Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at

http://download.archiveofourown.org/works/13114131.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: One Piece
Relationship: Eustass Kid/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Character: Eustass Kid, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Killer (mentioned), Penguin
(mentioned), Heat (mentioned), Wire (mentioned)
Additional Tags: Snowboarding, Winter, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Learning
to Snowboard
Series: Part 14 of WordsandWonder's Holiday Fanfic Extravaganza!
Stats: Published: 2017-12-23 Words: 1941

Hitting the Slopes

by WordsandWonder

Summary

After a lot of convincing from his friends, Kid is finally ready to take the plunge and learn
how to snowboard! The fact that his instructor is surprisingly attractive doesn't hurt, either.

Formerly Chapter 15 of WordsandWonder's Holiday Fanfic Extravaganza!

Notes

Hey everybody, so turns out I really hate prompt dumps and the longer my tag list got the
more irritated I became with my decision, so I'm turning the "Extravaganza" into a series!
I'm so sorry that in doing so I'm losing all the lovely comments people left on different
chapters, but it was bugging me too much not to break it apart. I hope you understand and
enjoy the fic!

Oh, those fucking assholes. Thought they were just sooooo funny didn’t they?

“Oh, you don’t know how to ski? No problem, they said. We can hook you up with some lessons
when you get there, they said,” Kid mocked under his breath (breath he could fucking see, by the
way, because it was so goddamn cold out here), as he trudged through the snow to the starting
point or whatever it was called.
He just wanted to get this over with.

“C’mon, Kid, it’s Christmas,” Heat had argued. “And Killer’s been low key trying to get us all to
go skiing for like, years now.”

Kid had waved a hand at himself, indicating his large and heavily muscled frame. “Do I look like
the kinda guy who balances easy on two tiny little twigs?”

“Snowboarding, then!” Wire suggested. “And they even offer lessons at the resort. For Killer,
Kid, please?”

And just how was Kid supposed to say no to that? Except right now as the wind burned twin
spots of angry red onto his usually pale cheekbones, he was very much regretting having said yes.

“Assholes,” he muttered.

“Hey! Mommy! That man said a bad word!”

Kid was startled out of his internal fuming by a high pitched, childish voice tattling on him. What
the hell? What were children doing up on this slope? This was where the adult beginner’s course
was being taught, right? Maybe he’d gotten turned around? Admittedly he’d spent more time
angrily glaring that the pristine whiteness all around him than actually taking in his surroundings
and navigating the area. But no, his paper said to go to the “Bunny” slope, and the sign in front of
him said “Bunny,” so he was in the right place.

“Are you lost?” a silky male voice drawled behind him.

“Uhh, I don’t think so? I’m here for the beginner’s snowboarding lesson?” he replied as he turned
around, before stopping in his tracks.

Even all bundled up against the cold, Kid could tell the guy in front of him was gorgeous. He was
tall and lean, even wrapped as he was in a long winter parka, and the devilish way he was
smirking at Kid was practically shooting a cupid’s arrow through his heart. Maybe this wasn’t
such a bad thing after all…

“I see. Well, then you’re either not terribly bright, or you’re the butt of an interesting joke. This is
the right place for a beginner’s snowboarding lesson, but the “Bunny” slope is usually reserved for
children.”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Kid deadpanned. Oh he was so gonna kill those guys.

“Language, please, or the mommies will complain.” The words were a reprimand, but his tone
was joking as the man gave Kid a long once-over. “You really didn’t take the over abundance of
happy cartoon animals as a hint that you may be heading into a more … youthful territory?”

Kid hoped the brilliant wind-burn on his face was hiding his blush, but he kinda doubted it from
the way the other man’s eyes were dancing as he looked at Kid like he was just the funniest
fucking thing.

“Fine, whatever. So are there adult beginner lessons or not?” he snapped.

“Not, I’m afraid.”

“Well ain’t that just delightful. Great. Well. My asshole friends paid for the lesson, so I guess I’m
gonna take the lesson.”
The man arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow but nodded. “This way, then.”

Kid shrugged and followed the guy, kinda wishing his coat was shorter so he could check out his
ass. It would have been a nice distraction from the now painfully obvious signs that he was in
kiddie territory. There was a sign featuring a cartoon duck warning him to always wear a helmet,
while a fluffy bunny reminded him to stay with a trusted adult. He tried to console himself with
the knowledge that the signs weren’t really in his line of vision, being at eye-level for children, but
it was a weak consolation at best.

“Alright, well, let me get these little ones started and then I’ll figure out what to do with you,” the
man instructed once they reached the designated area. “I’ve never actually tried to teach a grown
man to snowboard, but it probably isn’t that different.”

“Wait, you’re the instructor?”

Sharp silver eyes blinked at him like that was quite possibly the dumbest thing he could have said.
“Obviously. Why on earth would I have approached you otherwise?”

It crossed Kid’s mind that this might be a good time to try being flirty, see if the guy responded at
all, and he opened his mouth to use some line about how the other must have been attracted by
his natural charms or some shit, but the other man cut him off with a raised hand.

“Let me stop you there. Strange men found wandering around the children’s area at a remote ski
resort are not generally my type. I approached you to ensure that you were not some kind of
miscreant. That is all.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kid grumbled. “Who the fuck uses a word like ‘miscreant’?”

The other man ignored him, pointing him toward a bench where he could wait his turn, next to a
cheerful cartoon snowman asking him to keep the slopes clean by using the waste baskets. Cute.
Kid plopped himself down without a fuss. Yeah, his friends were pieces of shit and he was
currently thinking of all the things he could do to ensure no one found their bodies, but he was
already here, and the instructor guy hadn’t even hinted that he should leave, so whatever. They’d
paid for him to take a class, so he was gonna take the damn class. He was doing this for Killer,
after all, and he was reasonably sure that Killer wasn’t in on the joke. So he could deal with some
weird looks and a little embarrassment. Especially if it meant spending some time with that fine-
ass instructor.

When it was finally his turn, he was by all appearances an excellent student. He looked to be
paying rapt attention to everything the instructor, who had finally introduced himself as Law
Trafalgar, said, and he allowed his body to be manipulated into the correct position without
resistance (because who would resist when such an incredibly good-looking guy was putting his
hands all over them?). A model student by all accounts.

In truth he was just staring at the guy’s mouth, but he at least looked like he was paying attention.
This, of course came back to bite him in the ass when Law asked if he had any questions and he
was only able to shake his head. It was kinda hard to have questions about a lesson you hadn’t
heard a single word of.

“Alright, well, this is usually where the parents take over and go down the slope with their
children, but since you seem to be unaccompanied, I suppose …” Law sighed and grabbed his
own snowboard, strapping his boot in and looking at Kid for a long, considering moment. “I
suppose I will have to go down with you this time. Are you ready?”

Kid flashed a lopsided grin at the man and shuffled into position. “Let’s do this.”
“Very well. Oh, and Eustass?”

“Hmm?”

“Do mind the sign.”

Kid rolled his eyes as he turned to where the man was pointing, expecting another cartoon animal
to be abusing the exclamation point as it warned him to follow the buddy system or something.
But the sign Law meant was something different. It was just a plain piece of wood with a simple,
painted message:

Caution: Trees Do Not Move

“Very funny,” Kid drawled. “Are we doing this or what?”

“After you, Mr. Eustass.”

With a whoosh of speed and a cloud of powdery snow, Kid found himself flying down the slope.
Hey, this wasn’t so terrible this was almost …

++++

“Eustass? Eustass, can you hear me?”

Kid groaned and tried to sit up, feeling groggy. What happened? The last thing he remembered
was glancing back to see if the instructor was close behind him on the hill, and now he found
himself flat on his back, freezing, with a killer headache and the other man bent over him, looking
worried.

“Wha-”

“Don’t try to sit up just yet, Eustass. You had a bit of an accident I’m afraid.”

“How long was I out?” he asked, sitting up despite Law’s warning and groaning as the action
made his vision swim.

“Not long,” the other replied, reaching over with a bare hand to sweep some of Kid’s hair out of
his face. “You have quite a bump here, though. No blood, thank goodness.”

“Wha - uh … what happened?” Kid really did want to know how he’d ended up like this, but he
was also becoming increasingly distracted by how close Law suddenly was, and how the man
kept touching all over his face.

“Despite my warning to do so, it seems you did not, in fact, mind the sign I pointed out.”

“The … the tree one?”

“Correct.”
Kid reached up and rubbed his forehead, wincing as he brushed against the bump Law had
mentioned. “Seriously? I ran into a fucking tree. That’s just great.”

“I’m not sure anyone saw you, if that helps? Come on, do you think you can stand? I’ll take you
back to the lodge. We may need to call the doctor.”

Kid struggled to his feet with a grunt of effort. “Nah, I’m fine. Just need to get outta this damn
cold and I’ll be good as new.”

Law didn’t look like he believed him, but followed after Kid anyway, making their way back to
the lodge. Law insisted Kid continue talking to him on the way, listening for any abnormal verbal
ticks or slurring, and they ended up having a pretty decent conversation. The walk back to the
lodge wasn’t a particularly short one, but Kid kept Law entertained with stories of his asshole
friends who had dragged him up here and how he was only doing it for Killer, but that as soon as
they arrived Killer disappeared with some guy called Penguin and none of them had seen him
since.

Law chuckled at at that. “Pen is actually one of my good friends. I was wondering where he’d
gotten off too. I don’t normally work the Bunny hill, I was covering for him.”

“Well lucky me, then, huh?” Kid asked with a grin, pulling open the door to the lodge and
ushering Law in out of the cold. “Where do you normally work?”

“I usually assist in the medical clinic. I’m in med school right now, and the doctor up here is kind
enough to allow me to work with her to gain some practical experience.” As they spoke, Law had
been shedding his outerwear piece by piece, and by the time it was all removed Kid wasn’t even
really listening to him anymore. How could he? When everything he’d imagined about the other
man’s physique was proving to be very, very accurate?

“Well, hey,” he purred seductively, “if it’s practical experience you’re after I can help you out. I
thought I was better, but now I’m feeling pretty woozy. Maybe you should come up to my room
and make sure everything is working properly.”

Kid was a bit surprised when Law enthusiastically agreed, but he definitely wasn’t complaining.
And after an afternoon of getting some very intimate attention from the good doctor, Kid was
feeling a lot more like thanking his friends than killing them. Who knew a ski-trip could be so fun?

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