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The clatter of broken glass echos through the air after each gun shot, followed by a small uproar by his audience that gathered on top of the Polar Tang.
Rosinante grins, twirling his gun around and looking down at his crewmates after he cleared six bottles with six bullets. "I still got it!"
Then his eyes met Trafalgar's who had his arms crossed but there was an unmistakable fondness dancing in his glare. The older man felt his heart flip in his chest, still unsure he deserved such a loving expression.
The Donquixote had made himself pretty comfortable in his time here. Who would have guessed he would find himself surrounded by so many new friends, with Law, his Captain being more than a friend. Once a fake pirate now a real pirate and he wouldn't want it any other way. Just the pair of them then turned into five, and five doubled to ten and Law was still acquiring new members even as they stirred up the Sabaody Archipelago with the other rookies. So many islands Rosi had heard about as a marine but Law took him to see them with his own eyes, down the Grand Line and then some. A pipe dream for a small time commander like him. And yet among all the craziness they still found cozy moments on the submarine like this, with gentle waves and friendly banter.
That's all to say, he didn't realize how much time had really passed until it slapped him in the face the following day. Rosi had accumulated a full closet over the years, gifts and shopping from various islands they stopped at. But this was the first time in ages they were sailing through a winter biome and his heart fluttered with what that meant. The sun was rising when he overheard others hollering that there was snow. With a huge grin he went to slip on his favorite boiler suit, the one Law had custom made for him when he first joined his crew. The one with a black feathered collar and hearts carefully stitched into it.
His two legs slide in easy as he steps into them, pulls the suit up and goes to zip it. Only the zipper suddenly stops. And Rosinante looks down in utter confusion on why this process that's been the same forever was suddenly different.
He picks up the back of the jumper and inspects it as if he somehow grabbed the wrong one, impossible he already knew since he only had one with a collar like that. And it was too tall to be someone else's in a smaller size.
In silence he tries again, sucks in his stomach in and pulls the fly and barely gets it closed feeling his ass hugged way too snuggly by the white fabric.
Rosinante feels his face heat up in embarrassment. Jeez he knew his abs would go away when he stopped his marine style intense training but he didn't think he gained that much weight! And sure, he could feel that he was getting older. Had grown a couple of gray hairs that he stubbornly plucked out and took more wine naps than he did gym trips– It still came as a shock to him that he might be getting… pudgy.
He pulled the door of his closet back to look at the mirror on the other side and inspected himself, turned to the side and cringed thinking the tightness was borderline obscene. Then he quickly started to realize he was still holding himself in, quickly shimmied the suit off in fear of relaxing and breaking the zipper entirely.
Rosi sighs while the jumper pooled at his ankles. It was this, this was the culprit, he thinks as he looks down and pinches his abdomen either side. Where he had either a smooth tummy or abs in the past for –oh I don't know– his entire life, now he had a soft spot. A comfortable line of fat that he could actually grab. It was a little surreal as memories surfaced from a time when he once couldn't find enough to eat and cigarettes were more appealing for stress rather than food.
A lot of that had changed. He couldn’t exactly smoke in an airtight submarine, and family dinners had become quite a staple in the heart pirate's routine.
Rummaging through his closet looking for something else to wear, he comes across some basketball shorts and a t-shirt. 'Gym clothes' briefly enters his mind. Right, they had a workout room of sorts. Maybe he should pay it a visit.
Okay, he had definitely let himself go some, because he doesn't remember bar sit-ups ever being this hard. Not since he was a tween and Sengoku made him do them for the first time. Even then, he was young and spry at the time and it didn't make his back ache just hanging there.
He does one more crutch before he lets his head and arms droop completely limp, the backs of his hands touching the ground even when he is hanging by his knees. Rosinante coughs and tries to catch his breath in the noisest way possible. Then grimaces when a bead of sweat rolls down his cheek into his eye.
"Hey– What are you doing?"
Rosi opens his good eye while still rubbing the other and sees an upside Captain standing in the doorway across from him.
"Oh you know, just getting some reps in– Ack!"
He answers while falling off the bar somehow and landing on his neck. He rights himself with a sheepish smile.
Law looks around the empty room. "By yourself? While we're surfaced and everyone is enjoying the fresh air?"
"Well… yeah." Rosi answered.
"Why."
He twiddled his fingers, something about Law pressing him made his chest tense. Like it was obvious this wasn't a little morning training to wake himself up.
"I just figured more gym visits would be good for me."
Law grins as if amused by that and takes his sword off his shoulder to lean on it. "Says who? I'm your doctor after all, and I don't think it's good for you to exercise until your face is purple."
Rosinante goes quiet, looking aside indecisively.
"Cora-san. Tell me the real reason." No response, and Law's demeanor gets a little more cold and possessive. "Who told you you had to do this?"
"N-Nobody did!" Rosi perks up, not wanting the rest of the crew to be at Law's wrath. "I just– went to put on my favorite suit, the one you made me. And it didn't… fit. So I thought maybe it was a good time to try to slim down and… look better for you too."
Law's eyes fly open as if shocked and Rosi feels more than a little embarrassed admitting that but he didn't expect Law to be stunned silent? Was it really that bad? Was he so appalled that he had changed so much over the years that he couldn't even say anything? Rosi pouted, maybe it had reminded his captain that he was getting old and soon couldn't keep up with the rest of them… Law was kind though.. if he was going to kick him off the ship for being a liability, he knows he'll at least find him a nice nursing home for forty something year olds and stay in touch via transponder snail sniff…
Suddenly they're shambled out of the gym and into his bedroom, Rosi squeaks as Law fists two hands in his t-shirt and manhandles him onto his bed. Thumb hiked up in the fabric so his stomach is exposed.
"Law!"
His captain climbs onto his lap and stares him down from under the bridge of his hat.
"Don't ever say something like that again."
Rosi gulps, unsure what was happening or what he did to get him so upset. His confused brows fly up off his head when Law leans down and kisses a line up his blonde peach fuzz happy trail.
"You're perfect how you are, no matter how much you might change, you're my cora-san."
Law grabs his hips and pulls him up, even giving him a teasing bite on his chub making the larger man jump and squeak.
"Law please…" Rosinante whines in a softer, more flustered voice. His face as pink as rose petals as Law kisses his way up all the bare torso he could expose then skipped to catch his lips in a pleased hum.
"All mine Cora, with your cute little tummy and all."
Rosinante didn't know what to say, so he just melted into his lip lock. Here he thought Law would have the opposite opinion, look at him and keep that even little cold expression he always wore on as he judged that he was getting a little out of shape. Of course he knew Law would still love him either way, just as he has continued to love Law. But the level of enthusiasm his displayed now had certainly come as a surprise.
Especially when foreplay ramped up in intensity, a hard little line against his stomach and Law grinds against his soft abdomen singing nothing but heavy breathes and praise until he came against him.
Stunned by the act, Rosinante squeaked his bleary eyes open when Law rested his head on his chest exhausted.
"Alright… I give, you made your point." He huffs gently, not sounding nearly as stern as he meant to. But he couldn't help it with all the butterflies in his stomach and the strain in his own pants.
After they had enough loving and cuddling, Law disappeared for the rest of the day.
The next morning Rosinante woke up to a new boiler suit strung up on his door. An exact copy of the first one he had gotten but in a larger size. His smile stretched so wide it hurt his cheeks. It was perfect for the colder weather and roomy.
He slips it on and figures even though there was no rush to slim down, he should still keep tone. What if the ship was under attack or some other emergency arised, straining his back like an old man would certainly be a hell of a lot more embarrassing than a few reps.
He walks down the hallway of the submarine to the gym, only to find that every piece of equipment has been wiped clean from the room.