Sworn Enemies - Part 16 [Trafalgar Law x Reader]

   




    You sat silently with a deadpanned expression in your room, resting your back against the thick, soft pillow of your bed as you observed the television screen before you and snacked on a second bowl of blueberries. This had to be some sort of joke, you honestly believed that Law could not be this bad at video games.

    There were several levels of video gamers that you had personally categorized; noobs or armatures, average players, geeks, experts and finally the gods. You were around the average to early geek, whilst Law was. . . Well, let’s just say he forced you to create an entirely new category for himself. He was bad, horrifically pitiful even, and you even questioned silently to yourself on whether the man even looked at a video game.

    It was obvious that you had invited Law into your humble abode, though it was the malicious intent on terrorizing him within your household being the sole reason of even allowing the man to step through the threshold of your front door. It was very awkward, neither one of you uttering a word as you both stood in the short corridor. It was the fact that he continuously stared at you, more particularly at your hair and bruised arms, which made you rather uncomfortable.

    It was a mystery in of itself as to how you and Law found yourselves upstairs in your room, seated on your bed whilst enjoying some old, classical video games. No, that was not entirely true, you were enjoying this while Law was struggling with the controls and the basics of the game. He was playing a game called Ōkami, a beautiful adventure game where one plays as a mystical wolf – like deity, and from the looks of it the tattooed man was not too, well, good at it.

    Law would not listen to any of your advice, he only relying on his wits and the guidebook that came with the game’s case. You were pretty sure that Law knew that he was doing horrifically bad, below noob level, at Ōkami. The bastard was far too stubborn and prideful to given into the simple truth.

    You cleared your throat, placing the half eaten bowl of blueberries to the side as you spoke up towards the obstacle Law had gotten himself stump on, “Give me the remote.” You demanded, stretching out your hand expectantly. Law ignored you.

    “Hey, idiot, hand the damn thing over. You can’t and won’t pass that without my – ”

    “Silence, Shorty – ya, I’m trying to concentrate. Just eat your blueberries and be quiet. I can handle this on my own.”

    “You’ve been ‘handling’ this for ten minutes, Trafalgar. Just admit that you need my help.”

    “Need you help?” Law scoffed, “Don’t be ridicules, Shorty – ya. I am in no need of your assistance.”

    “Dude, you are not doing so hot. It’s not wrong to ask for help.”

    “I don’t need any help.”

    “Look, Trafalgar, I understand that you have your pride and everything, but this is just a video game. It’s alright to ask for help. It won’t kill you.”

    “As I stated before, I don’t need your assistance. I am fine on my own.”

    “Is that so?”

    “Yes, I’m getting close. I just need to analyze the situation.”

    “Or you could just climb up the – ”

    “I said I don’t need your help.” Law’s sharp tone cut through your sentence, ending it before you could reveal the answer. You rolled eyes, falling back against your pillow, officially giving up on any future attempts at assistance. Law may be gifted in intellect and have a knack for school related topics [especially with regards to biology and any other courses he had taken involving the study of medicine and medical support], but when it came to video games he was unsure how or where to put his knowledge into use. The end conclusion was plain, Law just doesn’t know nor has the experience to play video games even at noob level.

    It was hilarious and pitiful. It was odd seeing such a person, who was held in high esteem by the University society, fail so badly at the simplest of challenges, tasks and quests. However, it was Law’s first time even picking up a controller so you could not hold his performance too much against him; you were in the same boat at one point, just not at the same degree as your partner.

    Law was still stuck at the same impediment, and at this point it was just disgraceful. The man himself appear at the brink of a rage quit, you just hoped he wouldn’t chuck the remote at your TV. You wanted to speak up with some much needed advice, but your jaw was clenched shut, jamming itself from breaking or provoking any possible violence [whether it was physical or verbal] from Law.

    The only thing he needed to do was. . . It was so simple! You too were at the point of break, though it was due to his arrogant ignorance as the answer was literally staring him in the face.

    Law had finally broke, slamming the black remote on the sheets of your bed, highly uncharacterized of him.

    “Hey, watch the remote!” You scolded, thankful the controller had not bounced off the edge of the bed and on the floor. However, Law didn’t hear you, instead he began to snap furiously at the screen, ranting on about the impossible obstacle. He stated that it was not logical in the slightest, that he could not find the logical answer.

    You bit back the urge to laugh. That was his problem; Law was far too focused at locating the rational answer for the barrier as one would in reality rather than using video game logic – of course, he did not have such logic. You brought back to bowl of blueberries, resting it on your lap as you observed silently with great amusement as the normally calm and collected medical student lost his cool before you.

    You questioned if Law had forgotten where he was and who was with him, or that he was yelling at a television screen. If Law was this furious over a simple obstacle, what would his reaction be towards Surgeon Simulator? It was best not to attempt an experiment.

    “Calm down, Trafalgar,” You scoffed a tad, leaning forward as you grabbed the remote and leaned back against your pillow.

    “Calm down? How the hell can I calm down after this . . . this irritating game? This is impossible, it has to be some sort of glitch. There is no logical answer, you can’t just scale that wall – ”

    You did not scale the wall, no, instead you commanded the white wolf to pounce several stories high and land on the edge of a cliff. The rest of the terrain was now visible allowing you to continue on with the game. 

    Law was, well, dumbfounded, stupefied even. His analytical psyche could not process this singularity.

    “How is that possible? That wall was far too large to do anything.” The tattooed man stated, recovering from his initial shock.

    “It’s simple, Trafalgar, very simple. You just need to have no logic half the time with these kind of games. Tell me, have you ever seen a fantasy game –” you had cut yourself off, recalling that Law was not particularly aware of the video game society, “Uh, anyways, these kind of games don’t often have a lot of logic. It’s mainly based off the imagination. Also, that wolf is practically a God so it can do almost anything, including jump up a cliff.”

    “I still don’t understand.” Law’s gaze had been washed over by confusion and puzzlement, not exactly following what you were explaining. This was the first time you’ve seen the man confused or even openly ask you for clarification. Was this really the Trafalgar Law you knew just a few days ago?

    “Well,” You began again, now taking over the game as you focused your attention towards the screen though occasionally flickered your gaze towards Law, “Video games are a complex concept believe it or not; from the character to the plot. Alright, I’ll try to explain this in a way you might understand this. Let’s pretended the video game is the patient and you, the player, are the doctor. The game – the patient – has a problem or illness and it’s up to you to find it and fix it. The problem would normally be the plot, so if you solve the plot – ”

    “You cure the patient.” Law replied.

    You grinned, nodding, “Exactly! So once you finally curing the patient you would feel great satisfaction for helping them. A video game is essentially the same, once you beat it and or realize and understand the message its trying to convey you feel good about yourself. You feel like you’ve achieved something, especially if you manage to do it yourself. The only difference is that not all video games have a plot or logic. When it comes to video games I believe people think too much into certain situations.”

    “Like I did.” Law reiterated.

    You nodded, “Yes, but that’s to be expected. You won’t get everything on the first try and I will admit that there is not always an easy way around certain challenges, unless you cheat. However, in video games the simple solution is what you want to go for, though the difficult one is a method you could try, but for noobies like you its best to just go the easy route first.” You halted the game, smirking a bit as you turned to Law, handing him the remote, “Now, you try, and please don’t rage and throw the remote again.” You chuckled with an additional wink.

    Law rolled his silver eyes and focused on the game. You advice you had given him certainly paid off, he was performing much better compared to before. The sadist himself was content as well, however, he wanted to branch out more, and thus he request you choose a different game. You complied, deciding to switch it with the game you had been playing previously before Law arrived at your doorstep, Destroy All Humans. In the beginning he was face with some difficulties, but all and all he did all right.

    It was then the aspiring medical student suddenly paused the game, and turned towards you, “I want to ask,” Law hesitated.

    “What is it?” You replied calmly, a tad bit confused as to why he would abruptly paused the game.

    Law cleared his throat, his gaze flickering towards your arms then questioned almost in a considerate, low tone as not to offend or trigger any negative memories, “Why don’t you hide your bruises?”

    You stared at him for a moment, your [E/C] eyes glancing down to your exposed, fading injuries. You looked back up, shrugging, “I don’t know. I’m not at school so I didn’t see why I should.”

    “Even so, you didn’t change your shirt when you invited me in. I expected you to do so but you didn’t.” Law said.

    “Does it bother you?” You popped another blueberry in your mouth, acting fairly dismissive towards the situation.

    Law narrowed his eyes, “Yes, It bothers me, more than you think. Are you treating your injuries properly? You are icing them right? What other injuries do you have?”

    “Why are you so interested all of a sudden?” You asked, your dismissive tone ever present. “There just bruises, there not that serious. Yes I do ice them but not that much, probably just five or ten minutes every few hours I guess. I. . . I don’t have any other injuries.”

    “Lair.”

    “I don’t, seriously, I’m not lying.”

    “Then show me.”

    “Excuse me?” You narrowed your eyes, almost scoffing at the audacity of this man. He just requested for you to strip your clothes off. Was he aware of what he said? Again, you dismissed the demand, denying it instantly.

    “Why won’t you show me? If you have no other injuries then you shouldn’t have anything to hide.” Law placed the remote aside, standing up from the edge of the bed. He began to make his way towards you, circling the bedside, “Take off your shirt off now, Shorty – ya.”

    “I said no! Stay away!” You attempted to scoot away with your bowl of blueberries. Law had managed to grab a hold of your right ankle, keeping a firm grip. However, as he made a tag to push you towards him you cried out in pain. The medical student immediately released his hold on your ankle, and moments later you were in a fetal position clutching your stomach in absolute agony.

    Law had been taken aback by the sudden behaviour you were displaying, you appeared fine when he had been invited in and throughout the gaming session, thus he was fairly shocked by the amount of pain you seemed to be in. As you were clutching your stomach for dear life Law assumed that you were experiencing some sort of abdominal discomfort.

    “Are you alright?” He asked, resting his right knee against the bedside.

    “Yes,” You hissed through gridded teeth as you fought back the tears that now pricked your eyes, “T – there just bad c – cramps is all.”

    Law didn’t think so, not even in the slightest. It was true that cramps can cause severe pain, but this did not appear to be the case. He was not stating that cramps were not painful, no, but your pain was not a simple stomach or uterus discomfort. Law approached cautiously, carefully, helping you sit upright. You would hiss at any motion involving your stomach, clutching it in a desperate attempt to sooth the pain.

    Law had calmly requested for you to remove your arms from your waist, but you refused, thus he was forced to forcefully remove them in such a way to cause as little more discomfort as possible. He tenderly lifted up your [C/S] shirt just below your bra line. Your stomach had been littered with scratches and bruises both faded and solid. However, those smaller injuries were not the ones that caused Law’s eyes to widen in utter shock and concern; a large blotch of black and purple had formed over your abdominal region, and that greatly troubled the medical student.

    Dozens of medical terms flashed in his mind; Hematoma, Abdominal injury, Internal Bleeding and many more.

    “There. . . There just bruises.” You hissed, you being in too much pain to care about what the man was doing.

    “Shorty – ya. . . How did you get that bruise on your abdomen?” Law questioned seriously, gesturing towards the ugly mark on your skin. You said nothing, to which Law continued, guesstimating, “It was those harassers, wasn’t it? Did one of them kick you in the stomach?”

    You nodded.

    “What have you been doing since the incident?” He continued to interrogate.

    “I just. . . Relaxed, p – played video games and ate. . . David told me not to move a lot. . . And j – just,” You groaned in pain, going to clutch your stomach. Law swiftly intervened, snatching hold of your wrists before you could reach your stomach, thus dropping your shirt back over your stomach.

    If Law’s assumptions were correct, which he deeply prayed were not, you were bleeding internally. If not, then something either much worse or hopefully just a simple case of the cramps, was going on underneath that bruise. Regardless, you need immediate medical attention, one such he unfortunately could not provide for you.

    However, before any actions could be taken, he needed to be certain he was right. Law pulled your shirt back up with one hand then applied some pressure with the other hand on the bruise. You wailed in horrendous agony, striking his hand away as full tears streamed down you cheeks.

    You were definitely bleeding internally, one of the few ailments Law feared would not be the case.

    He could not help you, not in your condition.

    You needed to be taken to the hospital, now.