Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Every Morning, Buggy was always the first to get up.

He never really needed an alarm, unlike the other two residents in their home, his internal alarm clock would always make sure he got up on time.

When he first wakes up, he doesn’t immediately get up, the warm bed and a strong arm wrapped around his torso persuading him back to the land of dreams, but everyday, he would win that battle, fight off the urge to fall back asleep, and then ready himself for the next challenge.

Yeah, that strong arm he’d mentioned before, it’d latched onto him with a vice like grip, and everyday, when Buggy would try to leave its hold, it would clutch him tighter and drag him closer to its owner, who would groan and grumble, not fully awake, frowning and burrowing his nose into Buggy’s hair, refusing to let Buggy leave.

And every morning, buggy would have to pry himself off of his brat of a husband, which was hard work, given how strong the redhead was, and stumble out and away from the bed before he could be dragged back into the prison of sheets and blankets by its clingy warden.

Leaving his spouse behind, who was whining (yes, whining) about the sudden loss of a body next to him, Buggy would yawn while heading to the bathroom, getting ready for the inevitably long day that lay ahead of him, everyday was a long day if you lived with those two.

When he would finally leave the bathroom, hair brushed and up and ready for anything his two idiots threw at him, he got dressed while his husband had seemingly gotten over Buggy leaving while he was in the bathroom and had rolled over to steal the body heat he’d left behind.

It was always quiet at this moment of the morning, Shanks never snored, no, that was Buggy apparently, a loud snorer and someone who supposedly moved a lot in his sleep, Shanks had complained about it, well, complained about it until Buggy told him that if it bothered him so much, he could sleep on the couch then, and Shanks had wisely shut up about it.

So the only sounds in the room was the peaceful breathing of the sleeping redhead and the shuffling of clothes as Buggy got dressed, only broken by some indiscernible muttering from said redhead.

And Buggy, every morning, reveled in the peaceful silence, knowing that later in the day he would be massaging his head from the headache that came from whatever stupid thing that was bound to happen later today.

When Buggy would get done getting dressed, he’d head to the kitchen and the first thing he always did when he got there was start a pot of Coffee, because all three of them definitely needed the lifeblood that was coffee to live through the day (even though he tried to get Uta to stop drinking as much as she did).

Buggy still shudders when he remembers the one time they ran out of coffee. Blood was spilled that day.

And every morning, while the Coffee was brewing, Buggy would either scroll through the channels on the TV or more often, start breakfast.

Sometimes pancakes, sometimes eggs and bacon, sometimes, when he was really feeling crazy, he even made Omelets.

Today he was feeling Omelets, and he grinned as he thought about what stupid thing he was going to put on them with ketchup this time (last time he put screaming faces on them, and had cackled when he watched the other two look guilty every time they took a bite out of the omelet, and Shanks had even apologized to it).

He was thinking about putting cute animals on the Omelets this time, maybe an adorable elephant and dog, or penguin and lion.

So this morning, like almost every other morning, Buggy was stood at the stove, half drunk Coffee set on the counter next to him, filled with the perfect amount of creamer and sugar, not an egregious amount like Shanks used, and not the almost pitch black brew his daughter drank, no, the perfect amount.

Sometimes he wondered to himself if there was something wrong with his daughter, drinking just plain coffee was an atrocity usually reserved for the older folk that had just gotten used to it like that because that’s just what they had in their day and age.

While Buggy honestly didn’t need that much coffee, he almost always only drank about half his mug, Shanks and Uta practically worshiped the ground that Coffee stood on.

And every morning, Buggy would hear the sound of an alarm going off, and then nothing, then a couple minutes later the alarm would start ringing again, and then nothing, and the whole process would repeat until Buggy heard the telltale sound that was Shanks unceremoniously falling off the bed as he finally woke up, and by then Buggy was almost always setting the table.

Buggy would usually be setting the last utensil down when Shanks stumbled into the kitchen, still half asleep, hair mussed and haphazardly dressed, and Shanks would shamble to the table and plop into his chair, lying his head on the table and dozing off again, and wasn’t going to wake up again until food and coffee was placed in front of him.

And Buggy would think to himself that he’s spoiled his husband, who knew that Buggy would always get him his coffee.

And it all because they learned the hard way that a half asleep and one armed Shanks handling a coffee pot was a decidedly bad idea. And Buggy also putting the creamer and sugar in for him, well, there was no other reason than just plain convenience of course, no other reason, he was already pouring the coffee, might as well do the rest.

The sleepy ‘thank you dear’ he always got when he set the coffee down in front of his husband definitely had nothing to do with it, nothing at all.

Every morning, his other idiot would come stumbling in, in the same manner her father had done earlier, and would ignore everything and everyone as she made a bee-line for the coffee and poured herself a huge a cup and would practically chug it down, and would then pour herself another cup that she would bring over to the table to sip on throughout breakfast.

Buggy and Shanks had tried to get her to drink less coffee, but it was a losing battle.

And so, thanks to coffee, Shanks and Uta would surface to the land of the living by the time Buggy placed plates that held Omelets in front of them (Buggy decided to go with an Elephant and Penguin, while his had a cute little lion) that he gleefully dug into as he watched the two redheads share a look with each other, and then they hesitantly also took a bite of their omelet, conflicting emotion on their faces that ranged from sorrowful to guilty appreciativeness because the omelet tasted so good.

This would make Buggy’s day, the sadistic bastard he was.

While they ate, Shanks and Uta would bicker about something or the other, this or that, and oftentimes they would both suddenly turn to Buggy and ask who was right, and Buggy would in turn bop them both on the head with his fist and tell them to quit arguing and get along.

One day, Shanks, after getting bopped on the head for saying something that was definitely stupid, had muttered something about Buggy being another Rayliegh, and while he’d still gotten another bop to the head for that, Buggy had taken it as a compliment.

And every morning, when breakfast was done, plates would be set in the sink for Buggy to clean later and Shanks would be getting ready to leave for work, getting his shoes on and grabbing papers and other important files that he would stuff messily into his suitcase.

And just as he was about to leave, every morning, Buggy would sigh at the sorry sight of his husband and go up to him and fix up his hair that was an atrocity, straighten out his rumbled suit and fix his tie, then give him a once over and once he gave his approval, Shanks could walk out the door.

And every morning after he did this, Shanks would quickly kiss his cheek in thanks, with Uta yelling ew every time she saw them, and then wave goodbye as he headed out, always saying ‘see you later, love you’.

And a bit later, Uta was heading out to school, and every morning Buggy would have to remind her to grab her homework that she left on the coffee table last night, and she’d go and grab it and then head out, stuffing the papers in her bag while saying, ‘bye Dad, love you.’

Every time, Buggy always replied to the both of them with an ‘love you too,’ and then he’d have the whole house to himself until they got back.

And every morning, Buggy would enjoy the peace and quiet.

But, and he would ever tell them this, even though it could be crazy and loud and hectic, Buggy secretly loved every morning with them.

Chapter Text

Shanks was a lot like Roger, personality wise, the two of them were very similar, confident, outgoing, stubborn and determined, but also similar in more… irritating ways too.

Which was why Buggy wasn’t terribly surprised to receive a call at almost midnight from one Benn Beckmen.

“Again?” was all Buggy asked.

There was a long-suffering sigh from the other end of the phone, “again.”

“I’ll come pick him up,” Buggy said resignedly, already getting dressed.

Benn gave his thanks and hung up, leaving Buggy to get ready and head out the door, only stopping when Uta stumbled out of her room half asleep asking where he was going.

“Your idiot father,” was all he said, and she nodded, immediately knowing, seeing as this was a common occurrence, and headed back to bed.

He grabbed the keys on the way out and headed towards the car, opening it up and sat inside, turning it on. It turned on with a growl as Buggy turned on the headlights and backed out of the driveway onto the road, heading in the direction he knew Shanks was.

Buggy had known it would probably be something like this when it had reached the half past ten mark and Shanks still wasn’t home, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t hold out hope that he wouldn’t have to go out in the middle of the night to pick up his half conscious drunk ass and drag it back him, but in the end, here he was.

Just like the late Roger, Shanks seemed to have taken a liking to the feeling alcohol gave him, and probably also the atmosphere that came with going to the bar with buddies after a long hard work day and winding down with friends by your side and booze in your hand.

And while Buggy could also admit to enjoying a drunken celebration from time to time, especially with Alvida and Galdino and his other pals, Shanks and his work buddies took it to another level, Shanks usually being the instigator when it happened, urging his fellow work-mate to come to the bar with him for, ‘just a few drinks, a few, that’s all,’ which always seemed to turn to just a few more drinks, then many more drinks, and then a tired Buggy having to come pick up his idioctic husband in the middle of the night because he’s passed out on a bar stool and can’t get home on his own.

And while this habit of Shanks wasn’t at the point of worrying, it did happen often enough that all the bartenders that worked at the bar knew both Shanks and Buggy’s names, and most gave him sympathetic smiles everytime he appeared there to bring his very drunk spouse home.

Thank god Shanks had someone like Benn as his best friend, or else the man would’ve died the moment Buggy took his eyes off him.

Shanks had met Benn before him and Buggy had reconnected after years of no contact with each other, and when Shanks had introduced him to Benn, at first he was indifferent to Buggy, maybe even a little cautious and cold, but then when he learned that Buggy was actually competent, unlike his very incompetent partner, they’d bonded over the idiocy of their redhead and while sharing a drink together.

And, while wholefully inebriated, Benn had admitted to Buggy that he was grateful that Shanks had someone who was reliable and could take care of him, and Buggy responded with him saying that he was glad Shanks had a friend like him while Buggy wasn’t there.

Then Buggy had laughed hard enough that water came out of nose as they traded stories where Shanks had been an idiot, yeah… that had been a good night.

Buggy pulled into the very familiar looking Bar, and parked in one of the few empty spots left, seemed like it was a popular night to go drinking, or Shanks had managed to rope that many people into coming with him, if Buggy was being honest, it was probably the latter.

Buggy turned off the ignition and got out of car and stood there for a moment, rubbing at a scratch the marred the otherwise smooth red car, Uta had done that riding a bike for the first time, Buggy actually had a video of the whole thing, he was recording when Shanks had let go of her bike, so she was riding by herself for the first time without training wheels, and she’d somehow managed to do a complete U-turn and veer straight into their car before Shanks could grab her, scratching it in the process.

Buggy smiled at the memory now, even while remembering how distraught he’d been at their new car already getting a scratch in it.

Then he walked to the door of the bar, and he could hear loud talking, laughing and lots of movement even while just standing outside.

Then he shivered, and realized it was colder outside tonight than he had thought, which meant he didn’t bring a jacket, so he opened the door and walked inside, it creaked while he did so, like it always did, and he always hoped it would be fixed the next time he came here, but it never was.

Inside was rowdy, with men and women laughing and shouting at overall acting like a bunch of drunk people letting loose, which made sense, seeing as that’s exactly what it was.

It didn’t take long took locate the mop of red hair that his husband had, and Buggy headed over there, receiving lots of greeting as he did so

“Hey Buggy, come to pick up that husband of yours aye?” Yasopp asked, grinning, Buggy nodded in reply, and Yasopp laughed at his annoyed expression.

“Buggy, come drink with us, it’ll be fun,” a very drunk Roux said as he gulped down some more beer, and Buggy told him maybe next time.

“Hah, Shanks couldn’t hold nearly as much liquor as me,” Limejuice bragged to him, but all Buggy could think about was how weird a nickname, or actual name, that was. Not to say his wasn’t weird, his name was Buggy for christ’s sake, but Limejuice, really?

Then Makino appeared in front of him, drinks in her hands and bright smile on her face, “hey Buggy dear, here to take Shanks home?” She asked as she handed Limejuice another drink, which he promptly started to chug.

“Yeah, Benn called to tell me my sorry excuse of a husband needed to be taken home.” Buggy replied, frowning.

Makino laughed lightly at that, “well, Shanks is lucky to have you.”

“You bet he is,” Buggy muttered.

Makino’s smile grew at his response as she walked away to take a customer’s order, and Buggy continued forward until he reached where Shanks was currently sitting, slumped over on the counter and head resting on an arm that still held a mug with some liquid still in it.

Benn stood next to him, leaning on the counter and scrolling on his phone, he looked up when he noticed Buggy was there, not looking the least bit inebriated, even though Buggy was sure he’d also had some sort of alcohol.

He imagined Benn, big scary six foot tall Benn, holding a colorful margarita in a wine glass with a little tiny umbrella in it and almost snorted out loud at the image of it.

“He’s out like a light,” told him, “have fun trying to get him home.” Shanks snorted in his sleep when Benn said that, as if he was confirming what he said.

Buggy rolled his eyes as he leaned down to Shanks, “oi, wake up, we’re heading home.” When he didn’t react, Buggy shook his shoulder, and when that didn’t work, Buggy shook both his shoulders, violently, as hard as possible.

Shanks head fell back against Buggy’s chest as he groaned, cracking open his eyes, and when he looked up and saw Buggy, a dopey smile appeared on his face.

“Buggy, what're yer doin’ here,” He asked, slurred, he clumsily twisted around in his stool and hugged Buggy with his one arm around his waist, almost falling out of his seat as he so, “I loooove ya so much, ya know that.”

Shanks became even more affectionate when he was drunk, which was saying something, seeing how he was already overly affectionate while sober.

Buggy gripped Shanks under his shoulder and started to pull him up, “yeah yeah, I know, you say it all the time,” Buggy replied as he started to drag a mostly limp Shanks out of the bar, Benn waved goodbye after them.

“See you the next time Shanks passes out drunk at the bar,” he called behind them.

“Shouldn’t be too long then,” Buggy replied without looking back, but he didn’t miss the snort that Benn made at that.

Everyone called goodbye as the two of them walked out, Limejuice challenged Shanks to another drinking contest, and Buggy had to physically drag Shanks away before he agreed.

Makino even managed to say goodbye to the two of them before she was called away again, busy with how many people were there tonight.

Getting Shanks in the car had been a struggle, he kept moving around and banging in the sides of the car door, and then Buggy even had to buckle him in like he was five because he kept failing to get his seat belt on by himself, which, seeing as he was drunk and only had one arm, kind of made sense.

The drive home had mostly been silent, which made Buggy assume Shanks had just conked out again, that is, until Shanks suddenly turned to look at him, looking slightly more sober than before, but still clearly inebriated.

“I like to tell you that I love you,” Shanks stated suddenly.

“What?” Buggy asked, surprised at the sudden proclamation, he gave Shanks a side-eye, not taking his eyes off the road.

“You said I say it all the time,” Shanks started, “but that’s because you deserve to know how much I love you, and anyways, sometimes I think I need to remind you that I love you, or you’ll forget, and leave again.”

Buggy sighed, and tried to fight down the guilty feeling crawling up his throat. “Shanks, I promise you I’m not leaving again, I can’t. You caught me, hook, line and sinker the moment you asked me to marry you.”

He was caught by Shanks, and couldn’t leave, and didn’t want to leave for that matter.

The headlights of a passing car suddenly illuminated the two of them, and Buggy, head tilted and eyes half-lidded like he was about to fall asleep, and the soft smile he was giving Buggy, seeming truly happy to hear Buggy's words.

Buggy was suddenly glad that it was dark enough that Shanks couldn’t see the blush heating his face.

Why did Buggy have to be so god damn expressive!

Then, another car passed them, and Buggy saw that gentle smile turn to a shit-eating grin, and Shanks said, “Besides, I like how flustered you get when I say it, did you know that when you blush it goes all the way to your neck?”

Dammit, he wanted a divorce.

And also to have his hands free so he could throttle Shanks. But alas, his hands were full making sure they didn't crash.

So instead he just stuck with, “fuck you, you prick, I’ll suffocate you in your sleep tonight.”

Shanks just laughed at his totally real threat.

The rest of the car ride was uneventful, with soft, even breaths coming from Shanks signifying he was actually really asleep this time, and wouldn’t suddenly start pouring his heart out to Buggy again.

What Shanks had said rang through his head, making sure the guilty feeling in his chest didn’t dissipate.

He wasn’t sorry he left all those years ago, after Roger had died, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel guilty for how it had affected Shanks.

Well, he was always a naturally selfish person he supposed, only thinking about himself, unlike Shanks, who was a naturally selfless person, too caring sometimes.

How did mister perfect fall in love with his worthless ass, he’ll never know, but apparently he did, and now they’re married and live together with their daughter.

Oh how strange the world works sometimes.

He pulled into their driveway and woke Shanks up, helping the practically asleep man into the house and torwards their bedroom. It was well past now and Buggy was exhausted and ready to collapse into bed, but first he had to help his husband get out of his nasty clothes and into something actually clean.

Was having a husband like having another overgrown child for everyone?

When he finally got Shanks situated, opting to just get pants on him and not even trying for a shirt, he changed into his own pajamas once again and finally plopped down into bed, Shanks arm immediately snaking around his waist and pulling him closer.

It was always such a pain to have to drag Shanks back, but he really did choose to do this when he agreed to marry the man didn’t he, knowing full well what his drinking habits were like.

Well whatever, Buggy was just grateful he didn’t have to deal with vomit this time around.

Shanks shifted behind him, and Buggy felt him rest his head on his back.

“I love you,” Shanks murmured to him.

“...I love you too,” Buggy replied after a moment.

Yeah, this man had managed to catch him… hook, line and sinker.

Chapter Text

The fourth member of their chaotic family joined them on a rainy night.

Shanks and Uta, the crazy bastards they were, decided they still wanted to go jogging even though it was pouring out there. Buggy, being the only sensible one in the trio, readily declines their invitation when he hears the harsh droplets start drumming against their roof, and he tries, key word tries, to get the two redheads not to go out jogging in the middle of a storm…

But they’ve never listened to him before, so why would they now, why would they listen to Buggy making perfect sense when they could go out in the middle of a freaking rainstorm and get hit by lightning and die.

He wasn’t bitter about it, no siree, not one single bit.

So while they were out freezing and getting drenched, he plopped himself down in front of the tv, delicious mug of Hot Chocolate in his hand, warm blanket in his lap, and cozied up while he watched the latest drama he was hooked on.

After a while, Hot chocolate long gone and lap just a tad too hot from the blanket resting on it, Buggy checked the time on his phone and realized that Shanks and Uta had been gone for a while, longer than they usually would be when they went on jogs, which usually lasted about an hour at most, but now it was reaching the hour thirty mark and they still hadn’t returned.

While slightly concerning, Buggy wasn’t too worried, those two could take care of themselves, those two were big kids, they didn’t need Buggy to constantly hold their hands everywhere. They probably just lost track of time or ducked somewhere to get out of the rain for a little bit.

Buggy only really started to worry when it reached the two hour mark and they still hadn’t returned, and the rain was steadily getting worse, lightning lighting up the darkness outside and thunder reverberating through the house a moment later.

He couldn't even enjoy his show because he was worried, damn them, he was going to give them a talking too, and maybe a fist to the head to really get it through their thick skulls not to worry him when they got back.

It reached the two ten mark.

Then when it reached the two twenty mark, Buggy was pulling his shoes and coat on.

And when it reached two hours and thirty minutes and they still hadn’t returned, Buggy was reaching towards the door, umbrella in hand and ready to brave the storm to look for his two idiots. They were probably fine, those two had luck on their side, something Buggy was not graced with.

And both sides of the coin proved to be true as the door suddenly swung open and smacked Buggy in the face, causing him to tumble backwards, his butt smacking harshly on the hardwood floor.

Shanks paused as he held onto the doorknob, blinking down at Buggy in surprise.

Buggy’s eye twitched as he yelled, “help me up you idiot!” And Shanks scrambled into action, holding his one arm out to help Buggy onto his feet and dusting him off as he apologized profusely… while also looking like he was trying not to laugh, the asshole.

Uta wasn’t so discreet, outright laughing at him as she walked inside.

“You better shut up, because this is your fault, do you realize how long you guys were gone?” Buggy said, glaring at them as they both shook their heads, “long enough that I was about to go looking for you, that’s how long it was.”

Shanks and Uta noticed just then the blue raincoat he had on and the black umbrella he still held in his hand.

He muttered angrily, patting his sore rump as they both looked away guiltily, he tsked, “what the hell were you two even doing, huh? Something stupid probably, I should’ve just continued watching TV, seeing as you two were doing just fine while I was fretting about you two lying dead in a ditch somewhere.”

Shanks smiled that smile, you know the one, at him, “aw, you were worried about us?” he asked, and Uta snickered as he tried not to blush, “look, he cares about us,” she added on teasingly.

And Buggy wasn’t going to stand for this, he could play the same game they were playing, “of course I was worried, you’re my dear husband and daughter aren’t you?” He said sweetly, playing it up as much as possible.

Uta gave him a deadpan look, knowing full well what he was trying, but he didn’t miss the small smile she had when she looked away, so he knew he’d won.

And really, Shanks was worse than Buggy was, whenever he reciprocated even the smallest amount of affection that Shanks would shoot at him, instead of his usual indignant response to his advances. Shanks would stand there for a moment, as if processing what Buggy said, and then he would suddenly become beet red, and his expression would shift to that of a dog that just got praised by their owner, so much happiness that they couldn’t contain it and looking like they were about to burst from the overflowing emotion.

Which Shanks did, he rushed forward and brought Buggy in for a death hug, squeezing the life out of the poor blue haired sap who fruitlessly tried to squirm out of man’s grasp. How someone with one arm could be so strong Buggy will never know.

“Let… go of me… you- you idiot!” He managed to say with the last of his breath, then he died.

Okay, he didn’t die, but he was close to death when Shanks finally released him, laughing, “sorry, sorry, I just get so happy whenever I’m reminded of what a great husband I have.”

Buggy rolled his eyes at that, but couldn’t contain the slight blush that dusted his cheeks, ugh, damn Shanks and his openly affectionate self, and Buggy even knew part of the reason he did it was to tease Buggy, but it still worked, and Buggy hated that.

And Shanks, Buggy decided, he also hated Shanks too.

“Ew, get a room,” Uta told them, looking disgusted.

Shanks grinned, knowing that he’d won, then Buggy watched as that grin suddenly turned to an uncomfortable grimace and Shanks suddenly started to flail around.

“What are you doing?” Buggy asked, confused as to why Shanks abruptly started to dance around, laughing uncontrollably, and Uta rushed over to pat him down.

“N- no, stop that- that tickles,” he was saying to coat, and that’s when Buggy noticed, there was a little lump in his coat, moving around.

“WHAT DO YOU HAVE,” he screeched, “DID YOU BRING AN ANIMAL INTO THE HOUSE!?”

Shanks and Uta paused, and the two turned their heads to look at him sheepishly, and Buggy eyes widened in partly surprise and partly outrage as Shanks slowly unzipped his coat to reveal… the ugliest dog Buggy had ever seen.

“Wha… what is that thing?” Buggy asked, horrified.

“Obviously it’s a dog,” Uta said as Shanks tried to pet it while cooing at it, “aren’t you an adorable little thing, yes you are, yes you are.” It bit his hand, and Shanks didn’t even flinch, still smiling as he baby talked to it.

The dog looked at Shanks like he was crazy, rightfully so.

“We found the poor thing while we were out jogging, all sopping wet and shivering in the rain, it looked so scared, we just had to rescue it.” Uta was saying, she booped its nose, and it bit her finger, and like father like daughter, she didn’t react at all.

(In actuality the dog had not been shivering with fear at all, instead with unbridled anger, and had fought viciously when Shanks had grabbed it, not that Buggy was there to know that or that Shanks and Uta were aware of that.)

The dog looked at him with an expression that said, ‘what is with these two, are they complete idiots?’

Buggy responded with the same look and nodded; he never knew he could relate so much with a dog.

Shanks and Uta suddenly turned from the dog to stare at him instead with puppy dog eyes, somehow looking more like dogs than the actual dog they were currently holding.

“Can we keep it, please?” Shanks and Uta asked, still giving him those pleading looks, “at least until the rain stops?”

Shanks held up the dog to him, and the dog, which Buggy could now plainly see was a girl, growled at him, she was Mangy, muddy and crusty enough that Buggy couldn’t see what color her bristly fur was. She was a small dog, but Buggy couldn’t actually tell what sort of mutt she was, same reason as to why he couldn't tell her fur color, she was just too dirty.

The look she gave him was one full of hate, of not just him, but of the world, of the world that put her at a disadvantage from the moment she was born, small, weak and constantly at odds with everything around her.

She was unlucky, had to fight tooth and nail to survive in this world that said the strongest would survive, the lucky ones, but even so, she came out on top in the end, no matter what, because she knew that, knew she needed to fight harder than others, and she did, fought with everything she had, to be equal with those lucky enough to be strong.

And all in all, this little mangy dog reminded Buggy of himself in a way.

He sighed, “fine, but only until the rain lets up, and you two are giving her a bath, I’m not gonna have mud tracking all over my house,” he glanced at the two of them and then at the floor, where they were dripping water everywhere, “actually, all three of you need a bath, so go do that.”

Shanks and Uta cheered, thinking their ridiculous puppy dog eyes plea worked, no, that never worked on him, it was the glare he’d gotten from the dog that had made him cave, a glare that had mirrored his own.

As they walked the dog off, Buggy could hear vicious snarls coming from the dog, and he also knew Shanks and Uta weren’t fazed one bit, they were never phased when Buggy acted like that, so that little mutt wasn’t going to affect them one little bit.

Turns out she was white, not a pure white, maybe she had once been, but years of being on the dirty seemed to have permanently stained her fur.

They did end up keeping her after all, which Buggy had a feeling would happen the moment he saw the mangy thing, no matter how much he said they wouldn’t.

At first, she still acted skittish and vicious, biting and clawing at anyone that came near her, not that that stopped Shanks and Uta, Buggy kept his distance though, he wasn’t built like those two, but little by little, the two idiots chipped away at the dogs wall, unswayed by the rough and ugly exterior she had.

And at some point, whenever she would bite them, there wasn’t any real, excuse the pun, bite behind it, it seemed more out of habit and a way to seem tough than anything else.

One morning, Buggy, as usual had woken up before anyone and headed to the kitchen and found her lying on the ground, she had one eye open and trained it on him as he bent to scratch the top of her head, grinning at her.

Uta wanted to name her Poofball, but…

“Guess they won you over too, aye Lucky?” he asked her.

And she flicked her ear at him, the one that had a chunk ripped off it, as if in confirmation, and gave him a look that said ‘they were stubborn as hell.’

Buggy was grateful to finally have another sane pers- er dog, in this family.

“Gotta agree with you there,” Buggy affirmed, then stood up to start some coffee.

And that was how they met the fourth member of their family.

Chapter Text

Even before Uta had been born, there's been an old playground near her home, with a pale yellow slide that had probably been a bright yellow once, a crooked merry go round that didn’t spin correctly, a metal seesaw that all the kids thought they would fall off of because of how high it went, and little animals that you could ride back and forth on, three, to be exact, and a weird mix of animals at that.

There was a little pink dragon with a cheeky expression adorning it’s face, an adorable reindeer with a cute tophat on, and much newer than the other two, a majestic lion with a cheerful grin adorning its face, very similar to a certain someone she knew.

And right now, Uta sat on her absolute favorite piece of the playground, swinging back and forth on the old rusty swing set that squeaked every time it moved. Of course, she was a bit to big for them now, but that didn’t stop her whatsoever.

It was such a nice day today, a bright blue sky that was a beautiful background for perfect puffy white clouds and a nice breeze that gently swayed the green leaves on the trees surrounding the playground.

Uta sat there, peacefully whistling some odd tune she made up as she pushed herself back and forth on the swing, the squeaking of the swing interrupting her tune at every other interval.

The serene silence surrounding her was nothing short of bliss, it felt like all the tension was slowly seeping from her body as she slowly swung back and forth, back and forth.

“Man, this place is so much more run down then I remember.”

Uta startled at the sudden interruption of silence that came from the voice, her tune ending off in an awkward note. She turned her head to look at the source of the voice, and leaning on the railing circled along the playground was an older man, long white hair running down his back, and a strange beard adorning his face, his beady eyes stared at her from behind round glasses.

It was slightly chilly out, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that he was wearing a white jacket over an orange shirt. What was strange though was that he was wearing sandals, and his ridiculous looking pants, no not pants, Kapris that only went down to just above his thighs. Pea soup colored and splotchy, Uta was just going to say it, they were ugly.

“You must be pretty old then, old man, because this place has been like this for as long as I can remember.” She could almost physically feel her Dads fist on her head because of a comment like that.

But the white haired man didn’t even bat an eyelash at Uta’s crudeness, that lazy grin he had never leaving his face. “It has been a while since I’ve been here,” he replied, looking away from her and staring at the slide, his grin softening as he seemed to imagine something uta couldn’t see.

Uta’s curiosity peaked, “how come it’s been such a long time since you visited?” She asked him as she continued swinging and he continued to lean on the railing, neither of them feeling like moving or getting closer to make it easier to talk.

“Hmm,” he hummed, “life, I suppose, I got caught up in it.”

A vague answer, but an answer Uta sort of understood all the same.

“Yeah, life can be crazy sometimes, especially if you’re surrounded by crazy people.”

The white haired man raised an eyebrow at that, “well, you don’t seem to so normal yourself.” he stated bluntly.

“Never said I was,” Uta shot back immediately.

The man laughed at that, “you got me there.” He said as he reached into his jacket and took out a flask, popping it open and taking a swig from the contents inside it.

“Your laugh sounds evil.”

He choked on whatever he was drinking, pulling the flask away from himself, sputtering and coughing, “you really speak your mind, don’t you girl?” he asked, wheezing.

She proudly pointed a finger at herself, “got that from my dear old Pops.”

“I think it’s a good trait to have, even if it will definitely lead you to trouble at times.”

Uta punched the air, smirking, “I can handle anything the world throws at me, I’m stronger than I look.” her Pops and Dad made sure of that, they made sure she could handle any of the hurdles she crossed paths with.

The man didn’t say anything to that, just grinned wider. He shifted, moving the arm that was holding the flask so that it was dangling over the railing.

“Sooo,” Uta started, as the swing once again squealed its displeasure from being used, “you said you haven’t been here in a long time, what brought you back?”

The man half shrugged, “I was in town and decided to drop by this old place,” one again, his grin softened into something akin to a smile, “brings back lots of nostalgic memories, this place. My boys used to play here all the time.” He took another swig from his flask. Uta wouldn’t be surprised if it contained something alcoholic.

“You’re a dad?”

“Eh, it’s a bit more complicated than that,” The man stated mysteriously.

Uta looked at him, alarmed, “you didn’t kidnap them, did you?” She asked him.

He looked her dead in the eye, never losing that grin, as He said, “maybe I did.”

Well, it looks like Uta was having a conversation with a possible kidnapper, in a remote location, with nobody around, just her luck.

Well maybe her Dad’s luck, actually, his unluckiness might’ve rubbed off on her from spending too much time around him.

Then the man suddenly laughed, “joking, I’m joking.”

Uta looked at him suspiciously, he didn’t sound like he was joking just a moment ago.

He just grinned at her.

“You know…” he started all of a sudden, then didn’t say anything.

“What is it, old man,” Uta asked, flabbergasted.

“Ha, you really do seem like them.” Was his odd reply.

“What does that even mean!?”

The man stood up and stretched, “It’s getting late,” he said, completely ignoring what she just asked, which, rude.

But when Uta looked up, she could see he was right. Orange and red hues colored the sky as the sun started to set.

“Well, I’ve gotta go kid, got an unannounced visit to get too, it’s gonna be great.” The man said as he started walking away, drinking from his flask again, “Maybe I’ll see you again one day, if fate wants it to be so.”

And as he disappeared from her line of sight, Uta felt that she would see that strange man again, one day, even if she didn’t even know his name.

Turns out, one day was sooner than she thought.

Uta fumbled around the bags she was holding as she awkwardly opened the door to her home, scooching the rest of it open with her back.

“I’m home,” she called as she walked inside, shutting the door close with her foot and going to set the groceries her Dad had asked her to get on the counter.

"Man, I met the weirdest guy today, I fairly certain he was-" but her sentence sputtered out when she got to the kitchen as she was met with a surprise. Seated at the table were three individuals.

One was her Pops, and he turned to look at her, the brightest smile she’d ever seen adorning his face.

Second was her Dad, who didn’t look at her, too busy glaring at the third person sitting at the table.

And the third person, which Uta could say she was so stunned to see, she almost dropped the back she was holding, just grinned at her.

Her Pops was practically bouncing in his chair, “Uta, look, it’s Rayleigh.” He said to her, as if she was supposed to know who Rayleigh was.

“Yeah, it’s Rayleigh,” Uta barely heard her Dad mutter bitterly under his breath.

And the man, whose name was apparently Rayleigh, and definitely the man who Uta had talked to at the park, pulled out his flask, took a swig of it, and said to her, “guess fate wanted it to be huh?”

Uta just blinked, “huh?” Was her brilliant response.

“Are you seriously drinking right now!?”

“Can you pass me some of that?”

“SHANKS!”

Lucky, laying at the foot of her Dads seat, just looked up at her with an expression that said, "hey, I have no idea what going on either."

Chapter Text

“Huh, it’s Rayleigh,” Uta repeated what her Dad and Pops said, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to her very excited father, who grinned at her with the excitement of a young child just given the best present.

Her more irritable… and well, now hypocrital father, grabbed the flask Rayleigh had been drinking from, and took a big swig of it himself. Both Shanks and Rayleigh laughed at that. Uta felt something paw at her leg and looked down to see Lucky give her a, 'well, are you going to pick me up or not' look. So Uta did and sat her on her lap. They both watched on in interest.

Buggy slammed the drink down and continued to glare at the silver haired man, eyebrow raised judgmentally.

“You’ve changed, you old geezer.” Buggy finally said, a hint of bitterment in his voice. And Uta turned to look at the older man, wondering how he was like when he was younger, actually, she was also now how her Dad and Pops were like as kids too.

…Probably not much different than they are now.

Rayleigh chuckled at her Dad’s words, “Age does strange things to a man.” He went for his flask, but Buggy pulled it back out of his reach. Rayleigh didn’t seem phased whatsoever, just smirking at Buggy’s seemingly hostile behavior, leaning back on his chair and propping it up on it’s two back legs.

Buggy rolled his eyes, “amazing, I’m sooo glad to see life is going soo great for you.”

“Thank you.” Was all that Rayleigh said, which was enough to set off her Dad’s already short fuse. He threw himself forward, probably to choke out Rayleigh.

“Rayleigh!” Shanks interjected, either to stop a fight from breaking out or he truly didn’t feel the tension in the room that was thick enough to cut with a knife. Knowing her Pops, she’d bet the latter.

Really though, why was Dad so angry at this Rayleigh guy? what did he do to get him acting like this? Was it actually something worth getting angry over, or was it just Dad get angry at something small and stupid again.

It was really hard to tell sometimes.

Throwing a shoulder over Uta, he grinned widely, “you haven’t met our beautiful, talented, amazing daughter Uta yet!”

Uta threw her hand up in the air and posed, using everything her Dad taught her.

Even though they had already met, it was never too late to give a lasting impression. Lucky copied her action, because she was indeed he best dog.

Buggy paused his murderous intentions at his Daughter and husbands dramatic display, leaning back with a huff and shaking his head, but Uta could see the hint of an affectionate smile on his face, though it slid off quickly the moment Rayleigh opened his mouth.

“Haha, I’ve actually met her already, interesting kid you’ve got there, red and blue.”

Both men look surprised at that, “how’d you meet her already?” Shanks asked, leaning forward, and while Buggy didn’t say anything, he looked just as curious.

“Well, I met this interesting young lady in the old park you used to play in, she stood out to me immediately, so I went to talk to her… heh, I saw your bullheadedness Shanks and your snark Buggy from the first word that came out of her mouth.” What are the chances you happen to run into someone your parents used to know, small world huh.

Shanks smiled softly, “the old playground huh, ahhh Buggy, do you remember all the good times we had there with the Oro Jackson crew. They always scared off all the other kids!”

Buggy grinned, taking another sip of Rayleigh’s flask, how much of that has he had? “I would never forget the looks on those little twerps faces when Roger asked them if they wanted to play with us, ahhh, please don’t hurt us! Have all our toys, pleaseee! The fear in their eyes brought tears of joy to my own!”

Shanks squinted down at the table, as if playing out a scene on it Uta couldn't see, “now I’m remembering how they never wanted to play tag with me… it was always so strange.”

Rayleigh snorted, “that’s because you don’t know your own strength boy, everytime you whacked them on the back they flew into the neighbor next to ours!”

…Yep, they haven’t changed one bit huh. Uta scratched Lucky behind the ear and the dog rumbled happily

Buggy laughed at that, and slapped Rayleigh on the shoulder… Uta tilted her head and studied him, hmm yeah his cheeks looked a little flushed.

…what was in that flask?

The other three exchanged looks, all simultaneously deciding that a drunk Buggy was a thousand times better than an angry grudge holding Buggy. He let go of all his grievances whenever he got a little liquor in him.

Though, Uta defintely had some questions, like, who exactly was Rayleigh and why has he never been mentioned before? Why was her Dad so mad at him? Really like actually what is in that flask? Her parents past was like a well kept secret locked away in an impenetrable safe, even Pops didn't talk about too much, mostly he talks about Roger, Uta thinks he's just a really big fan of the famous man.

And while it was hard to curb her curiosity, because she was really, really, curious, their mood, especially her Dad’s, was so good right now, and she had a feeling these questions would probably sour it. So she could ask another time. Right now, she was going to enjoy the chaos Rayleigh was bringing with him. Besides, she had a feeling she might learn some stuff even without asking those questions.

“Did you know I’m married now?” That was not something she was expecting to learn.

“Whaaaaattt!!!???”

Throughout the night, Uta learned a couple things about her parents past. One, her Dad and Rayleigh had been pretty close when they were younger, two Rayleigh’s wife was very pretty, and three, she learned where her Dad got his head bonking technique from when him and Pops got into some sort of argument about the north and south pole, and Rayleigh used the technique on them that she’s felt many times in the past.

Oh and also that he used to be part of a crew that was led by the Gold D. Roger, and that apparently Her parents had grown up with them, yep, there was that too.

She was totally going to grill them about this later. Because seriously, how did she not know this? How was her Pops so tight lipped about it... actually, he wasn't really, he talked about the Oro Jackson all the time, she'd just assumed he was talking about it from an outside perspective.

Later that night, after she’d long gone to bed, Buggy had busted out the liquor for a drinking contest, and she could not drink, i.e it was boring now and she, ugh, had homework to anyways. She woke up to go to the bathroom.

As she stumbled down the hallways, half asleep and tripping over everything, she heard voices coming from the living room.

Her nosiness woke her and up she so totally one hundred percent stealthily crept up to the edge of the hall and peeked around.

Buggy and Shanks sat on the sofa, well, Buggy sat on the sofa, Shanks was slumped over his shoulder and was drooling on him, passed out, someone had put a blanket over him.

Rayleigh sat on their recliner, leaned back and seat popped up, legs splayed out on it. Lucky sat on his lap, as he scratched her him. Looks like she got a new favorite human, see if Uta ever brought her any treats anymore. Oh, him and Buggy seemed to be talking about something.

“You’ve changed too,” Rayleigh said and Buggy raised an eyebrow at that.

“Really?” Buggy replied sceptically, Uta was also sceptical, from the stories earlier , it sounded like he hadn't changed one bit.

Rayleigh nodded, “when you were younger, you hid behind your red haired brat like a shadow, like an urchin hiding under a reef pricking everything that tried to get close to you.”

Buggy sighed and shifted as Shanks snorted at something in his dream. Uta yawned, sliding down to the floor and got comfortable, “Shanks is like the damn sun, him and Roger and that annoying brat… all of them have this… something, to them. That I don’t have.”

“For years it’s felt like all I do is get dragged along by them, just a small figment to their story, never meant to have my own spotlight.”

Rayleigh raised and eyebrow at him, “hmmm, and now?”

“… at some point I came to the realization that I was still hiding, even when there was no Shanks, or Roger. I’m supposed to be a flashy guy y’know? Besides, I'm married to the guy, equality in marriage and blah blah blah all that. And have a kid, one that can catch the attention of the room even more than Shanks or Roger, and I'm so proud of her for that. Y'know, she got her flshiness from me.

Rayleigh grinned at that, Uta smiled happily, she wanted the whole world to see her one day, but knowing her Dad did, well, that meant more than words can ever possibly say

There was a moment of silence, one long enough that Uta almost fell asleep again.

Then, “you left us, y’know.” Her Dad souded hurt when he said this.

“You left first,” Rayleigh seemed to gently remind, not accusatory, simply fact.

“...you never visited.”

“...I did not.” It was hard to tell with Rayleigh, but Uta could hear a hint of regret in the usually smiling mans voice.

Buggy looked away, “Shanks really missed you, Old geezer, you know how needy he is.”

Rayleigh huffed softly, “I’m sure Shanks did.”

“And he’ll definitely want you to come visit again.”

“I do have a granddaughter I need to spoil now.”

“y-yeah, that’s right.” Uta heard sniffling coming from her Dad’s direction. Rayleigh, with a creak and a groan from both his chair and himself, got up and walked over to Buggy.

He ruffled his blue hair, causing it to go all over the place.

“Guess I’ll have to come over more often huh?”

And Uta heard a watery ‘mhm’ in reply.

-

Shanks snorted awake, blearily looking around, he yawned as he saw Rayleigh by the door. The silver haired man winked when he saw Shanks was awake.

“I promised my wife I’d be back before tomorrow,” he whispered.

Shanks blinked sleepily, then he said, “are ya doin’ good?”

Rayleigh paused, then smiled, “better than I have in a good while.”

Shanks gave a thumbs up at that and Rayleigh laughed softly, closing the door behind him.

Shanks sat there for a moment, then he got up, picking up a Buggy who’d been splayed over him, snoring like a foghorn and walking towards their room.

On the way he saw Uta also fast asleep against the hallway wall, he didn’t think much of it, just putting Buggy down in their bed, and going to do the same for her.

Once he’s finished his task, he plops down in bed too and hugs the blue haired man like a Koala. The man grumbled slightly, but settled quickly.

Yeah, everything was good.