Trafalgar Law x Reader Regret

X

Looking over the rim of your mug, you watched Shiro fuss over homework he didn't have to do yet. The tip of his tongue stuck between his lips, a determined look in his eyes as he frowned at a particular hard sentence or equation. His teacher had given him homework from a grade above him as he showed boredom with the work from his grade. It filled you with warmth that the new teacher wanted to improve his learning, but you still feared for his chance to make friends with his classmates as they tend to be mean at such an age. Looking to the side, you watched Luffy frown as well, his mind barely able to make something of the homework either. How he was able to keep his job was truly a miracle to you. Maybe it was true after all, Shanks wanted the child he had almost adopted close and within sight.

A soft sigh left your lips, the small breeze blowing over your drink before you sipped the liquid. It wasn't your place to know, so why wonder about it. You only had to do your job well enough and keep an eye on everyone's work before approval, so it wasn't much to keep some a bit closer to yourself as well, acting like you were indeed just doing your job.

"(y/n)~.." Luffy whined, his arms outstretched in front of him as he slid forward, his chin dropping on the table. "I don't get it." His lips stretched the words in his whining, making you chuckle in his childishness. Shiro pouted at the older man, tapping Luffy's shoulder with his pen, ink blotting on his shirt, but Luffy didn't seem to care. "Why is everything so hard~?"

"It's elementary stuff, Luffy. It's as easy as counting up and down to twenty." You pointed out. Now it was Luffy's turn to pout at you, his brows dragged down as he eyed you, his lips sucked between his teeth. Putting down your cup, you pulled the sheet from the man towards yourself. "Let's see, what is difficult?" The younger man babbled on and on, his voice getting louder and louder as he went on about what he didn't understand.

Basically the whole worksheet.

For small children.

He truly is a lost cause and you groaned on the inside, while you helped him step by step on the outside, even explaining the first step a couple of times before he finally got it. Resting your chin on the palm of your hand, you started to wonder. 'Where did Luffy come from again? Did he even get an education in the first place? If so, how would a teacher let his writing pass as readable?' Too many questions popped up as you watched the man-child work, the tip of his tongue pushed passed the border of his lips while Shiro hummed to himself. Your kid had reached the end of his worksheet, almost being finished before he looked up at you, his gaze a silent question as he pushed the sheet a bit away from him.

You let your eyes wander over his homework, checking it for easy mistakes or differentials before you would explain where he could do it differently. When the both of you were satisfied, you gave Shiro a little snack, smacking Luffy's hand away from Shiro's food before pushing forth something for the adult. "No stealing." You huffed, hands resting on your hips as you glared at your colleague, who was nursing his wrist and looking up with another pout adorning his face.

"Ow."

"Oh hush, I didn't hit you that hard."

"Domestic abuse."

"You don't live here, Luffy."

"Still!"

"No."

Luffy grumbled at that before eating his share of the snack, eyeing that of your son from the corner of his eye. When Shiro was done with the snack, you gave him a kiss on the back of his head and let him leave the table to watch a bit of tv or read a book, depending on his own taste for the moment.

The doorbell rang and Luffy fled the table towards the door like this was his home and domain. Your fingers grazed the back of his shirt to keep the man back, but alas, you missed, your fingers curling into air as the fabric slipped passed. Luffy stumbled through the small corridor towards the front door, his hands hitting the wall in his haste to open the door with a wide grin, knowing who was coming. Being the child he was in the inside, he had peeked at the notification on your phone when you were distracted and now he just wanted to latch onto the man at your front door.

"Damnit, Luffy." You grumbled, stumbling after the energetic man, your arm still stretched forward to grab him by the scruff only to miss him at every attempt until you slipped and had to halt your chase, leaning against the wall, watching in horror the smile slip from Law's face as Luffy yelled in his face.

"TRAOOOOOOO!"

A groan came from you and Law at the same time, your hand lifting to hide your shame for any prying eyes from neighbours peeking from their own doors as Luffy jumped on your current ex-husband/now-boyfriend, his arms and legs wrapped around the older man in joy. "Could. You. Not?" Law muttered, his hands raised to push Luffy's face away from his, brows furrowed in dislike and scowl apparent as he truly hated this.

"But I missed you~." If only you could hide somewhere and never crawl out ever again. This man was not your colleague and if anyone mentions he was, you would deny it time and time again. No way.

After wrestling Luffy off of his body and closing the door for anyone who wanted a free show, Law turned his tired eyes to you, a small glint of life coming back to them as he saw you standing there in embarrassment for the whole ordeal. Tattooed fingers touched your cheek, the back of his hand caressing the skin as the pad of his thumb rubbed small circles just under your temple. His other hand pushed Luffy away at arm-length, Law's attention regrettably split between the both of you, yet the warmth of his eyes making you loved even more. A softly spoken 'hey' came from your lips before Law's head dipped, his lips touching yours gingerly and for a mere second.

"Hey." His voice was slightly hoarse, probably from the pressure of Luffy's arms around his throat, his Adam's apple bobbing as he spoke, the strain in his shoulder visible as he still kept Luffy away from jumping the both of you now. His arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you in a side-embrace before he glared at the younger man. "Could you calm down, Mugiwara-ya?"

Luffy laughed through his wide smile, his hands now resting on his hips as he kept his chin up high, a complete 180 in the push-and-pull he had done mere seconds ago. "Nope." This words was the sole hint you would get before your younger colleague jumped on the both of you, his arms impossibly long as he wrapped himself around Law and you, his face mushed into your shoulder as he laughed even louder.

Yeah, he never grew up and will forever be a child.

*~*~*~

"Why was he here, exactly?" Law mumbled, passing you a mug of camomile tea before he sat down next to you on your couch, a heavy sigh of exhaustion coming from the deepest depths of his soul as he sipped from his black caffeine-free coffee. It wasn't accusing, merely the fact that Luffy would tire everyone out within minutes and mere meters of proximity, so he was no different. Leaning to the side, you rest your temple against his shoulder and Law wrapped his arm around you, pulling you even closer.

"He wanted to play with Shiro."

"Hmm." Law hummed, sipping from his scalding hot beverage with a faraway look.

"Did something happen?" You wondered, not truly realising you had spoken those words out loud. It was Law's gaze towards you that let you know that you had spoken at all. The edges of Law's lips tugged up, his chin resting on top of your head as he leaned into you a bit. The weight of his world was suddenly shared with you once more, like before the both of you had broken up and it felt slightly reassuring he did this.

"She was being unreasonable once more. Demanding me to hand over stuff she bought with my money and the like." You hummed softly in response, your hand resting on top of Law's thigh and squeezing it gently. "Her other man was with her." His voice was so low, so out of energy that you felt unrest boil in your chest, wondering how that encounter went when he felt this kind of fatigue. Law felt you stiffen and he rubbed his thumb over your ribs. "Don't worry. He didn't do anything."

"Hmm." Still, the uneasiness didn't fade, but you leaned your temple against his clavicle. "If you say so."

The both of you sat there for another hour, lost in your own worlds, yet sharing snippets of thoughts and happenings of your days apart with the other from time to time.

It felt normal, for now.

It felt like home, even if this was yours to begin with.

It felt like a family Law still had to prod and truly step into, but it was a good step to begin with.