Speed

Summary: "I've never lost a game," Luffy proudly stated. "Interesting," Law said, his smirk turning into a merciless grin. "Neither have I."

Warnings: slight ooc? AU. Law, Ace, Rocinante and Luffy share a giant house in this.

Luffy was beyond bored and the fact that Law was ignoring him for a textbook – a textbook! He was definitely more interesting than a book, right? – wasn't helping. He gave a pathetic groan as he continued to sit upside down on the couch, his hands sticking to medical student like tentacles. "Laaaaaaaaw," he whined, shaking the male's arm lightly in an attempt to grab his attention. "I'm booooooored." Silence met his whines, telling him he was being completely ignored.

He pouted before shaking Law's arm a little harder, making the man's glasses slide down his nose a little. "Toraooooooo, play with meeeeee." He saw the student's eye twitch. Good, he was becoming more noticed. "Traffyyyyyyy, play with meeeeee," he sing-sang. He then broke off into a long fit of giggles. "That rhymed…!"

Beside him, Law gave a deep sigh; like he had just realized his life was ruined and his dignity had been buried six feet under in the backyard. Slipping the glasses off his face, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, Mugiwara-ya?"

"Play with me…?" He made sure to use the voice that could rival a child's, his tone pleading and near-innocent.

"You're worse than a fuckin' five year old, I swear," the surgeon quietly murmured under his breath. Luffy still picked it up, though, and grinned widely.

"But you still love me~"

"Yeah, I'd love to strangle you," Law grit.

"Uh-huh, sure," Luffy waved the (honest, very, very honesty) comment aside. "Anyway, wanna play a card game?"

"Did you have a specific one in mind?" the student asked, closing this textbook and setting off to the side with his glasses.

"Speed!"

Law raised his eyebrow as the teen rolled off the couch and walked over to where the cards were kept. "Speed?" he asked, a smirk slipping onto his features. The other nodded and began to shuffle the cards expertly. "What made you choose that game?" The two of them headed into the kitchen and took their seats at the table.

"I've never lost a game," Luffy proudly stated. Really, it was something to be proud of. Speed not only depended on how quick your reflexes were, but how lucky you were with the cards. You could have the quickest reflexes, but if the cards your opponent kept laying down didn't relate to the ones in your hand, it was all for naught.

"Interesting," Law said, his smirk turning into a merciless grin. "Neither have I."

Something within Luffy awoke in that moment, sending a shiver of excitement down his spine as he realized he finally found a worthy opponent for playing Speed with. The thrill of a true competition had his mind going fuzzy for a moment before it cleared away and a sharp clarity was left in its wake. He cut the deck and, after making sure they each had twenty-six cards, he drew five and held them loosely.

His eyes sparkled with a combative gleam while Trafalgar held an air of ruthlessness about him. "Well then," the medical student said. "May the best man win."

Rocinante and Ace threw each other worried glances as they approached their shared house. They could hear both Law and Luffy shouting from inside, and from the sounds of it, they could tell it wasn't exactly a 'friendly banter.' Ace suddenly had the feeling he should have stayed home instead of Luffy, but the idea of sending Rocinante out with his younger brother worried him. Rocinante was accident prone, no doubt about that, and Luffy wasn't exactly the most responsible person in the neighborhood; meaning he was more than likely to just laugh everything off instead of helping out the blond when he needed it.

Not to mention the fact that Rocinante had a soft spot for kids and, well, Luffy was probably the biggest kid alive.

"So, uh…" Rocinante fidgeted in his spot as he heard Law give a rather loud curse. "Do you think we should go in and see what's going on?"

Ace stared at the front door as he listened to Luffy give a string of colorful curses that he had never heard leave his brother's mouth before. He knew Law could be aggravating at times, but for him to actually get Luffy to swear like that? Yeah, Ace was definitely concerned. He nodded several times to the blond's question as his brows furrowed in light worry. "Yeah, I think– I think we probably should."

Setting his hand on the doorknob, Rocinante took in a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to walk into. He cast a glance at the male beside him who only gave a nod. "Alright," he said. "One…two…three." He opened the door quickly and both of them stuck their heads into the house.

They entered just in time to see Law smirking smugly with his arms crossed and Luffy groaning loudly with his forehead repeatedly banging the table. And…

Was Luffy crying?

"Ohhh," Rocinante whispered, a look of understanding coming over his face. Ace frowned and glanced up at the tall blond.

"What?"

"They were playing Speed," the blond said, his head motioning at the cards on the table. "And Law has never lost a game before."

"Neither has Luffy," Ace stated, his eyes falling back to his younger brother. Yep, there was no doubt about it. Luffy was definitely crying. "Until now, anyway," Ace corrected.

"My perfect record," Luffy sobbed.

"You were the one who wanted me to play with you," Law said, removing himself from the table as he headed for the living room once more to continue his studying. "Hopefully next time you'll be a little more wiser when choosing your opponents."

"My perfect record," was all Luffy had to say.

A/N: So my dad decided to teach me how to play Speed today… I LOVED IT. He's super fast, like, seriously, and he's kinda training me so I can beat his sister at the game. XD I definitely have a ways to go though before I can do that. Anyway, this popped into my head while we were playing. XD (I couldn't stop giggling when Luffy rhymed, shut up, I know, it's sad. XD) I honestly believe that Law would be a faster player in speed than Luffy. I don't know why, I just do. XD ALSO, PREPARE FOR ANOTHER SAD ONE-SHOT. *enter sad but evil laughter*

Your shy ice elemental,
~»roo the psycho«