grumbled quietly into his imaginary beard, Sanji dropped a bag of chips into his lap. “Stop dragging down the mood. Just think about it this way: Even though you don’t need to date someone to be happy, some people do. And if this makes Law happy, you should be happy too.”
“But-!” “No buts. Start the movie already!”
Franky dimmed the light, while Chopper hit play and the TV came alive. Luffy ripped open the chips in his lap and began shovelling them into his mouth. Of course he wanted Torao to be happy. That’s all Luffy ever wanted for his friends. And he knew that some people felt a certain kind of attraction to each other, but he couldn’t really understand that. Sure, he had a different relationship to Torao then he had with his other friends, but he would know if that was romantic, wouldn’t he? He was pretty sure he would.
So what if he thought Torao was handsome, he thought that about a lot of people. Just because he wasn’t attracted to them didn’t mean Luffy was blind. And so what if he liked to cuddle with him? He cuddled all of his friends! But Nami told him he had to cut down on stuff like that, now that Torao was going to date someone. Something about boundaries and respect for his new partner. Luffy thought that was stupid. If Toraos new partner wanted to be part of this group they had to accept that Luffy wanted some Torao-Time too!
Sanji had said that dating would make Torao happy. Luffy got that, he really did. It wasn’t that he didn’t see the appeal a relationship could have. His brothers and friends had shown him how good a healthy relationship could be. He just never found anyone who he could imagine himself with. It never fit.
And who was to say this new mystery person even COULD make Torao happy? Did they know that he couldn’t eat bread? Not because he didn’t like it (which he didn’t) but because he got really bad stomachs cramps after. Since Luffy knew he always made sure to eat all of the bread when Torao was around so he wouldn’t eat it on accident (Torao said that wasn’t necessary and Luffy was just a glutton but he had to make sure!).
Did they know he had nightmares? Because Luffy knew. And whenever they had a sleepover he made sure to lie next to Torao, to calm him when he was getting restless. Torao had trouble falling asleep on a good day, so Luffy tried to make extra sure he had a good night’s sleep whenever he could.
Did they know about his family? His first one with his sister and father and mother and about his second one with Cora-san and Bepo and Penguin and Shachi and sometimes Sengoku( and Luffy and his friends of course, but that went without saying)? Because Luffy did.
Did they know how he crinkled his brows together when he was concentrating or reading? Because Luffy did.
Did they know how he took his coffee (like way to often in one day)? Because Luffy did.
Did they know what it meant to him to be able to work as a doctor like his father? To help people? Because Luffy did (and Ace did too. Intimately).
Did they know that he was secretly a nerd who liked old comics and collected coins? Because Luffy did.
Could they make Torao smile or laugh like Luffy could?
Could they comfort him like Luffy could?
Could they love him like Luffy did-.
Oh.
“Luffy? Is everything okay?” Robin looked at him with a look of concern. “You stopped eating. Are you feeling alright?” He hadn’t noticed.
Huh. So, maybe he needed to rethink this again.
Did he love Torao?
Yes.
Did he love him like that?
Well, it seemed so.
Would he be able to make him happy?
He was pretty sure he could.
Did he want him to date other people?
No. He didn’t know why, but he was absolutely sure he didn’t want Torao to date a mystery person.
Did he want to date Torao?
Well, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with him and cuddle with him and talk with him and maybe even try out that kissing thing…
But what did that mean?
“Robin?” “Hm?” “What does it mean when you never had a crush on anyone ever, not even when they confessed to you. And suddenly, after knowing them for a really long time you realize, oh, maybe I was wrong. What does that mean?” If he had paid attention, Luffy would’ve noticed how the entire room seemed to collectively hold their breaths. Even the TV volume had been turned down.
Robin looked at him for a moment before she answered. “I would tell that person that maybe they were Demisexual. Or Demiromantic. Whatever fits them best.”
“What does that mean?”
“Demiromantic means people who do not experience romantic attraction until a strong emotional or sexual connection is formed with a partner. Demisexual means people on the asexual spectrum who do experience some sexual attraction, but only in certain situations, like after they’ve formed a strong emotional or romantic connection with a partner. There are of course more in-depth explanations and of course every person is different and experiences things differently. But that is basically it.”
“Huh. Thanks Robin.”
“No problem.”
Demiromantic. Huh.
It was silent for a couple of minutes before Luffy stood up and started to walk out of the room.
“Oi Luffy! Where are you going?”
“To see Torao.”
“Now? But he’s away with his date right now.”
“Then I’m going to wait at his door until he comes back.”
“It’s raining!”
But Luffy was already out of the door and running down the street.
After twenty minutes almost non-stop sprinting Luffy arrived panting and completely drenched in front of Laws apartment complex. He stared up at where he knew Laws windows where. For a moment he thought about just climbing up but gave up on that idea pretty quickly. Torao always got weird when he did that. So he stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell. Nami said that Torao had probably already left for his date but maybe he would get lucky. But he had no problem camping out here for however long it would take for Law to get back.
It seemed luck actually was in his favour because the speaker turned on.
“Yes?”
“Torao! It’s me! Let me up, it’s cold and wet!”
“Luffy-ya? What are you doing here?”
The door buzzed open and Luffy hurriedly entered the building. He opted to take the stairs up the third floor. Elevators were fun but only if you didn’t have to wait for them and today Luffy definitely didn’t want to wait.
When he arrived at the right floor, dripping puddles everywhere, Torao was already standing in his doorway. He was barefoot and wearing sweatpants and an old, well-worn t-shirt. Not what Nami would call appropriate ‘date clothes’ (he knew because she lectured him on proper clothing at least once a week).
As soon as Law saw him he got a frown on his face. “You are dripping wet. What did you do? Run here?” “Yep!” He grinned proudly. Law closed his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and pulling him into the apartment. “Strip and take a shower. I’ll give you something to wear while we dry your clothes.”
“Ehh?! But I don’t want to take a shower!” He wanted to talk to Torao, not do something he thought unnecessary. “You are not going to catch hypothermia on my watch. Do as I say.” And that was his ‘doctor voice’. Luffy knew it was better to listen now or they would argue about this all night and both would get frustrated and that was not the goal Luffy had in mind. What was it that Robin always said? Unstoppable force versus unmovable object? So he went into the bathroom and started taking off his clothes before stepping into the shower.
While he stood under the water he heard the bathroom door open and someone coming in. “Would it kill you to not leave your clothes all over the place?”
“I don’t know, I never tried.”
“You are a little shit. I’m leaving some dry clothes here.”
“Shishishishi~ Thanks!”
He finished the shower and towelled himself dry. His grin got even bigger when he saw the clothes Law had given him. It was an old pair of sweatpants that actually belonged to Luffy, some leftover from the last time he was here and forgot about them. But what made him grin was the black and yellow hoodie Law had worn when they first met each other. He stopped wearing it years ago but it was still one of Luffys favourites and he stole it as often as he could. Huh. Maybe this had been coming for a long time.
He quickly changed into the dry clothes before leaving the bathroom and searching for Torao. He found him in the living room where he was trying to dry his straw hat with a towel. He plopped down onto the couch next to him. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“You don’t need to; it’ll dry on its own.”
“It’s important to you, so I wanted to make sure.” Law resolutely kept his eyes on his hands while he said it. Hearing that made a warm feeling spread through Luffys whole body and he couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks Torao.”
“Whatever.” Law turned to face him. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Oh! I needed to talk to you!” He blinked. “But what are you doing here?”
“I live here.”
“But didn’t you have a date tonight? That’s why you couldn’t join us for movie night.”
Law shifted a bit uncomfortable in his seat and wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I didn’t have a date. That was a lie.”
“Huh?”
“I just wanted Penguin and Shachi to get off my back about it. So I told them I had a date and didn’t want them to meddle. Sorry I lied to you too.”
“So you don’t have anyone you like?” Luffy leaned forward with an excited grin. He hadn’t been worried in the first place, but it made all of this easier if there really wasn’t any competition to begin with.
Law scowled at him. “You don’t need to look so excited while saying that.”
“I’m just really happy!”
“Wow. I didn’t think you would be this cruel about it Strawhat-ya.”
That made Luffy pause for a second. What made Torao think that?
“Huh? What do you mean?”
The look on Laws face got even darker. “Are you really gonna make me say it?”
“Say what?! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“The reason I’m not dating is because I’m still hung up about you. There, I said it! Happy?”
“Yes!”
Law looked as if someone had hit him over the head. Luffy hurried to explain himself, since he knew that look and he knew what would come after if he didn’t.
“I’m happy, because that means I still have a chance to date Torao. I like you a lot and want to be your boyfriend!”
It was silent for several minutes while both of them stared at each other. This was another thing that Luffy knew that a mystery person, who wanted to date Torao, wouldn’t know: Law needed to think about everything. If Luffy had to pick one thing about them that was completely different it would be this. Luffy didn’t like to think too long about stuff. If he wanted to do or say or eat something he just did. Torao was different. He didn’t do anything without thinking about it for a really long time. It was driving Luffy nuts sometimes. But he had learned how important it was for Torao to do this, so he always tried to be patient. And he had become really good at it too! At least when it involved Torao.
“You’re not lying. I would know if you were lying. You’re terrible at it.”
“I am.”
“You are completely serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Yup.”
“Since when?”
Luffy looked over his shoulder at the clock on the wall.
“About an hour.”
“What? And you just… came straight here?”
“Yup. I thought you were gone though, so I was really lucky you weren’t on that date after all!”
Law looked at him in confusion. “But if you knew I wouldn’t be here, why did you come today? You could’ve waited until tomorrow. What if I really had been on a date and you would’ve met them here?”
Luffy shrugged unapologetic with his shoulders. “If you hadn’t been here I would’ve waited for however long it would’ve taken you to get back. If I had met your date I would’ve tried to stop you from going.” In Luffys head it was simple really. He didn’t get why Torao felt the need to talk about it again, but if it helped to make him feel better Luffy was fine with it.
“You would’ve waited in the rain for hours?”
“Yup.” Law didn’t know what to do with that information or with himself. So Luffy decided that thinking time was over and scooted closer to Law. He wrapped his arms around him. “Stop overthinking Torao and cuddle me.”
Hesitantly Law wrapped his arms around him too.
“So this is really happening, huh?” “Yup! You’re never getting rid of me now!”
The arms around him tightened and he felt Law pressing his head into his hair. “Seems I’m doomed then.”
“Shishishishi~”
Take that mystery person! No one was dating Torao. No one except Luffy.