~

"You guys really need to let me go and sleep." Law complained, no choice but to take the juice box Zoro thrust in his hands.

"Shut your ass up, you weakling." Zoro grumbled and dragged Law next to the games table.

When Law got back to Goa, the Strawhats, Luffy's brothers and Cora-san had been waiting for him, and once the doctor was in their sights, they made sure that Law rested for one hour before they dragged him to the Thousand Sunny for a party that Luffy wanted to have just because. So there Law was, after five hours of partying, tired, but the insanity of the people that Luffy surrounded himself with wasn't fading even one unit.

Zoro had been grumbling a lot that Law couldn't drink alcohol, and that meant he would have to duel with Nami in terms of drinking, but that would be after the games, games that the surgeon was very reluctant to play.

"Please don't make me play this." Law pleaded with Luffy who was way too energetic for the time being an hour past midnight.

"We always play UNO at least once a week, now you gotta play with us." The younger said, vibrating in his place and Law secretly signaled Sanji to replace Luffy's sugar with water.

"How has that not destroyed your friendships?"

"We aren't that shallow and cheap." Nami said with a shrug.

"Ok then." Law scratched his head and rolled his shoulders to get the ache out, he agreed to play one game and one game was all it needed for the love that the Strawhats and Luffy's brothers had for each other to turn into yelling.

"I SWEAR LAW IF YOU PUT A DRAW FOUR I WILL MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!" Nami yelled, face as orange as her hair, teeth gritting when she realized that she could lose.

"'We aren't that shallow and cheap.'" Law imitated his sister before putting down a Draw Four card with a grin. "UNO."

"Torao's losing, he's only got one card." Luffy said, about ten cards in his hands.

Law shared a look with everyone else present at the table, asking them if they all knew and were feigning innocence when it came to Luffy not knowing the rules of the game. Ace and Sabo shook their heads, telling the surgeon to not point it out to Luffy.

But Law had other plans. "You play this every week and your dumb ass still doesn't know the rules?"

"The one with the most cards wins, right?" Luffy looked up at Law with an honesty so raw that the older didn't have it in him to tell the younger otherwise.

"Yes, those are the rules, and as such, I've lost." Law said and quickly left the table before anyone dragged him into something again. The surgeon found his way to the couch in the dining area that Uta was relaxing on, the young woman had been partying with the rest but felt tired to continue.

"They finally spared you?" Uta laughed lightly, the tiredness showing in and around her eyes.

"Thank Enel for that too or I'd have caused some minor or major disfigurement." Law rolled his eyes and sighed, relaxing on the couch.

"That's not very 'proper doctor' of you."

"These guys are insane, how do they even have so much energy?"

"All that sugar, I suppose, and Luffy." Uta smiled looking at her baby brother cheering that he won since everyone was now out of cards.

"No they're mentally ill." Law countered, resolute. "How are you injuries by the way?"

"Long recovery, but it's a lot less painful now."

"That's good to hear."

"Torao! I won!" Luffy announced running to his boyfriend with a big grin on his face. "Let's dance!"

"What?" Law asked, not sure if he heard right, but the way Uta laughed, oh he had definitely heard right. "No. I'm tired, I wanna go home and sleep."

"Boo!"

"Law, have some fun with your friends." Cora said with a shake of his head.

"Where the hell have you been?" Law asked his dad, looking around the blond to see if he had caught fire yet.

"Oh I was out enjoying the ocean breeze." Rosinante said and slipped at that exact moment and somehow caught fire.

"WOHOOO! FIRE BUDDY!" Ace left his seat and cheered looking at Corazon's burning shoulder, ready to set his own on fire.

"Ace, we just bought you that shirt! You're not setting it on fire!" Sabo wrangled his brother before there was more fire but the way the blond brother was looking at the fire with such reverence, Law knew Sabo wasn't sane about fire either.

"Awoooh! Superrrrrr fireeee!!" Franky posed, spraying a fire extinguisher on Corazon and calming Law's nerves in the process.

"There's your mandatory burn for today, now please, can we go home?" Law asked Cora, helping him off the ground. "Or I'll jump in the sea."

Luffy recognized the tiredness in Law's posture and decided it was really time to leave. "Ok guys we are leaving! See ya all tomorrow!"

"Good night!" Came a chorus from everyone present and Law made haste in leaving before someone changed their mind and the party started anew.

"Luffy I swear if you're high on sugar and disturb my sleep..." Law warned beforehand when he got to his house and put his luggage aside to first prepare Cora's room.

"No, I'm kinda tired too." The younger said and Law raised an eyebrow at the really tried, whiny tone the words were said in.

"Where did all that sugar go?"

"Dunno." Luffy shrugged and helped Law with Rosinante's room.

"Wait." Law stopped before exiting his father's room and lit a match close to the sensors placed in numerous spots in the room. There was a loud beeping and Law immediately extinguished the match. "Works. Cora-san you're ok for the night."

"I won't burn anything!" The blond defended himself but it was not getting through to Law.

"Sure, sure."

"Oh Law." Cora called before his son closed the room. "Dad's going to be here tomorrow or the day after probably, with your government issued employment card."

"I plan on sleeping in tomorrow." Law whined.

"I'll tell him that. Good night."

"Good night."

"You're really eepy, huh." Luffy said when Law settled himself in the bed in his room and rubbed at his eyes. Luffy was already in bed and Godfather had taken his rightful place at the edge, with a blanket of his own. Law had written down everything that was going to be his daily life from now on and had planned and adjusted things accordingly, so the first thing he did was get Godfather his own blankets and pillows. Sure the surgeon wasn't particularly big on dogs but he wasn't heartless enough to deny a living being basic comfort.

"You're missing a few letters there." Law pointed and slid down to sleep.

"No, it's eepy."

"Ok, sure."

"Good night Torao." Luffy said, already half asleep.

"Goo'night." Law mumbled and soon felt Luffy's shoulders shaking from laughter. "Shut uppppp or I'm kicking you off the bed."

"Ok ok. Goo'night."

Law decided to let that go in favor of getting to sleep, warm and safe. Well, that's what the doctor had planned but things never went accordingly it seemed. Law sighed and turned to his other side when his brain started waking up instead of getting drowsier, and then came the classic 'things that won't happen but what if they did' episode that threw any peace Law had obtained in the past few minutes. It was ok when the images and scenarios playing in his head only involved him but the moment the focus shifted to Luffy, the older immediately sought out his boyfriend for comfort, hugging him close to feel warm again so he could ward off those images. When the closeness wasn't enough, the older snuck his hands under Luffy's shirt to feel that the skin touching his fingers was warm and alive, but soon enough, that also stopped working.

"Luffy." Law shook the younger awake enough to listen.

"Hmmm?"

"Shirt off."

"Whaa?" Luffy asked, sleep still strong in his eyes and head, but Torao was saying something and using short words instead of sentences so something was wrong.

"Bad images, shirt off." Law said again, pulling his own shirt off.

"Okkk." The younger agreed sleepily and let Law help him out of his shirt. "What's wrong?"

"Bad images." Law repeated hugging his boyfriend close again, this time their skins touching and calming Law for real.

Luffy wasn't satisfied with the answer. "Explainnnn." The younger said, even though he wanted to sleep but Torao was troubled, he couldn't leave him alone.

"My brain is being an asshole- I'm seeing that I wake up tomorrow and you're cold and dead- so gotta do this to make sure..." The older tried his best putting the disturbing thoughts into words and he felt embarrassed and ashamed even saying those things.

"Ok." Luffy said again and shifted so he was entirely resting on top of Law, allowing for maximum skin contact, nuzzling his nose on the older's shoulder and putting small, soft kisses there too. "I'm glad you told me."

Law just sighed again and hugged Luffy close, allowing himself to feel the peace and love the younger was exuding, eventually silencing his brain too, helping Law fall asleep. The older wasn't well rested at all when he woke up and it showed on his face. Law was sitting in his bed, aware that Luffy wasn't beside him. The doctor was trying to wipe the frown off his face and was contemplating if he even wanted to stay alive because the tiredness in his body was just too much.

"Nyahahahaha!" Then came Luffy's laughter and Law opened one eye to see what the maniac was laughing at and found him holding his phone towards Law.

"What're you doooooing?" Law asked, accidentally dragging his words.

"You and Godfather have the same face on!" Luffy said and snapped two dozen pictures to spam everyone mutual with him and Law. "You turned my dog grumpy, no one was gonna believe me if I said Godfather, a golden ret was being grumpy, so I have to take photos."

"Too many words."

"Wake up! It's already noon."

"Noooooooooo." Law whined and dropped his head back on the pillow. "Come sleep toooo."

"No Torao, I wanna go out." Luffy stomped his foot when Godfather also rested his head back on the bed.

"Go then, I have this Psyduck- I don't need you." Law grumbled pulling the yellow Pokémon plush towards himself and hugging it close.

"Corao's cooking and I can't stop him." The younger said after a few minutes of silence, standing and observing Law. The reaction to his words was instantaneous.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Law jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen only to find it empty, he got tricked.

"Nishishi, that worked."

"You schemer." The older sagged but took the opportunity of Luffy standing close to squish the younger's face in petty revenge. "Where is Cora-san actually?"

"He went out a few hours ago, Kemurin came to get him."

"Thank fuck someone's with him."

"What do you wanna have for breakfast?" Luffy asked when Law sat down in the kitchen by the table with his head resting on it.

"Death and destruction." Law mumbled in the metal.

"That's not a good meal choice Torao."

"Fine, eggs then, fried."

"Good."

After Luffy had fed Law a healthy amount of food, made sure the older had enough water and tea, Law felt awake and OK enough to take on the world, which had to come to a halt because Rosinante returned and with him was Sengoku.

"You start tomorrow." Sengoku said handing Law a package. The old man had sat down first, snacked on some senbei and tea that Luffy brewed, then got down to business.

"Any specifics I should know about?" Law asked opening the package and spreading the contents in front of him, it had traditional white overalls that doctors wore, and a lot of black scrubs with Law's name embroidered on them in golden. "Thanks for these, they are perfect." The doctor smiled wide at the realization that Sengoku had no problems with Law wearing black as a doctor.

"You are starting at the ER, the board members will oversee your performance and decide where to allocate you next. I talked with them about putting you in research as well and they said they would talk to you directly about that." The old man said.

"ER is ok, I'm used to ERs from the time Flevance was going down."

"I doubt the hospital would have a full emergency, those things don't normally happen in Goa."

"Boringggggg." Law complained, he liked the hustle of the emergencies, they made him feel alive.

"Isn't that nice though?" Cora pointed. "You'd get to work more on research."

"I have a feeling it's gonna be a long while before I actually set foot into a lab." The doctor said and heard Sengoku sigh in agreement. "Don't keep anything from me."

"The elder doctors already at the ER, they filed some dissatisfaction over getting someone from outside." The Fleet Admiral said.

"Already? But they haven't even met Torao." Luffy protested. "That's unfair!"

"Welp, this was bound to happen. I'll deal with it." Law shrugged. "Anything else?"

"Right. Here." The old man handed Law a folder containing the list of marine stations whose officers' medical checkups and overall health he was responsible for. "Like I said before, nothing usually happens in Goa but in case the officers under your jurisdiction require medical assistance, you're the answering authority."

"Got it."

"That sounds fun!" Luffy peeked over Law's shoulder when the older flipped through the list.

"Did you deliberately put Smoker and Hina under my care?" Law laughed. "They're so gonna hate this."

"Smoker always fights with the medical officers sent for him or his team, I'm thinking he won't have a problem with you." Sengoku rubbed his eyes.

"Only when I run a check on his lungs and bench him from duty."

"Do that and write him a note for not smoking too much, Hina too."

"Oh thank god I'm retired." Rosinante sighed in relief, feeling sorry for his friends who would have to be under Law's strict care.

"And this is your employee card." Sengoku handed Law the last thing. "It doubles as a World Government issued permission for performing questionable medical procedures in times of extreme need."

"Questionable?" Luffy and Law echoed.

"Like not requiring the patient's consent to act in their best interests, emergency treatments on the road that could otherwise land you in prison, keeping medical equipment on your person and in your residence at all times."

"I like that last one." Law pointed pulling a scalpel out of the side of the couch. "I get to carry these in public, nice!"

"Why do you have these in the couch?!" Rosinante panicked, throwing all the couch cushions off it and searching for more blades.

"Emergency weapons." The doctor shrugged. "And I have a license now, I can do whatever the hell I want, hehe." Law grinned and Cora stopped arguing, seeing the young Law he had saved in that grin, the one who had started healing.

"A hospital director will guide you about everything else tomorrow." Sengoku mentioned.

"Those big shots have that kind of time?" Law asked.

"Your degree and recommendations made them make time."

"My son is a genius after all." Rosinante laughed, hugging Law.

Luffy looked at the three and remembered something. "You guys don't have a picture together, with all three of you."

"Didn't really have the time for that... back then." Law said scratching his head, getting up to put his things aside, not giving Cora the time to get sad and Sengoku for regrets. "We can take one now though."

"Ok!" Luffy agreed quickly and readied his phone to snap the picture the moment the three men were seated. Rosinante and Sengoku sat on Law's either side, smiling wide, but it was ironically Law, who was smiling the brightest. "Torao you're so cute!"

"SHUT UP!" Law said and the second picture had the classic Law-scowl frozen in time for everyone to look at, endearingly or otherwise.

"I'll get my nakama to print these and send you the copies." Luffy told the older men, typing on his phone to send the images to Usopp for printing.

After Sengoku left, Luffy didn't feel like going out but Law knew how restless the younger was feeling so he used showing off his new scrubs to everyone as an excuse to get out of the house. The fatigue of the hanging out with the Strawhats all day wasn't enough to make Law sleep on time though, the boyfriends were awake well into the night, excited for the next day.

"I really won't get to see you as much?" Luffy pouted, tracing Law's chest tattoos with his finger.

"Kind of." Law answered tentatively, he didn't want to use the wrong words.

"And you'll be tired after work too."

"That remains to be seen but yeah, the possibility is high."

"Is this how normal people live? With their jobs and stuff?" Luffy looked up to meet the older's eyes.

"Yes."

"That sucks. People have to work most hours of the day, how are they supposed to have fun and sleep and spend time with their friends and family in the same day?"

"I really don't have an answer for that, I'm sorry."

"What did your parents used to do then?" Luffy asked next, moving to now rest his head on Law's chest, facing the older.

Law thought back to the time when Flevance was thriving and his parents and Lami were still alive. "We always shared breakfast and dinner at least, mother used to read bedtime stories to Lami. I wasn't a normal kid so I spent my time with my father teaching me in the hospital, so Lami used to stay there most of the time too... we weren't a normal family so I guess the example's not good."

"But did you ever feel like your parents were spending more time in the hospital as doctors than with you as your parents?"

"Luffy, I really wasn't a normal kid so I wasn't thinking of it in these terms at all." Law patted the younger's head. "But I think Lami felt that way, that our parents were more doctors than parents, she always wanted to play and have fun, kinda like you, but our parents were great doctors so they didn't have much time on their hands, so I took their place, but still, I didn't indulge her too much... I must have let her down a lot too."

"Don't think like that, you were a kid too." Luffy scolded Law out of the negative spiraling thoughts. "Chopper gets tired after a full day at the clinic, Ace and Marco had some trouble when Marco had to stay with Shirohige no ossan full time as his doctor."

"Being a doctor is tiring, I won't lie."

"Will we have trouble too?"

The question was so innocent but conveyed such fear and insecurity that it stumped Law for a few moments. "If there is one thing we do better than anyone else I know, it's talk about our problems, so I'm sure that if we're having trouble, we'll talk about it."

"Yeah but you gotta agree to not lie though." Luffy joked.

"Promise." The older smiled.

"I love you Torao, I don't want stupid things like work coming between us."

"People have worked things out since the dawn of time, I'm sure we'll too."

Luffy grinned. "Yeah, it's us after all, nishishi."

~