Archive of Our Own ^beta

In Law’s opinion, there were four types of shopping. There was normal shopping, shopping with Luffy, birthday shopping, and Luffy, please just pick a damn present already .

Apparently, the last type was genetic. Never in his life had Law expected to regret agreeing to go shopping with his boyfriend’s brothers and father, especially considering Lucci and Smoker had gotten dragged along with Luffy’s brothers. But here he was, watching not only his boyfriend but the renowned business owner Crocodile Newgate struggle to pick a birthday present.

Law sighed again, pinching his nose as his brows furrowed and he drew on patience he really should have been out of by now. His own selected birthday present was neatly rolled and placed in a bag he was holding in one hand, having selected it carefully over an hour ago.

It was always a huge thing in both the Donquixote-Trafalgar and Portgas-Monkey-Newgate households when someone had a birthday. With people like Luffy and Doflamingo, it couldn’t be anything else, especially when the former would jump on any opportunity to throw a party you could give him. What Law didn’t expect was that picking out a present for Doflamingo would be that hard.

Well, for Luffy it was always a big deal. He wanted to find the perfect thing and anything he saw that might possibly qualify got entered in the running, which led to hours of whittling down options with the help of a second party. But it was Doflamingo . The man had, to Law’s awareness, a maximum of three interests: Pink, fashion, and, of course, his family.

Law, since the first time he’d been a part of Doflamingo’s family when he was a child, had always gotten the man some variation of the same thing: Fabrics to use. This year, he’d ordered from his adoptive uncle’s favorite fabric makers and picked them up earlier. Three different colors he knew his uncle enjoyed using but didn’t often keep in supply unless he knew he would be using, which often left him bemoaning having to wait for it to come in since the only place these specific fabrics were made was overseas.

The young surgeon glanced back up, heaving a sigh, “Luffy-ya, let’s leave your father to decide his own present and work on finding something for you to get Doffy.”

Luffy tilted his head from where he’d been crouched down to examine the same display as Crocodile was, grinning at him, “What do you mean, Torao? We just gotta go pick it up! I already picked it out!”

A strangled noise left Law’s throat, “You what ?!” He choked out. He couldn’t recall the last time Luffy had actually picked out a present beforehand! If he did this time, that was enough of a shock but why in the world hadn’t he told Law they could go pick it up two hours ago instead of letting Law drag him around the mall looking for something?!

Luffy giggled, “I paid Usopp to make it!” He grinned, eyes shining as he jumped up, “But if you want to go pick it up, we can!” He added with a nod.

“Luffy-ya…” Law could feel his blood pressure rising, “Nose-ya works half an hour away.”

Luffy nodded, “Yeah, but we could go there and be back in an hour or so. Or just meet up at the Baratie like we were gonna do anyway.”

Law sighed and finally nodded, “I suppose you’re right.” He conceded, turning to leave the store. He was suddenly glad he’d ended up coming in his own car, considering Luffy didn’t have his license and had come with his father.

“Dad, we’ll see you later!” Luffy called over his shoulder before following Law. “So Torao, what did you get Mingo?”

“Some of his favorite fabrics.” Law admitted, watching Luffy smile and nod.

Luffy grinned as Torao turned the car off, instantly hopping out of the car and dashing towards the open door of the car mechanic’s garage.

“Hi, Franky!” He greeted, glancing around until he spotted where Usopp was hunched over his own work station in the back of the garage, tinkering with a piece of metal.

“Hey, Luffy-bro!” Franky returned the greeting without looking up from the engine he was working on.

“Luffy!” Usopp greeted, setting his tools down and turning with a grin. “Here to pick up you one-of-a-kind, Usopp original?” He asked, and Luffy chuckled as his head bobbed in an eager nod.

“Yeah!” He hummed, bouncing closer as Usopp reached under his desk to carefully pull out a sculpture.

Made mostly of carefully sculpted metal, the sculpture was meant to be both lightweight and durable. He’d gotten his dad a similar one last year, and he figured that Mingo might like having his own.

The sculpture’s base was carefully detailed to look a bit like a bright, grassy clearing. Almost in the middle of it, a large vibrant pink flamingo was settled down on the ground. With its body facing the right, its head was raised to look up. Next to the flamingo, a greenish-grey crocodile was sprawled, tail curling along the right side of the sculpture and head tilted as if nuzzling the bird. Behind the flamingo, a snow leopard with piercing gold eyes was standing rather calmly. The feline’s head was ducked downwards a bit, just shy of resting on the crocodile’s back while its tail was curled around the flamingo’s back. Lastly, a turkey vulture was perched on the snow leopard’s back, leaning down to brush beaks with the flamingo.

As odd as the animal combination was, the overall scene was peaceful and warm and Luffy grinned.

“I love it, Usopp. This is amazing.” It was better than he ever could have hoped for when he’d asked his friend to make it. While the metalworker had said he’d do it for free since Luffy was a friend, he had still insisted on paying the full price for his friend’s work.

“Ah, shucks, Luffy. I’m glad you like it.” Usopp grinned, “But what about Doflamingo? It is for him, right?”

Luffy giggled, nodding, “He’ll like it.” Luffy assured his friend, carefully picking it up and turning to head back to the car where Torao was waiting.

Ace was feeling rather frantic as he and Smoker darted from store to store, his gaze roaming over the shelves as he sought out what could possibly be a good gift for Doflamingo.

He didn’t know the guy that well, but he was still his father’s boyfriend so Ace wanted to make an effort. Especially considering how the fashion designer always made an effort for him and his brothers.

Still, they’d been at this for ages and he still didn’t know what to get!

“Ace, we’ve been here three times already… Just slow down and think it through, would you?” Smoker asked, patient as always but voice tinged with annoyance.

Ace took a breath, glancing around until his gaze landed on a book.

Inspiring Your Designs: A Guide to Clothing Design

Ace grinned, snatching the book off the shelf and presenting it to Smoker, “What about this?”

His boyfriend blinked once, then twice, then gave a heavy sigh. “Ace… Doflamingo wrote that book.”

The younger man blinked, grin falling as he turned the book and took in the author. Oh… Yeah, he couldn’t give Doflamingo a book that Doflamingo had written.

“Oh.” The freckled man said aloud, pouting at the book.

With a huff, he placed it back on the shelf and gave a despondent glance around. His gaze landed on a coffee mug.

Not just any coffee mug. A bright pink coffee mug that was detailed to look like it had feathers, and the handle was styled to look like the neck of a flamingo, arching to make an efficient handle before curving away from the mug to mold into the head of a flamingo.

Ace practically teleported over to it, snatching it up and presenting it proudly to his boyfriend. “It’s perfect for him.” Ace stated, grinning ear to ear.

Smoker chuckled, “It definitely suits him.” He agreed and Ace grinned.

“I wonder if they have anything else like this…” The younger man hummed, looking around.

“Ace, you finally found one thing. Don’t you think th-”

Whatever Smoker was saying was lost on Ace as he dashed off, grinning like a kid in a candy store as he looked for anything else that was flamingo-themed.

A dark pink case caught his eye as he passed a sewing aisle, and he skidded to a halt before approaching the shelf. It was a traditional rectangular case, dark pink for the most part but with varying shades to create the effect of feathers. Winding around the case was what appeared to be a neck, and half-tucked under a wing was the flamingo’s head.

Ace grinned, setting down the mug he’d been carrying to gently unzip the case and look inside. He wasn’t much into sewing or fashion, but it looked standard enough, with plenty of different sized elastic bands to put in different spiels of thread.

Rezipping the case, he grabbed the mug and turned to find Smoker had finally caught up with him.

“I think we’re set!” He hummed happily, watching his boyfriend sigh in relief and grin.

“Good, let’s go pay then.”

Unlike his brothers, Sabo liked to have a plan for what he was getting as presents. He kept an ear out, paying attention to things his family and friends might need or want over the year. Doflamingo could be a challenge, but there were certain things that were always welcome and Sabo knew he could pick up as a last resort.

This year, however, Sabo knew exactly what a good option was. So he and Lucci had just been killing time before they stopped by an art supplies store.

“Want me to look for sketching pencils?” Lucci asked as they stepped into the store, and the blonde smiled.

“Sure.” He hummed. He hadn’t really planned on buying pencils, but he supposed it would go well with what he had been planning on anyway. “Do you know what kind he likes?”

“Probably pencils that are painfully expensive.” Lucci huffed, lips twitching in a smile, “I might not be an artist, but I’m certain I can figure out which ones will serve their purpose the best.”

Sabo chuckled, grinning after his boyfriend as the former CIA agent slipped off to look for pencils. It was easy to find his way to the sketchbooks from the entrance, but Sabo couldn’t help but gawk at all the choices.

Different sizes, covers, brands, types of paper… It was enough to make his head spin!

He took a breath, bringing his mind into focus. He didn’t know if there was a specific brand Doflamingo favored, but what the young lawyer did know was the basics of what was needed for a sketchbook used by a fashion designer. Yes, the internet could be useful at times.

He hummed as he looked them over, discarding any with paper meant for some type of painting rather than actual pencil sketching. He also discarded both the smallest sketchbooks, which were small squares with sides the length of his hand, and the largest sketchbooks, things clearly meant for artists making large landscape drawings.

Looking over the remaining sketchbooks, it didn’t take him long to settle on a well-known brand he could vaguely remember his father buying for Luffy when they were little. What was better is it actually came in a set of three, all the same size, at the same price he could buy two of the same sized books separately.

“Find a good one?” Lucci asked as Sabo exited the aisle with his selected sketchbooks in hand, the older man holding up his own objective of a small set of five decent-looking sketching pencils.

“Yeah!” Sabo agreed with a grin, “You?”

“These seem like good ones, and the employee agreed when I asked.” Lucci stated, and the blonde grinned.

“Great!” He hummed, practically skipping towards the register to pay.

Rosinante sighed as he weaved his way through the crowded area. Why in the world were there so many people downtown at noon on a Thursday ? Shouldn’t they be at work? Or eating?

Whatever, he figured, brushing off his mild frustration. He was only irritated because he was running late, and he was supposed to meet his brother for lunch so he had to make up for lost time or he’d be late for lunch and then he’d never get Doflamingo off his back. And he was determined to surprise his brother with his gift this year, so not being pestered into submission was an important part of that!

He took a breath before finally pushing his way inside the small store, smiling as the bell chimed softly and a young woman appeared with a bright smile.

“Ah, Mr. Donquixote!” She greeted with a smile, “Here to pick up your order?”

“Yes.” He told her with a smile, reaching into his pocket to fish out the photograph he’d had printed. “Though I was wondering if you might be able to put this in the frame for me?”

She grinned and nodded as she moved into the back of the store, returning a moment later with a frame. Primarily wooden, both the outer and inner edges were encased with metal to better protect it, and across the front the metal curled into hearts and feather-esque shapes.

She plucked the photograph gently from his hand, smiling as she glanced at it before carefully placing it within the frame and closing the back once more. She handed it back to him, and Rosinante smiled down.

He had hoped to find a picture from when they were kids, but without a way to contact his grandparents, if they were even alive, or any other blood relative who may have a photograph from when he and Doflamingo were kids it had led to only dead-ends. What he had managed to find, after talking with his adoptive father, was a photograph of him and Doflamingo as teenagers.

In the picture, they were both grinning at the camera, Doflamingo’s arm slung over his shoulder and Rosinante’s arm looped around his older brother. With their free hand they were both throwing peace signs at the camera, the sunny day behind them just highlighting the entire joyful scene.

Rosinante could clearly remember the day it was taken. He’d just gotten in touch with his brother again after several years apart, after they’d initially been separated after the death of their parents. The picture, taken by Sengoku, had been the first time they’d met up in person. Doflamingo had been fifteen that day, he had been thirteen, and they’d both been happy as could be to be together again after five long years. In the course of the next year, Sengoku had adopted Doflamingo, making their reunion permanent.

Protected in the frame, Rosinante smiled at the memory as he gave a nod to the store’s employee. Since he paid when he ordered the frame, he simply turned and left. He figured he’d have to get a box to put the frame in, or at least wrap it, but at least now he had the actual gift.

Crocodile prided himself on being decisive, and being able to be confident in his decisions. Which meant he really wasn’t expecting picking out a ring to be a big deal. After all, he’d bought plenty of rings before and he knew what to look for if he wanted quality jewelry. He also knew what reasonable prices were, and had the names of several jewelry shops that were trustworthy to have both reasonable prices and quality rings.

He also knew Doflamingo’s preferences and had a good handle on what his boyfriend would likely want in a ring. Which should have made it easier to figure out which ring to get.

Long story short: It didn’t.

He found himself stressing over the details of the ring. This one’s diamond was too big and clunky looking, this one was the wrong color, this one was great but he didn’t like the band style… On and on, he kept finding a good candidate and crossing it off for the smallest of reasons.

Because this ring had to be perfect, didn’t it? He sighed, stepping away from the displays for a moment to rub a hand over his face.

Why in the world was he stressing out over this so much? Doflamingo had always made it perfectly clear he didn’t even care if they had a proper engagement. Hell, Crocodile was pretty sure that if he just took the man to the courthouse and asked him to sign a marriage license, Doflamingo would do it in a heartbeat. No wedding, no engagement, no fanfare.

But that was the thing, wasn’t it? Their entire relationship, Doflamingo had matched his pace, catered to his preferences. While Doflamingo would be fine without a fancy wedding or engagement party, Crocodile knew his boyfriend would absolutely love a sappy proposal and big wedding.

If there was one thing Crocodile could do, it would be to pick out a ring and ask the man to marry him. Nodding with renewed determination, the man turned back to the display cases full of rings and looked them over again.

His gaze caught on a rose gold ring. With a decent width, the piece of jewelry was quite a nice shade of pink, with a trio of diamonds in the center. The diamonds weren’t big or fancy, but they were still eye-catching, and of course the pink color was perfect for Doflamingo.

How had he not noticed it before? Well, Crocodile knew the answer was because he’d been overthinking the entire process, seeking out flaws in the rings instead of letting him accept how good they might be.

He smiled at the shopkeep, who’d been watching him for the past fifteen minutes or so. “What’s the size of this one?” He asked, and within the next ten minutes he had everything arranged.

The size needed adjusted, so he’d have to come pick the ring up tomorrow, but that was fine. He paid for the ring and the modification, as well as a simple dark green box to place the ring in, and was on his way out of the store.

“Present time!” Luffy cried, hurtling into the living room. Doflamingo couldn’t help but laugh. He’d been waiting for that exact moment since the young man’s arrival. Honestly, he was just impressed his nephew’s boyfriend had made it through brunch first, though Doflamingo had a feeling it had more to do with Law and Crocodile than Luffy’s patience.

“Luffy-ya!” Law snapped, lunging to his feet and racing after his boyfriend.

“Better hurry before he opens them for you.” Ace mused to Doflamingo, darting after his younger brother with Sabo trailing behind.

Doflamingo laughed, rising from his own chair and shooting a wide grin to his boyfriend and brother. “We better join them.” He mused, receiving a tired nod from Crocodile.

Luffy had already set out the small collection of presents on the living room’s coffee table, grinning as he plopped down on the floor.

Chuckling, Doflamingo settled on the couch and plucked up the large bag on the table. He could see Law smile out of the corner of his eye, a subtle tell on who’s present it was without even looking at the tag.

He could probably guess what was in the bag, but he still grinned as he pulled out the tissue paper to reveal three decent-sized rolls of fabric. The first was a bright gold, much like both Law’s eyes and Crocodile’s hook. The second roll was light orange, while the third was a desaturated, dark royal purple.

“They’re Beautiful Fabrics .” Law hummed, and Doflamingo couldn’t help but beam at his adoptive nephew.

“Thank you, Law.”

“Don’t mention it.” The surgeon waved him off.

Carefully setting the bag of fabrics aside, he picked up a neatly wrapped rectangular present that had “Happy Birthday!” written in delicate cursive across the top and a smaller, equally neatly wrapped, item attached to the side. Clearly Sabo’s handiwork, Doflamingo pulled the smaller item off first, unwrapping it to reveal new sketching pencils. He smiled, nodding at the blonde’s choice of brand, before opening the larger present to reveal a set of sketchbooks.

“These are really nice, Sabo.” He hummed gratefully, still smiling.

He picked up the semi-neat rectangular present next, watching Ace seem to vibrate in place. Chuckling to himself, Doflamingo made quick work of disposing of the wrapping and chuckled at the flamingo-themed case that greeted him. Curious, he opened it up to find it was meant for holding various spools of threads, and that it was currently holding a flamingo coffee mug.

He laughed out loud as he held it up, watching Sabo and Law both giggle.

“These are lovely, Ace.” Doflamingo acknowledged, watching the young man practically glow from the praise.

Setting the items with the sketchbooks and pencils, Doflamingo picked up the larger of the two remaining presents. He did note that they were one short, but that was fine. It was quite possible Crocodile or Rosinante hadn’t gotten one, plus just having the family together was more than enough for him.

It took a moment for him to start unwrapping it, considering the wrapping paper was haphazard at best, but once he got it off it was easy enough to open the plain pink box the present had been placed in and draw out the sculpture inside.

His eyes widened as he took in the carefully carved animals, a soft smile taking over his lips. A picture of his direct family as animals…

“Thank you, Luffy.” He murmured gently, carefully sitting the sculpture back down on the coffee table as he mentally ran through locations he could put it more permanently.

“Shishishi, no problem!” Luffy chirped, gaze warm and grinning widely.

Doflamingo plucked up the last present on the table, a small square that he’d guess was some sort of frame. The pale pink paper was decorated with hearts, and if Doflamingo had to guess it was probably from Rosinante.

Unwrapping it carefully, his eyes trailed over the delicately carved metal before landing on the picture. The two of them the day they’d reunited.

He chuckled, throat tightening as warmth blossomed in his throat. He didn’t even know they had any pictures from that day, or any from their early days of being reunited… They had plenty from their later teenage years and all throughout adulthood, but having one of such an important day…

“Thank you, Rosi.” He whispered, sending his brother a soft smile that was returned.

“Thank Sengoku, all I did was get the frame. He had the picture.”

“I’ll pass along the thanks, but still… Thank you.”

They shared a small smile, and Doflamingo was getting ready to suggest something to do when Crocodile cleared his throat.

“I haven’t given you my gift yet.”

Doflamingo turned his head, puzzled, only to feel words leave his mouth completely, jaw dropping open in shock.

Down on one knee, Crocodile was holding a dark green box with a glinting rose gold ring inside.

“We all know I’m not great at sentimental speeches, but… There’s no one other than my kids I’d rather have as part of my life. As chaotic as you are, you’ve made my days one hell of a lot better. Doflamingo, will you marry me and spend the rest of our lives together?”

Doflamingo continued to gape at his boyfriend for several moments, mouth opening and closing without any words escaping as he tried to process what he was seeing. Crocodile, down on one knee with a ring, asking him to marry him.

Finally, the fashion designer nodded, “Yes! O-Of course!”

Luffy let out a loud whoop, Sabo, Law, and Rosinante all joining in with applause while Ace engaged Luffy in an animated conversation about how great this was going to be.

Getting an affirmative, Crocodile set the box down and carefully pulled out the engagement ring. Doflamingo held out his hand, allowing his new fiancé to slide the ring onto his finger.

Fiancé… He couldn’t believe it!

Well, this was certainly a birthday to remember, he thought as he grinned and listened to the happy chatter of his family.