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Law felt the sun shine against his closed eyelids before he heard their rooster caw. He tightened his grip around the warm body he cradled in his sleep, longing to stay in the moment for even a tiny bit longer, but knowing Pollo Frito—the hell-spawn of a rooster that came from the same brood as their hens—he wouldn’t stop until one of them trudged out of bed to personally deliver him breakfast. For as dark as it sounds, Law couldn’t wait until the day he and his husband finally made the rooster’s namesake a reality.
“Torao?” His husband called from his comfortable position on his chest. Law rubbed the top of the young man’s head and traced his cheek with his thumb.
“Hush, just sleep for a little bit longer, Mugiwara-ya,” he whispered, words nearly lost as one loud squawk drowned out half of his sentence.
He felt Luffy frown against his bare chest. “But Frio is being noisy.”
“ Frito , you were the one who named that demon in the first place, dammit. And yes, he is being extra rude today so I want him to wait longer.”
“But that’s mean, Torao. What if I made you wait for food? I wouldn’t like it if you made me wait,” the smaller pouted and turned his puppy-dog eyes on the now wide awake man beneath him.
“Oh no. No no no, I know that look. Today is your day to feed him, I have to open the clinic today, remember?”
“Yes, but today is going to be cloudy so I don’t have to get up as early to do all of the big chores.”
Law narrowed his eyes as his husband batted his lashes and leaned in and planted a small kiss on Law’s chin scruff.
“Please, Torao,” he dragged out Law’s nickname and traced the tattoo on his chest with a rough finger that spoke of hard labor, labor that he does on their personal farm every day, labor that puts most of the food they eat on their table.
Law clicked his tongue and looked away from those adorable eyes. “Fine, I’ll go feed that nuisance.”
“You’re the best, Torao! Thank you!” Luffy exclaimed as his frown instantly dissolved into a wide grin. He threw his arms around Law’s neck and rubbed his head in the nook between the man’s neck and shoulder, an action that almost always sent goosebumps down the man’s spine. But Luffy was no fool, he knew the effect he had on his husband, but their rooster really was annoying this morning so he let go and flopped onto the open space beside his husband. What he wanted more than anything was to lay on top of the man all day—in the sun, beneath the shade of their large willow tree—the location didn’t matter as long as Law rubbed Luffy’s back in that special way he did when he thought Luffy was asleep.
Law sighed and sat up, letting cool air beneath the sheets in a tiny retaliation as he slipped out of bed and made his way over to the dresser.
“And what are you going to do while I’m out of bed?” He asked as he pulled sweatpants over his briefs and slipped on a long sleeve shirt, well aware of how frigid the world was this early in the morning.
“Keep your spot warm!” Luffy chuckled as he rolled onto the heated, empty divet in the king-sized bed, limbs splayed out in that boyish-Luffy manner that Law was head-over-heels for.
Law cracked a smile and rolled his eyes. “Of course you are. Well,” he opened their bedroom door and turned back to see his sunshine boy beam a bright smile when he hugged Law’s pillow, “I’ll go tend to the chickens now. If I’m lucky, I’ll still have a few minutes to join you before I have to leave for work, but something tells me that Pollo Frito is going to give me a hard time this morning.”
“What do you mean? He’s perfectly tame-” a particularly loud and strained caw cut off Luffy’s sarcastic statement.
“As tame as you,” Law mumbled to himself and closed the door a moment before the pillow slammed into it.
He smiled as he walked away listening to various complaints from his husband—all half-hearted statements that sounded vaguely of compliments if he listened closely. It was adorable and worth every second of his current lifestyle. Not once did Law ever imagine staying in his hometown past the age of 18 when he was growing up. He even tried to leave sooner, but that was the night he met Luffy.
He had packed all of the essentials into his schoolbag and stood at their town’s only bus stop, a rickety bench that took the main road all the way to the next town over where apartment complexes and office buildings sprouted like weeds after a summer storm. It would be the perfect place to live out his dream of becoming a great surgeon, the schools there were supposed to be the best, and the hospitals top-notch. He imagined that city fashion was something he would welcome with open arms and that maybe, amongst the vastly-open minded, he would find a man for him.
But as it would happen, ten minutes after the bus’s expected time of arrival, a person on horseback stopped in front of him. Law glanced up once then again for a longer look, as he was shocked to find such a small boy riding a horse of that size on his own. His hair was mostly hidden beneath his straw hat and his sandals slapped the ground when he leaped off of the horse and landed in front of Law with a laugh.
“Do you need a ride?” He asked, as if his horse was some sort of motor vehicle and not, in fact, a living creature.
Law frowned and nodded at the ‘bus stop’ sign above the bench. “No, I’m waiting for one.”
“Yeah, but it’s not coming today,” Luffy said with a snicker. “It only comes on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I would know, one of my brothers goes to school in the city.”
“You’re joking.”
“Nope!” The boy shook his head, his oversized t-shirt rippled around his thin frame, the logo ‘Sunshine Farms’ warped with the motion. “But lucky for you, I’m on my way back home from hanging out at my friend’s house, so you should come over too. Cow is strong enough for both of us and your stuff.”
The almost-runaway blinked owlishly at the boy. Sure enough, upon further inspection, his horse was spotted, not unlike a cow.
He took a deep breath and thought about the disappointment on his adoptive father’s face if he were to show up with a bag full of all of his belongings past sundown without even a letter to let him know where he was going.
“Okay, I’ll take you up on your offer, Mugiwara-ya," he said, now very grateful that the boy happened to ride his horse this way. He figured that he could just tell his father that he went over a friend’s house for the weekend. While it was unlikely, he would prefer it if his father thought he had suddenly made a friend instead of attempting to run away.
Besides, if he was about to ditch the countryside, he might as well ride a horse and visit a farm before he left forever.
Or, at least, that is what he had believed would happen. But here he was, ten years later, stepping outside at the first sign of light to feed the Earth’s most unholy rooster.
He didn’t know what he would be doing in the city. Sure, he had gone to university there, but he frequently came back home to see Luffy, who was often visited by Cora-san on such days, coincidentally enough.
Law carefully unlatched the chicken coop and the posse sashayed out, all seven of them, and gathered around his feet while he gave them their morning snacks. The devil himself, Pollo Frito, stalked over and took a hefty portion of the sliced-up fruit for himself.
“One day,” the man said, pointing a finger in front of the rooster’s beak, “you’ll grow old and die and I’ll cook you so tasty that Luffy won’t even be sad anymore.”
The rooster cocked its head to the side before leaping at Law with its long talons. The surgeon barely jumped away in time and for a second, the two had a staredown, but the rooster looked away first. Law smirked in victory and continued the chicken’s morning routine. He went inside the coop, changed out their water and added more food, then made his way back to the house.
The girls were safe to walk around the fenced-in, but large expanse of grassland. There was a small barn off to the side but Law would leave that bunch of troublemakers for his husband to take care of, as well as the abundant rows of fruits and vegetables that filled the entirety of the other fenced-off area.
Music greeted his ears as soon as he opened the door, literally. Luffy must have gotten out of bed because he put a vinyl in the record player and was currently frying some of yesterday’s eggs.
It was their favorite song, the one they had played at their low-key wedding. Everyone in town knew they were married from the gossiping ladies to the local policemen, but as far as the rest of the world was concerned, they were simply really good friends.
Maybe marriage between two men would become legal in the future.
But none of that mattered when his partner looked up at him from the stovetop with that whimsical smile of his that crumbled all of Law’s defenses.
“I see you’re done warming the bed,” the man said as he kicked off his shoes and closed the distance between them to plant a kiss atop the younger’s forehead.
Luffy grinned and took Law’s hand in his own, then lead it around his shoulders so that Law was now gently wrapped around his little lover. Law tightened his grip ever so slightly and pulled him backward with his other hand so that Luffy’s back was now flushed against Law’s chest.
“Yeah,” Luffy said, rubbing his head against Law’s collarbone like he had only a handful of minutes ago when they were tangled in each other beneath the sheets. “But I got bored of waiting and thought you’d like something to eat before you left.”
If Law wasn’t already married to the man, he’d get down on one knee and propose right now.
In lieu of an answer, Law leaned over and placed a trail of kisses, each with their own unspoken word of endearment, down his partner’s neck. He loved mornings like this the most, where they stayed connected to each other as long as possible, where the pull between them went both ways and they woke up hand-in-hand.
“Do you mind if I make myself coffee while you finish cooking?” Law asked against Luffy’s ear, well aware of the gentle separation they both needed in the mornings.
Luffy hummed and nodded. “Sure, but you owe me a dance before you leave today.”
“Of course, Lu-ya,” the surgeon said before giving his husband a final squeeze and drifting off to the other side of the kitchen where his drip coffee maker lay in waiting beside a plate stacked with pancakes. Law cracked a smile to himself at the sight; Luffy must have gotten out of bed right after Law did in order to make a full tower of pancakes without him knowing.
He owed that man one hell of a dance, but right now he needed some caffeine.
The heavenly aroma combined with the eggs and pancakes to create a savory fragrance that reminded him of the family diner on Main Street. Law rummaged around their fridge for orange juice—freshly squeezed from a tangerine farm down the road—and poured Luffy a glass. He then brought the orange juice along with two sets of plates and silverware over to the table a second before the younger took the pan off of the burner.
“Eggs are done!” He cheered as he pilled them all onto one plate. Luffy carried them to the table where his smile widened at the sight of the set table and glass of orange juice placed at his spot.
“They smell great,” Law said, taking the plate of eggs and placing it on the table. “Go ahead and pile some onto your plate and I’ll go grab my coffee and the pancakes, alright?”
“I love you so much, Torao!” Luffy exclaimed as he leaped into Law’s chest and wrapped his arms around him.
And that, those words in a voice filled with joy and honesty, Law would never get used to hearing.
“I love you too, Mugiwara-ya,” he said as he returned the hug.
Luffy held on for a couple of moments and Law was happy to wait in the confinement of his husband’s small, yet tremendously strong arms. It felt safe and warm and made Law pity every person in the world without a Luffy in their life, which were most people outside of their small farm town.
Seemingly satisfied, Luffy let go and bounced over to his chair where he began to load up his plate with the piping-hot eggs. Law took his place by his side after acquiring his coffee and the pancakes, the latter of which he stole from before Luffy could complain.
Everything was perfect, and he made sure to tell Luffy as much as he enjoyed seeing the usually carefree man turn beat red. Law had been the one to do most of the cooking at the beginning of their relationship, but after he had gone off to university and Luffy had taken over the family farm, the boy became determined to not let his hard work go to waste in a pile of burnt ashes.
Now they divided up the cooking and despite having honed his skill for longer than his partner, Law thought Luffy had the upper hand on him when it came to anything freshly grown in their backyard, and as such, breakfast made by Luffy was always a treat.
Soon enough the sun rose higher into the sky and the food disappeared into the pits (which in Luffy’s case, was bottomless) of their stomachs. Law knew he had to go soon but Luffy seemed as cheerful as ever when he loaded up their empty dishes into the sink for later.
Law shrugged and went to their bedroom to change into something more fitting of a small town surgeon; jeans and a tucked-in collared shirt that would go mostly hidden beneath his lab coat. Happy with his appearance, Law walked back down the hall and was startled by the sound of a record scratch before the first few notes of a slow-dancing song sounded through their home.
Luffy shamelessly looked over Law’s new attire as he skipped over to him with false innocence in his eyes, knowing full well that Law had to leave very soon. But it was a small town and everyone knew how persistent Luffy could be.
“May I have this dance?” Law asked with a small bow and outstretched hand.
The younger chuckled and replied, “Yes, you may .”
Law rolled his eyes but watched as Luffy placed his smaller, yet rougher hand in Law’s own kind one. The young man beamed at Law, the only warning before he was pulled into the center of their living room where they spun around each other in no particular way until the clock chimed and Law sped out of their house, but not before planting a tender kiss upon his husband's lips that would replay throughout his mind until the moment he returned home and received one of his own from a waiting Luffy.