SKELETON KEY • heart pirates

NUMB

This one is short and (hopefully!) sweet.  A winter vignette inspired by the SBS reveal that Law likes to wander around aimlessly as a hobby.

Pairing(s) - Law/Arisa.

Warning(s) - Implied sexual content.

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Snow had fallen the night before, and Cadenza Island's landscape was now rendered drab and monochrome in hues of grays and white – the forest trails hemmed by mounds of slush, tree branches frozen stiff and heavy with icicles.

The man carefully shifted his grip on his nodachi, breaths emitting as faint white clouds as he gazed out over the rolling hillside, the winking lights from the township which slumbered far beyond. The sky was still overcast, the sun an impoverished blot against the nebulous gray haze. The cold pressed around him, thick layers notwithstanding, blistering and ubiquitous and almost a tangible thing of its own, sharpened all the more by the occasional wind gust which blew down the mountainous slopes. Stray flurries whirled about the brim of his spotted hat in a tempestuous dance – a promise of heavier snowfall tonight.

This island could be described as a rarity in the Grand Line for its mundanity, Trafalgar Law reflected. Amidst all the recent chaos, however, said mundanity provided an escape of its own. Meaningless exploration was a form of reprieve in and of itself, one which served him well. He liked to roam these paths, meander through the streets. Set himself adrift through the mystery and hubbub of foreign lands with no tangible aim in mind save the appeasement of his own idle curiosities. This was how he preferred to absorb the intricacies of a new environment – aloof and invisible, untethered from the present, shielded from all immediate worries. The role of the detached spectator had always suited him very well.

The woman had ventured over to the rail, tugging at the cuff of one glove as she peered out over the precipice. Today she wore an evergreen loden coat, a soft wool scarf bundled securely at her chin. Snowflakes caught onto her lashes, and her cheeks – usually so pale and enervate – were flushed pink from the cold.

"Everything is so quiet out here," she said, voice muted in awe. "Like something out of this world."

He came up next to her, resting his free hand against the icy edge of the railing.

"You could never hope to get this sort of calm on the seas."

"Mhmm. It's nice." She paused, then pointed to one of the dull blue alps swimming in the distance. "That mountain over there... It's actually an active volcano."

"A volcano?"

"Yes, the shopkeeper from earlier was telling Ikkaku. There's a lake in the crater that's fed from all the snowmelt. In the springtime, they take visitors up on dog sleds."

Law squinted at the peak, skeptical.

"Bet it's ridiculously overpriced."

"Probably. It's one of the main attractions here, apparently." Murasaki Arisa shivered and rubbed her arms through her sleeves, stamping her feet in the wet sludge. "I can't believe you didn't bring gloves. Your hands must be freezing."

Law shrugged and adjusted his grasp on Kikoku, now regarding her with a vague sense of amusement.

"This is nothing."

"Nothing?"

"I'm used to it."

"Shachi and Penguin said the exact same thing!" Arisa sighed and sank her chin deeper into her scarf, looking more resigned than exasperated. "Is it a North Blue thing?"

"As a matter of tolerance, maybe. But those two are on another level. They swim in meltwater for fun."

"I know, I've seen it! They're insane. Riyu calls them coldblooded for it. Rakko, too. I don't think that would be the right term for it though."

"It isn't," Law answered, a ghost of a smile surfacing.

Arisa laughed a little and leaned against the rail, posture relaxed and expression serene. He drew closer and she pressed towards him with a small sigh, tilting her face to peer up into the sky. Her eyes were so clear and blue against the bleak white landscape, alight with a sort of honest affection which evoked a subtle stir from beneath the floorboards of his heart. A selfish part of him yearned to keep her like this – unburdened of her impending fate, of all the unjust obligations which kept her tethered to the past.

"It's going to snow again tonight," he said absently.

"Looks like it, yeah." She pressed the back of her glove against her cheek with a slight grimace. "And my face is starting to go numb."

She started to move away but he stopped her by the wrist  Somehow it felt like the most natural thing in the world, to pull her in and capture her lips with his.  She turned and leaned into the kiss, arms coming up around him in a clumsy embrace and a soft pleased sound building in her throat, breathy and half cut off.  It reminded him of the last time they'd snuck off together – after that disastrous meeting at the Tenkū-jō outpost which had left them both so angry and disheartened. Emotions were running high, but she'd remained true to her furtive nature, doing her best to keep quiet. He remembered the dimness of that old garden shed, the creaking of wood as their bodies moved in sync. The taste of salt on her skin, the little gasping moans she'd muffled into her wrist as he'd worked her open with his fingers.

Moments like these were now so few and far between, he learned to cling to them when they came. The two of them were long past the point of second guessing intentions or loyalties, to decouple the underlying threads of grief and betrayal which had bound them together. There was no time. No point, knowing how this would end.

This was all he knew they could afford. Everything left clandestine and unspoken – open ended, an insinuation of what could never truly be.

Eventually she drew back for air, eyes shining and a satisfied smile playing on her lips.

"Better?" he asked gruffly, reaching up to brush back a few stray silver strands. Arisa grabbed his hand with both of hers and pressed it to one flushed cheek, before giving an exaggerated wince.

"Your hands really are like ice," she mumbled.

He cracked a genuine smile.

"I told you, I'm used to it."