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Law wakes to the sound of soft snores against the nape of his neck, wrapped in two pairs of arms and one pair of legs. It says a lot about how much all three of them had apparently needed the contact if Shachi had stayed close enough to keep his arms around Law’s middle, and that Penguin had somehow wrapped his legs around one of Law’s, as though his thigh was a pillow to be shoved between his knees. Just as he starts to figure out how to extract himself from the pair without resorting to his powers, which would absolutely wake Shachi, the situation instead resolves itself via one seven-foot-tall polar bear Mink slipping into the small bungalow that Penguin and Shachi had been loaned for their stay on Zou.
”Captain!” Bepo does at least try to keep his voice down, but for all that Law is probably the shittiest sleeper of his crew, Shachi is one of the lightest sleepers. As such, Law feels him stir, the ginger rubbing his face against his captain’s chest as his mind boots up. “Oh, sorry…”
”’s fine, Bepo.” Strong arms finally unwind from Law’s middle even as Shachi reassures their navigator reflexively, voice thick with sleep still. He shifts back from Law, sitting up with a yawn and stretching his arms even as the captain starts to slowly ease himself from Penguin’s limbs. “Penguin’s still asleep, though.”
Bepo nods with a hum- Penguin’s one of the heaviest sleepers on the crew, for all that he can be awake and functional quicker than Shachi. It was one of two reasons he wasn’t permanently on the ‘Shittiest Sleepers’ list along with Law, Hakugan, and Jean Bart, the other being that he worked very hard to keep a stable sleep schedule. (No one wanted to call him out on ending up on that list about a month after Law left and probably wouldn’t be taken off it for a month after getting him back. (Depending on what fate has in store for them next, of course.))
Even as he finishes extracting himself, Law asks, just loud enough for his voice to carry, “What did you need, Bepo?”
“Oh! Uni’s got breakfast ready- you are going to eat with us, right, Captain?”
Law looks up in time to be pinned with Bepo’s best ‘Pleading Baby Bear’ look, and he freezes in the face of it, half propped on one forearm, stuck in the moment of trying to shove a pillow into the space he’s made between his back and Penguin’s front to give the older man something to keep clinging to. And, for all that he has come to be mostly immune to pleading from the majority of his crew-
Shachi’s yelp comes from outside as the ginger is unceremoniously Shambled from the bed to outside, a pebble dropping onto the bed in his place the moment he starts snickering at Law’s expression in response to Bepo’s top tier begging look, the Room dropping along with his hand as he sighs in defeat. “Yeah, Bepo, I’ll eat with everyone. Give us twenty minutes, we’ll be there.”
Bepo snaps into a quick salute, practically vibrating with how pleased he is, “Aye-aye!” And then he’s back out the door, likely to personally get Law’s breakfast together out of what Uni had made.
Shaking his head a little, Law finally shuffles off the futon, stretching his own stiffness out even as Shachi pads back into the bungalow himself, giving Law a pout even as he tosses another pebble at the younger man. “Asshole. Was that necessary?”
”Yes. Be thankful I Shambled your sunglasses out to you.” And he had- a second pebble rests where they had been just within reach over the edge of the futon the night before. (And if it hadn’t been his glasses, it would have been his hat- Law wanted to punish him for laughing, not actually cause him real discomfort.) “You heard Bepo, breakfast is ready.”
He glances at Penguin, still dead to the world for all that he’s taken a good hold of the pillow substitute. “How’s he been?” The way Shachi’s lips purse, corners turning down, is more than answer enough for Law, and he sighs, running his hand through his hair. “Let’s let him sleep, then.”
He pauses once more, chewing a little on his bottom lip looking at Shachi as the other pulls on a fresh tank top out of a wicker basket, the other already dropped in what is apparently the dirty laundry pile in the corner. He opens his mouth once, twice, then clears his throat when Shachi finally looks back in his direction once the fabric is settled in place. “We should talk. After breakfast. The four of us.”
Shachi’s eyebrows shoot up over the top of his sunglasses at the words- he would have expected it to take Penguin and Bepo slowly working at Law’s reluctance to sit and actually talk about what they’d all been through while Law was gone in any sort of actual detail. But here’s Law, bringing it up on his own, to Shachi of all people. Shachi knows miracles happen, of course- he’s still alive thanks to the one standing across from him, after all- but this is new. It’s new, and honestly he’s glad for it, too. So, trying to keep the surprise out of his tone because he can already see the look Law is giving him, he says, “Yeah, that sounds like a plan, then. After breakfast.”
And because Law is a flighty bastard on the best of days and he knows Law’s practically vibrating with nerves under his skin at the idea of talking about the heavy shit they would need to talk about, Shachi follows it up with, “I’ll see if I can dig up supplies for hot chocolate, too.”
The older pirate watches Law’s shoulders loosen a little from where they’d drawn up tense, grinning a little to himself at the reaction- Shachi’s hot chocolate was one of the few things that always worked to get Law to relax a little. He finishes getting clothes on for breakfast, tossing Law a shirt from Penguin’s clean pile- they were close enough in height and width to share clothes, for the most part.
Law himself huffs as he catches the fabric, draping it over his shoulder so he can at least slip into his pants first. It’s… Nice, to be back with his crew, with his family, really, and for all that he’s dreading the talk later, being here with Shachi, Penguin still asleep behind them, feels almost nostalgic. They’d done things like this so many times in the past, after all. That he’d almost lost it-
He shakes his head, clearing the thought for now- they could deal with that after breakfast, when they were all awake. Slipping his feet into his boots, he picks up Kikoku from where she’s leaned against the wall, her voice soft for once, as though equally soothed being around those Law is closest to as her wielder is himself. Running his free hand through his hair, he glances back at Shachi again as the other straightens from where he’d been crouched to tie his boots. Leaving his hat where it sits next to Penguin’s on a low dresser, he slips out the door, Shachi falling into step with him.
It takes a few strides before he glances at Shachi again, trying not to show the awkwardness he’s suddenly feeling as he realizes- he has no idea where they’re actually going for breakfast, for all that he could technically use his Observation haki to feel out where his crew is. But of course the ginger menace reads him better than most, and the grin across his face makes Law’s gut sink a little.
At least all Shachi does is hook an arm over Law’s shoulders, pulling his captain close even as he takes the lead without a word. And yeah, maybe it’s a little awkward to keep walking like this, but Law also doesn’t pull away, letting them both soak in the contact.
Law knows that the world hasn’t stopped, that what they’d set in motion on Dressrosa wouldn’t slow down just because he’s back with his crew, but he can admit to himself, in the privacy of his heart and mind, that he’s actually glad that he’s alive so he can be with them again. Even if they drive him insane sometimes.
The huff he lets out at his own thought draws a curious noise from Shachi between the story he was telling Law about a funny misunderstanding between the Hearts and the Mink, and he just shakes his head at the other even as he leans his weight against Shachi’s side for a stride- feelings would be talked about later. For now, breakfast.