Law lie awake in the darkness of the men's quarters, staring up into the vacant space above him. He attempted to lull himself to sleep by mentally reviewing the anatomy of the human heart, but his arm had long since fallen asleep under the weight of Luffy's head on his shoulder and it was sending stinging sensations up through his nerves.

As it was, sleep rarely came easily to Law but Luffy had insisted that he come to bed with him- part of Luffy's efforts to keep him close enough for sporadic bouts of affection since making his feelings known out under the stars. Besides being surrounded by the snoring men of Luffy's crew, Law didn't mind being stuck there. He did find an anxious kind of excitement stirring inside of him whenever they were close together like this, and in fact, he'd been relieved to discover that he inspired the same kind of feelings in Luffy.

Law gazed down at the petite captain dozing in the crook of his arm as he lie back in the hammock that Luffy fondly referred to as his bed. He could make out the smooth outline of Luffy's face in the dark room. It amused him that even in sleep, Luffy's default expression seemed to be an easygoing smile. He watched the gentle rise and fall of Luffy's scarred chest- a reminder that for all the fun and adventure he loved, Luffy often found himself in dangerous, life-threatening situations. It caused Law's heart to ache when the thought crossed his mind that some day he might lose him, and he moved to hug the smaller body closer despite the pins and needles prickling through his arm.

Luffy stirred in his embrace, stretching an arm out over Law's chest and bringing his knee up, unconsciously brushing against the crotch of Law's pants.

Law squirmed uncomfortably under him, trying to push Luffy's leg away without rocking the hammock too much. All he managed to do was wake Luffy who sleepily pushed himself up, throwing off their equilibrium, and sending both of them tumbling out of the hammock to the floor.

Both of them sat still in the darkness, cautiously testing their ears against tired complaining from the other men that didn't come. Instead, they all seemed undisturbed, a steady snoring continuing to resonate throughout the room.

"Torao?" Luffy's voice rang out like an air horn, piercing the night air.

Law sprang to his feet and took long strides to the door, eager to remove himself from the situation as quickly as possible.

Luffy followed at his heels, taking hold of his arm just outside the room.

"Tora-"

Law slapped a hand over Luffy's mouth. He pulled his arm from Luffy's grasp and reached over the younger captain's shoulder to close the door behind them.

"Have some consideration. You don't want to wake everyone," Law cautioned, his voice hushed, "now what is it you wanted to say?"

"I remembered!" Luffy practically shouted in his excitement. "I remembered what I wanted to say this morning!" He threw himself into Law, wrapping his arms around the older captain's torso, burying his face in his chest.

"Well, what is it? What did you want to say?" Law prompted. A fond smile grew on his lips as he brought his hand down to impulsively stroke Luffy's hair.

Luffy looked up at Law, his eyes shimmering like the ocean under the moonlight as he spoke. "Torao is my favourite person ever, " he revealed.

"Well," Law mused, "I guess you could say that you're also one of the people I like most. For probably the first time in my life, I feel truly optimistic about the future and you've given me that hope."

Law watched as the realization of his words dawned on Luffy's face. "I'm Torao's favourite person, too?!"

"In a manner of speaking."

"And Torao loves me and wants to marry me in the future!?"

"Wait, what? It's too early to-"

Luffy pulled Law down to hold him close, giving him quick, excited kisses. He laughed lightly against Law's lips when Law made to return the affection, kissing him back as he embraced him.

Law's heart fluttered at the contact, the familiar sensation of infatuated adoration welling up inside of him. While he wasn't so certain about committing to anything right away, they would just have to wait and see what awaited them in the future.