Work Text:
Joining the circus hadn't exactly been on your list of things to do. Not as a child, you'd never entertained such ridiculous fantasies, and certainly not as the grown man that you were now. However, you'd made a deal. You had a personal passion, you wanted to work on the Devil Fruit Encyclopaedia. It was a small volume, considering the number of possibilities, and it was accessible to only the most powerful - high ranking Marines, the Government and the World Nobles. Frankly, you didn't like that. You'd come from a small town where most inhabitants didn't even believe in the existence of Devil Fruits. The Government liked to hide information from their people, to keep them weak, and you didn't take kindly to that. You'd decided to leave home, boarding whatever boats would take you, to travel the world and look for information on Devil Fruits, or their users.
You'd made a mistake somewhere along the line, and gotten captured by pirates. Not ideal, if you said so yourself. But, that's when you'd met Captain Buggy of the Buggy Pirates, and he'd been willing to cut a deal. You'd offer your servitude until he was satisfied that you'd paid off the misdeed of trespassing through his circus, provided you could still work. You effectively became a personal assistant, or slave. But, true to his word, Buggy had let you continue your work as much as you could. You'd interviewed each and every member of his crew about things they'd seen while travelling, and battling, and you observed Buggy to take notes on his own abilities. His first mate was able to tell you more about Buggy specifically.
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It'd been a quiet day when the Captain himself had approached you to ask about your work. It certainly hadn't been what you were expecting, and to begin with you'd given little more than one word responses. He'd told you to loosen up, though he knew it was hard in his flashy presence, and to tell him. You explained your motive to undermine the world government, and educate the masses, and he liked that. A little bit of chaos coming from a small town in the East Blue. He looked over your notes on his own fruit, and corrected some details, and he had something far better than just a description of his fruit from memory. He had a replica.
You didn't ask, just grateful for the ability to have an image of the fruit to go alongside your work. He still asked you to complete menial tasks, such as assisting in clean up after the crew had caused chaos, and having you help in the kitchen to the extent you were able to, sometimes the tasks were as simple as waking up early enough to collect the newspaper from the news coo. You could do those things. It was likely supposed to be demeaning, but it was no different from your life at home - well, here you at least got a meal every night. That was different.
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Another day, Captain Buggy had come to interrupt you to ask a question. You had patience for him, if only because it meant you got to keep your life. Not that it was particularly something that you valued, but you couldn't exactly continue your work if you were dead. He'd asked where you'd gotten your own copy of the encyclopaedia to begin with, and wasn't that the tall tale.
"I stole it from a marine." You said, and Buggy was aware that you were a man of few words, but those were a powerful few words.
"From a marine, eh?" He replied with his trademark grin and a cackle. He didn't really get much information from the short interaction that you'd shared, but he did gain a small amount of respect for the scholar that had stumbled upon his big top.
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You got along with the crew well enough, or as well as you could while you completed your tasks in near silence, and didn't spend time with them of an evening, preferring to continue your work. The more work you did now, the less you'd need to do later, and that was the approach that you preferred. Sometimes, of an evening when things were quiet, a member of the crew would come to sit with you while you worked. For the most part, it was companiable silence, and that was fine.
One evening, someone made the mistake of trying to talk to you, and quickly found out why that was a bad idea. Your life before your studies had been all rough edges and harsh words, so you were no stranger to violence. You'd taken the crewmate by his collar and pushed him up against the wall, a threat murmured against his ear through gritted teeth, and then he'd scuttled away.
You'd expected a retort from Buggy, a punishment of some kind for humiliating a member of his crew. At the very least, you'd expected an increase in chores. Nothing came. You continued on as normal, doing the tasks that the Captain assigned to you, and then continuing with your own passion. When you finally came across Buggy at a time when it was reasonable for you to ask, he simply said that the guy was a loudmouth, and he'd needed taking down a peg. From the Captain, that was fine, he'd take it on the chin - but from someone else? Well, apparently it'd stuck. You accepted that.
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When the crew sailed out, they took you along. You were happy for the chance to see more of the world, and get out of the broken down town you'd all been holed up in. The sea breeze was wonderful, and assisted you in productivity. You had plans to entirely reprint, and so you took time to redesign pages to be more appealing, and more accessible. A few crew members helped you correct information in the already printed pages, and for that you were grateful. Someone's birthday came and went, and you watched the celebrations with a fond smile. You weren't much of a drinker, given your past, but you were happy to feed on the electric energies of everyone enjoying the festivities. A few people had attempted to drag you into the party, begging you to drink and to dance, but you'd declined each and every one, though you laughed and cheered for the Captain.
Buggy was electric, and it was hard to look away. He may be a fool, you had no shame in admitting that - at least to yourself, but you could see why he'd managed to gather a loyal crew. They believed in him, even when he didn't believe in himself, because of the sheer energy that he had, and the dedication he had to his own self-belief. It almost fooled you, just for a moment.
The next day, when everyone was hung over, you took some hang over cures around the ship, visiting the Captain last so he'd be able to sleep the longest. You'd not woken him, just crept into his cabin and left the drink on his vanity for him to find when he woke, along with a note explaining what you'd given him. You'd not been sure that he would drink it, because why would he trust a drink left for him by the man that he'd taken prisoner. But, when he joined the crew on the deck, you knew he'd drank it. He looked good.
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You docked at another island, to find another small town like the one you'd left, though this one was full of life.
The crew went around, pillaging and threatening, but you separated yourself from them. You'd be unharmed, but you didn't want to be seen as one of them. You'd also forced them to promise that the library would be left untouched. They'd been reluctant at first, but were eager to get down to shore, and you'd blocked the way with your body until they gave you their word. You weren't sure how much their word counted for, but it was still a battle won, so you took that.
You spoke to the librarian, and promised a copy of your finished encyclopaedia for his own collection once you were done with your research. He told you of various fruit users that had passed through the town over time, and even managed to describe one that he'd seen when he was only a boy. You took all the information you'd collected and the notes you'd taken with a smile, and a small payment to the librarian for his trouble.
"There are pirates here. I'm in service to them, but free to roam provided I return to the ship by nightfall. Use that money to help rebuild whatever they destroy, please." You also told him to remain inside until nightfall, as he was safe inside. The librarian agreed, and thanked you for your kindness.
You spent the rest of that day wandering, avoiding attacks from pirates, and scolding those that weren't careful with you. You'd grown friendly with many crew members despite their brutality, and so they never lashed out. You counted your lucky stars for that. You'd enjoyed some local food, the crew not daring to cause problems in the restaurant as long as you were inside, and thanked the owner for his hospitality. In return for keeping his business safe, he'd refused to take a payment from you. You'd instead left a tip, double the value of your meal, and again made the request that the owner use it to help rebuild once you left.
You met up with the Captain in the town centre, where he was barking orders and cackling.
"Get everything you wanted?" He asked with his usual grin, offering a gloved hand to you to help you up onto the edge of the fountain where he was standing.
"I may go back to do some light reading, but he was helpful. Knew a lot." You agreed, and Buggy seemed pleased for you. Over time, he'd become more favourable in his treatment of you, and the number of tasks that you'd be given had decreased. You took it as the blessing it was, and refused to look any further into his motives. You could never hope to understand him, and so you didn't try.
He kept you there on his arm for a time, and you simply hung on to avoid falling into the fountain water. You were in no danger here, there were no marines stationed on this island, and you weren't sure if you were grateful or not for that. You knew you were being looked for, but you were nobody's priority, and you were so far from home. You felt safer on the edge of the fountain beside Buggy than you had since you'd first left home.
When you returned to the ship that evening, several townspeople had gone to the deck to bid you goodbye, and you thanked them for their hospitality. You waved as they disappeared from view, then slunk away to your cabin with your new notes, ready to add them to your work. Buggy had been blown away, they'd been so fond of you, and he didn't understand what you'd done. He didn't ask though. He was smart, he'd figure it out by himself!
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The next island, Buggy insisted that he go with you to the library there, if there was one. He was sure the best way to understand how you charmed people was by observing you directly. He'd barked orders at the dock, then left the crew to do as they wished. For a moment, you were nervous that they'd be left unsupervised, but none of them could even really aspire to the chaos inside their Captain's head, so you were sure that actually the townspeople were safer as long as Buggy was at your side. You led the way through the town to the library at a leisurely pace, as if there were no pirates plundering the area, and when you found the building you were looking for, you headed straight inside.
You happily greeted the librarian behind the counter, who was initially startled by the clown loitering at the door, but you distracted her quickly with an explanation of your work.
"Please, don't mind him, I'm working off a debt. But, in the meantime, I'm a scholar. I'm researching Devil Fruit, I have a plan to complete and distribute an encyclopaedia on them, I was hoping you might be able to help me." This librarian was less helpful than the last, but you acted like every piece of information that she gave you was a piece of gold, taking furious notes and encouraging her to continue whenever she paused or hesitated. You thanked her profusely, and asked about any books in her collection that might aid your pursuit. She confirmed that she had a diary kept here, but of course you don't buy books from a library. You deposited a small bag of berry on her desk, and when she opened it, she happily confirmed that you would be its new owner. You thanked her with a kiss on her hand, and fetched the book. It was dusty, probably never read, but anything that would help.
You thanked her again on your way out, promising to distribute a copy here once it was ready, and she beamed. You smiled at Buggy and led the way back out the door, and headed to a restaurant just as you had last time. Research made you hungry.
"You paid her." Buggy said, and you turned to look at him with brows furrowed in confusion.
"I did." You confirmed, sighing in relief when you found an untouched café. Not a restaurant, but at the very least you'd still be able to get something to eat.
You cut off Buggy's next words by loudly greeting whoever was working, who was cowering in the kitchen. You promised safety with you there, and offered a large amount of berry in return for something to eat and drink for yourself - here you paused and looked at Buggy, who said nothing - then corrected that to be food and drinks for two. The owner came out, an older and scarred man, and you thanked him profusely, happy to hand over the money in advance.
"I'm no pirate, I'm working off a debt." You explained, and then his look shifted to one of pity, rather than the standoffish expression he'd been wearing, clearly slightly afraid for his business. You picked something to eat and drink from the menu, and when another look at Buggy still didn't prompt a response, you ordered for him, something you thought that he'd like.
You took a seat at a table, and Buggy followed your lead, though still didn't say a word.
"You don't understand why I'm so nice." You said simply, thanking the owner when he appeared with both of your drinks. An ale for Buggy, a type you'd known him to drink on the ship, and a simple water for yourself. You were surprised the place had offered water, and when you made an off-handed comment about the fact, the owner was happy to tell you that he'd constructed his own filtration system to create his own fresh water. You were fascinated, and asked if once you were finished eating it, if you could see it - you would potentially like to recreate it in future. He obliged your request.
"You could have anything you wanted, just using my name." Buggy said when the man was gone, taking a moment to regard the ale in front of him before sipping from it, and you just shrugged.
"I don't want just anything. I want knowledge, freedom, and the ability to provide for myself. The first step is to not upset those you want help from." You replied, and Buggy again felt that this was a sensitive topic. He wanted to push, to poke, to touch some nerves. He didn't get a chance, your food came and the two of you ate in silence, content to fill your stomachs. You then promptly disappeared to take a sketch of the water filtration system that the owner had constructed.
"You're not afraid of me." Buggy decided later, when the two of you were heading back toward the port.
"I'm not. I don't fear death, so why should I be?" You replied, and with that you hauled yourself back up to the deck of his ship to get to work adding what you'd found out today to your notes, before you began reading your new book.
Buggy wanted to be feared, but he also wanted to be adored. It may be too late to repair his reputation in places that he had already been, but what would it hurt to change that going forward? The spotlight would be so much sweeter with cheers of his praise.
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It was late into the night the next time that the Captain came to disturb you.
"Who did you steal that book from?" He asked, and you froze for just a moment. You weren't sure if it was a question or an accusation.
"A marine." You replied simply, an edge to your voice you'd never bothered to use since being integrated into Buggy's circus. He closed the door and locked it, pulling up a chair to sit beside you, looking at you intently.
"Which one?" He asked, and you didn't squirm, nor did you show any sign of weakness. You couldn't, not in front of the Captain.
Since your trip to that village where Buggy accompanied you, he'd made changes. He'd declared to the crew that rather than taking, he wanted to be willingly given tribute - he claimed to be bored of taking what he wanted, as it was too easy, instead he wanted to be adored by droves of fans who would give him whatever they thought he needed, rather than what he demanded. It took some work with the crew, but slowly things had changed. You'd come across a small group of corrupt marines, who'd been terrorising a town. You'd gotten first crack, milking them for information, your title as 'scholar' being the perfect distraction. Once you were sure they deserved it, and you'd gotten the information on Devil Fruits that you wanted, you gave the pirates the go-ahead. They'd taken the marines away to the ship to be killed, so there'd be no mess, and you'd donated money to the mayor to help him fix what had been destroyed, and help feed his people.
You'd helped them construct water filtration devices, got crew members to use their strength to help builders and farmers, and Buggy ensured that no funny business went ahead. As you left, the mayor mourned that he had nothing to thank you with. You asked for any information the town as a whole could share pertaining to your research, and that in future they provide you a safe haven should you need it. They accepted, and you could tell from the way that Buggy was glowing at their praise that this change would be a permanent one. He could be feared by pirates and marines alike, but he didn't need to be feared by the people to achieve that. He was still a force to be reckoned with.
You'd influenced his change, you were sure, and you were happy to remain as that. A positive influence. But you weren't friends, and you weren't on his crew. He didn't need to know your past.
"I doubt you know him." You said simply, running fingers through your hair, a nervous habit that Buggy hadn't get had the chance to observe. He'd never made you nervous before. Talking about your past would be a more painful fate than anything else he could ask of you.
"I've met a lot of marines." Buggy simply said, and you stood from the chair you'd been sitting in, casting it behind you in the process. He seemed startled by your reaction. He'd hit a nerve. He'd been dying to do that since the first time he asked, and more so since you'd told him you had no fear of death, but he hadn't been trying to do that just now.
"It's not important."
"Sure looks like it." Buggy said, tipping back in his chair to study you with a slightly tilted head. "I believe you completely." He added, taunting you playfully.
You took just a moment to take a deep breath. There was no reason to get so aggressive, or worked up. You didn't want your past to have that sort of power over you.
"Glad we can reach an understanding, Captain." You said, though your voice came through clenched teeth.
"Hey! You've never called me Captain before." Buggy pointed out, his original intention for coming long forgotten. He'd come back to it eventually. He jumped up, onto his chair, and laughed loudly. You didn't see what was funny, but you were glad for the conversation to be derailed.
"Have now." Was all you said, and Buggy leaned in closer to you, resting his hands on the back of the chair he was standing on. You reached a hand out to hold it steady, and in return he moved his hands to your shoulders.
"That makes me **your** Captain." He said, and you scoffed, but didn't refuse. It was easier to make him happy. Buggy laughed again and climbed down from his chair. He hardly towered over you, but he was still taller, so you didn't see the need for him to have stood on the chair for the interaction.
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You kept travelling, donating money to towns and helping their infrastructure. You collected seeds from every fruit that you ate, and gave them to places that didn't have them to allow them to grow more varied produce. You created water filtration systems to aid in their farming, to produce higher quality food, and helped with any repairs the town needed as long as you were there. Over time, your stays grew longer, as the news of Captain Buggy's new attitude spread across the Blue and towns were more welcoming of your arrival. The crew and the townspeople would party late into the night, and often you'd hole yourself up in the local library to study, and work. Sometimes, during the earlier hours, you'd be joined by children. You didn't look like the other pirates, so you supposed they were curious. Those who were less educated, you helped, and whenever you left you'd leave a pile of materials for parents to give to their children, to help them learn more than how to fight and how to farm.
The crew included you as much as they could, though you always refused to join their parties. They often tried to get you to explain just why you refused to drink, why you had no interest in parties, but you refused to explain, always using your work as an excuse. Though, it took everything in you to continue to refuse, as they became more like friends than adversaries.
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Eventually, you couldn't deny yourself any longer.
You sat out on the deck of the ship, while everyone slept, a bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. You'd never had the strongest will. It was the Captain that found you there.
"I thought you didn't drink." He observed, leaning dramatically against the rail of the ship, bending over comically to look at you from your spot on the floor.
"I'm not supposed to." You told him, a bitter laugh escaping you as you took a long drag from your cigarette. What did it matter anyway? Damn it all to hell.
"But here you are, drinking alone. Not the flashiest of parties." He replied, and you just shrugged. You hadn't wanted to drink with anyone else, you much preferred to do it alone.
"Anything in that bottle for your Captain?" Buggy asked then, and wordlessly you handed him the bottle. With any luck, he wouldn't give it back.
"I don't do feelings." Buggy said after a few minutes of silence, interrupted only by the sound of the waves against the boat, and his sipping of the drink you'd handed him. He hadn't given it back.
"Neither." You said simply, and the pair of you lapsed into another silence. You did however finally look at the man properly. He looked sleepless, and his makeup was heavily smudged, like he'd considered taking it off and then had changed his mind just as he'd started. You didn't comment, you were sure that you looked worse. But, oddly enough, amongst all your other observations you finally decided that Buggy was handsome.
You spent the night like that. He drank, you smoked. When he finished the bottle, he just tossed it aside, and took a cigarette from you, while you started another. The sun had started rising before either of you opened your mouths again.
"You should rest, Captain. We can't well keep doing the work we've started if you're at half capacity." And that sounded far too much like you cared about the work, and about Buggy. But what did you have to loose.
"Who did you steal the book from?" Buggy responded quietly, and you sighed.
"Someone who didn't deserve it, or me." You replied. He was never going to let it go, but maybe - just maybe - he'd let you drip feed him.
"Sounds like an idiot, but then, you said he was a marine." Buggy said, and the two of you laughed together. It wasn't his usual laugh, it was something quieter, more private.
"You should get some rest, Captain." You said again, and this time, Buggy clapped your back and headed to do just that. The crew could handle navigating alone for a time.
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It was another few days later that you were docked in another town. A town known for their alcohol production. The crew helped that town like any other, but you remained on the ship. You couldn't trust yourself to behave down there, not with a crew full of enablers. Instead, you'd simply asked that any relevant books be brought to the ship so you could work in peace. They'd tried to question you, but you'd brushed them all off, claimed you were coming down with something and didn't want to spread it around the new town. Richie stayed behind, immune to your fake illness, and slept in your cabin while you worked. He was good company - the type that couldn't ask questions. Unlike your Captain, who returned to you with food some few hours into the work. He also brought some books, so you didn't complain.
"Why don't you drink?" It was a new question, one that Buggy specifically had never asked you. It caught you a little off guard, though you recovered quickly.
"I'm not supposed to." You told him, like you had some nights ago when he'd found you out on the deck alone.
"Yeah, but why?" He asked, and you rubbed a hand over your face.
"It's bad for you, you know." You replied, with a patronising expression and for a moment you were sure you'd be punished for. You'd spent far too much time recently talking about your past, and it was breaking down everything you'd learnt since you left home.
"Did you think I was going to hit you?" Buggy asked after a pause, looking confused and just a little offended.
"Old reflex." You brushed off, filling your mouth so you couldn't answer any further questions. You didn't want to discuss it, not with Buggy, not with anyone. He let it go, allowing himself to mull over all the facts that he had so far.
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He didn't know when he'd grown to care about you, exactly. You'd always been so brash, uncaring for his status or the size of his bounty, and you'd simply agreed to an unspecified length of time in his circus, following his orders. You'd never tried to argue, never questioned the tasks he'd given you. You were peculiar, not like his freaks, but in a way he couldn't identify. He let you stay, kept you around because you proved useful, and then in just an afternoon you'd change his whole view of being a pirate. He'd been different once, as a younger man, a younger pirate, but now he'd changed again. A force for change, his reputation throughout the East Blue improving, while his bounty still climbed. The best of both worlds. Unending love and praise for him, while still being considered formidable by the marines and world government. Truly, what more could he want.
Except, something was bothering him. You, to be specific. You were a puzzle, truly odd. He wanted to understand, but you didn't bend to his will in the way that others did and you couldn't be threatened, he'd had that feeling since the moment he met you. He was right. Someone who didn't fear death, and had no apparent connections, couldn't be threatened. There was, of course, the threat of pain, but something about you just told him that it was pointless.
Over time, he decreased your tasks, and allowed you to effectively do as you wished, but you never attempted to escape despite no specifications about the consequences if you tried. You just stayed. You kept working, and studying, and he allowed you to. He was oddly drawn to you, to your aura. And now, rather desperately, he wanted to figure you out. It was like a constant itch that he couldn't scratch because you wouldn't tell him anything, until you told him just enough to keep him satisfied, but left him no closer to understanding the man who'd come to be a part of his crew.
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You were grateful when you left the port of the last town to find another, to be away from the constant smell of alcohol, and the permanent temptation. Though, you knew the gift from that town had been a large shipment of it, on the ship the presence of others kept you from being too tempted, for the most part.
Except when Captain Buggy turns up to your quarters with a bottle to share, of course. Though, he'd also brought a packet of cigarettes.
You took one from him and opened the window so you could smoke out of it, and he opened the bottle.
"Our flashy crew gains another reward." He said, telling you what you already knew.
"A job well done, then." You replied, not looking at him. He looked like he had that night you spent together on the main deck just watching the horizon in silence. You couldn't stand to look. He was so normal like this, and that was dangerous. For both of you.
"Giving in to temptation tonight?" He asked, and you shook your head. You really, truly, shouldn't.
"Drink with me. I'll keep you on the wagon." He said, filling a glass for you, while he kept sipping from the bottle. Now that was like having it dangled right in front of you. A dangerous promise.
You stepped away from the window and sat on the chair at your vanity. Buggy had added a second one a long time ago, and he was the only one that really used it. It had his boot prints on it, anyway. You took the glass and sipped it, testing the very depths of your restraint.
"You can do better than that." Buggy taunted, and for just a moment he felt a whisper of guilt for tempting you like this. For poking you until you gave in. But you drained the glass, and he knew he was closer to his goal. "That's the flashy way to do it!" He said, filling your glass for a second time, which you drained again. You let the third sit for a while.
"Are you getting me drunk, Captain?" You asked, and Buggy scoffed dramatically.
"I'm loosening you up." He replied, and you allowed it. Just once. 'I'll keep you on the wagon' you heard Buggy whisper in your mind, and you took a sip from your glass. *What could it hurt, really?* You lied to yourself.
You drank bottle after bottle together, enjoying the easy atmosphere between you and the laughter that sounded like you'd been friends for years rather than tentative allies for just months. When Buggy sang, you clapped and you cheered, accepting his invitation to stand and dance to music neither of you could hear, meaning you got all the steps wrong, but your laughter couldn't be stopped. Nothing mattered like this.
"Who did you steal the book from?" Buggy asked in a moment of calm when you'd both sat down to breathe, sipping your drinks again.
"A marine, a man who didn't deserve it," you opened the book to the very front page and slid it across the table to him so he could read the name printed there, "my.. father. Or something close to it, supposedly." You shrugged, like you didn't have a care in the world, while Buggy processed it.
"That's not vague." He said with a laugh, and in your state all you could do was laugh along.
"Dad's dead, marine took me in as a .. slave, called himself my father. Not sure that's what you call a parent, though." You said, stumbling back to the window to take a deep breath of the sea air.
"Why did you stay here?" He asked, ever curious, desperate to keep solving the puzzle in front of him.
"You fed me, every night." You replied, sobered slightly by the cold wind on your face. But, you'd already started now. Buggy remained silent, and you decided to continue. Worst case scenario, you were abandoned on the next island they docked at, and you could find a way to live with that.
"I was a slave. He was so much worse than you ever were. Scrub the floors, until your knees are black; clean these clothes by hand, until your hands are raw; make these beds perfectly, or you'll be strung up in the yard; clean my boots with your tongue.." you paused then to breathe deeply and swallow, "you don't get to eat, you don't deserve it; I'll keep you awake all night, so you understand how hard my work is; I'll trade you to pirates to be their slave, they won't be as kind as me; maybe I'll give you to the new recruits, they've got far filthier minds than I have, I wonder what they'd come up with." You finished, now entirely sober, as if you'd never drank a drop to begin with. "The only thing that was guaranteed, was ale at the end of the night. A cigarette on a good day." You added, and turned to face the clown sitting at your vanity.
"He wasn't kind, never. He didn't train me as a marine either, at least then I'd have skills that could transfer into other parts of life, but he wanted me stuck there, with him. His little slave. Obviously, I didn't let that happen, and one day I'm going to go back home so I can spit on his grave. But you? You're a good man, Buggy." You finished, closing the window again, the temperature in the room had gone down significantly.
Buggy was silent for a long while, and you cleaned up the room around him. For a moment you had to consider the idea that you needed to physically move the Captain to make him go to bed.
"You think I'm a good man?" He finally asked, hand disconnecting from his body to go to the door. He locked it, and his eyes never left you as he did.
"I don't think. I know. You are a good man, Buggy. I know bad men, you just lost your way." You said, and the words came out as easy as breathing. You had no issue telling him that, because you believed it whole heartedly. It was easy to lose your way in a world like this one. A world with so much power.
When you looked up from what you were doing to look back at Buggy, you realised how much what you said must have meant to him. He looked genuinely surprised, and a little emotional to hear it. You felt even better then for saying it, because it was obviously something that nobody had told him before, and maybe something that he **needed** to hear. You set aside the trash that you'd gathered and approached him slowly. You leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek, just a slow and gentle kiss, then stood again.
"You should rest, Captain." You told him, and it felt so familiar. He nodded, as if in a trance, and headed for the door. You wondered for a moment if he'd expected that part of your interaction to go differently, or had been hoping for it, given that he'd locked the door. But as he walked away, relocking the door behind him, you let it go. It didn't matter now, because it hadn't gone that way.
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After that, things were distinctly different. Buggy just.. carried himself differently. At the next town, he personally got involved, using his Devil Fruit to assist as much as he could. Lifting objects higher than other people could, being able to supervise with one eye, while working with the other. You just watched, like you always did. You couldn't provide too much help, you weren't strong enough to do most of the building manual labour, and once you'd explained some of the theory behind the farming, and guided some people through the initial building of one or two filtration systems and then you were effectively useless.
However, when you'd joked about it with a crewmate, Buggy had called out that you just needed to sit there and look good. So that's what you did.
It was a warm day, so you weren't dressed in your usual warmer attire - it was quite cold out on the sea, with the near constant winds and danger of lighting a fire to keep warm. But here, it was alright to wear a couple less layers. You had a cotton shirt on, unbuttoned to allow yourself to feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. You'd grabbed a pair of shorts that you'd picked up at some point, but on reflection they were a little small. You'd never tried them on, but you didn't see the issue, they weren't ill-fitting, just on the short side, and a little tighter on your ass than you'd usually like.
You'd brought out your work and sat down on a blanket in the square. A pair of teenage girls had come to learn about what you were researching, and one ran off to grab a book from her personal collection that she'd been given by her father, a personal diary and she'd marked passages about Devil Fruits. She helped you write up the information, while her friend listened, and a short while later you'd attracted two younger boys. Their mother had appeared to scold them for bothering you, but you'd taken one up into your lap and the other was pressed into your side, while you talked them through what you were writing. You'd even given them each a piece of paper. First, they traced with their finger, then they each got a turn with your pen, making the letters. The woman checked that you had everything under control, and when you confirmed, she promised she'd make food for the small group you'd gathered, which you thanked her for.
Your little group of scholars enjoyed lunch together, as various others gathered food for the hard-working pirates. Captain Buggy took his plate and marched straight for you and your new young friends. He sat himself down on the edge of the blanket, near you, and asked what you'd been up to. You explained, having turned a little to be facing him more directly. He explained what they'd been working on, and how it felt good to be using his muscles a little. It was a nice break. When you turned away from him to set your plate down, you caught the little boys making kissy faces at each other. You laughed and gently pushed one of them over, prompting Buggy to disconnect his hands, lifting each of them up, only one hand needed for each of them. They couldn't have been older than maybe seven years old. The boys laughed, asking to go higher, and it caught Buggy off guard. It seemed like he didn't use his abilities to entertain.
You urged him on, and the teenage girls fawned over his abilities, desperate to know more about how they worked. Buggy set the boys down, and let his hands fly around, chasing them while they screamed excitedly, desperately trying not to get caught while the Captain talked to the girls about his abilities, and the effect of the sea water on them. He looked happy. It suited him. The boys came back, hiding behind you for safety. You dramatically stood and pretended to draw a sword, which Buggy took notice of. He collected one of his hands, sending the other to pick up two wooden sticks. He brought them back, and gave one to you.
A glint of mischief caught his eye, and you knew you wouldn't live it down if you lost too badly here, but you still wanted him to win. You struck first, much to the excitement of the boys. They cheered for you, while the girls cheered for Buggy. You and Buggy laughed the entire time, joking back and forth about the others' abilities, and how they were destined to lose. It was when Buggy finally hit your torso with his stick that you hissed in real pain, but then dramatically fell to your knees, and fake died. The boys rushed over to fake mourn you, and Buggy pushed between them gently to offer his hand to help you up. You took it with a laugh and handed him back the stick.
"Not bad Captain." You said with a wink, then scooped up each of the boys to take them back to your blanket where the girls were waiting.
Buggy blue screened for a moment, then was brought back to himself by a crewmate calling out for his help on something. He nodded and headed over, putting the sticks back where he'd taken them from in the process.
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You stayed at that island for the longest out of any since you'd started travelling. A whole week. It'd been plundered by pirates over a month ago, and partly destroyed, but they'd not had the materials to rebuild. Buggy found them, and the crew fixed all the damage, improving it in lots of cases. They knew from experience what would be easy to destroy, after all. You spent the time entertaining the various children of the village, teaching them when they were willing to learn, and playing with them more often than not. Buggy often joined in, where he never had before, roughhousing with the boys while girls admired him. You understood why. He looked good like this. Happy, that is.
On that last day, Buggy announced a giant game of chase. He'd be the chaser, split up into many pieces to chase children around the village. The last person standing would get a special reward. The adults were amused by it, and happy to sit aside and relax with the crew while their children were occupied for a few hours. You were elected to be the referee, and you accepted the role. The kids liked you.
It began early in the morning, and it was past lunch when the final kid arrived at the port, escorted by one of Buggy's hands.
"That everyone?" You asked, ready to declare the young girl the victor, when one parent stood to scan the crowd looking worried.
"My son." She said, making eye contact with you, and you nodded. The other boy who you'd been playing with on that first day. You waited for Buggy's pieces to mostly arrived, namely his head.
"Kid is missing. Last one. Little boy." You told him, and you, Buggy, the crew and a small army of parents took off looking, with the others being told to stay with a small number of adults, or older teenagers, so nobody would wander off during the search. You looked in every house, every restaurant, every tree and bush but there was nothing. With anxiety curled in your stomach, and Buggy at your side, you headed for the port. Maybe he'd tried to get on your ship. It was with horror you spotted the boy struggling in the water, unable to swim himself back to the port, but unable to get onto your ship either.
Buggy had leapt before you could stop him.
"Captain!" You yelled, and dove in after him. He was sinking, fast, and for a moment you thought you'd need to decide between him and the little boy, but a crew member had jumped after you and went after the boy. With a deep breath, you dove down after Buggy. You swam quickly, reaching out for him, stretching as far as you could. He was so far. You brushed his fingers, and almost gasped with relief that you were within touching distance. Finally, he reached as far as he could along with you, and you grasped his hand in yours. You pulled him up hard, and a crew member met you half way to the surface to help haul him the rest of the way. Him being completely unable to swim meant he was a dead weight as you tried to save him. The three of you broke to the surface, to the cheering of the crew, and evident relief of the parents and children who'd gathered around. Buggy looked humiliated, and you were ready to tear him a new asshole. But, you'd do that later.
The townspeople cheered him as their hero, diving into the water to save one of their own, even though he couldn't swim himself because of his Devil Fruit. You helped Buggy dry off, and instructed the crew to finish preparing the ship to sail. Buggy, however, was under strict instruction to soak up as much warm sun as he could to dry off, while you attempted to dry his long locks of hair. He was mostly dry when you both hauled yourself up onto the ship, making sure that you have everything. Everyone cheered and waved you off, sad to see you go but happy you'd come.
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It was well into the evening when you knocked on Buggy's door. You'd never gone to his cabin, he'd always come to you. Tonight, he was moping. You'd brought him food, and a lecture. You couldn't be too nice, after all, he'd almost died. He grunted in response, and you took that as an acceptance, and let yourself in.
It was the most casual you'd ever seen him. Makeup washed away by the sea, and never replaced, out of his Captain clothes so they could dry, and in something far more comfortable, you would assume. He was sat on his bed. elbows on his knees, head in his hands. He looked positively miserable.
"I brought food." You told him, setting it down on his nightstand so he'd be able to eat it whenever he was hungry for it. He didn't move a muscle.
"Buggy." You said with a sigh, pulling up his vanity chair to sit in front of him.
"What?" He said, with far more aggression than he'd ever directed at you, and for a moment you considered just going in on him - none of this was your fault, why should you let him be angry at you? But that's just it, he wasn't, and you knew that.
"It was pretty flashy what you did." You said, and you could sense the immediate shift in his demeanour.
"It was, wasn't it?" He agreed, already perking up. It was silly how easy it was to change his mood.
"You tried to save that kid, even if it'd kill you. That's better than flashy, Captain. That's brave." You told him, and with that in his mind he grabbed the plate of food that you'd brought to him to start eating.
"It was stupid though, imagine if someone hadn't dove in after me. You'd have drowned, and we'd have lost our Captain. It was brave, and that town will love you for it forever, but what if we'd lost you?" You then said, and he froze. He'd truly not thought about it. He'd been a Devil Fruit user for more than half of his life, and yet he still often forgot that he wasn't the strong swimmer that he used to be. Once, he'd have been in and out of the sea with that boy faster than someone else could've stripped and dove in to grab him. He can't do that anymore. He couldn't save one of his crew members if they needed him. He'd always have to call for help. It sucked, majorly.
"Our Captain?" He chose to say, truly not wanting to talk about his idiocy anymore.
"Damn right, Buggy. You must've realised by now that I'm not leaving any time soon. Pirate or not." You said, playfully flicking one of his pony tails. He squawked, setting his plate aside again to dive toward you. You rolled across the floor together, laughing and bickering all the while.
You both finally stopped, panting for breath, Buggy leaning over you. For a moment, you both froze.
"You know," you started when you found your words, "you look pretty handsome right now." You didn't know where the words had come from, or what had prompted you to share them, but Buggy looked about as shocked as you felt.
"I'm sorry I- I'm not sure where that came from, Captain." You said when he didn't reply, using his title to put some distance back between you. You scrambled upward, and Buggy moved to let you. You apologised again, and stood to leave, heading straight for the door.
"You don't have to go." Buggy said, but still there was no true response to your words, so you just shook your head.
"It's alright. You should eat and rest to recover from today." You said, giving him a tight smile before you left his cabin, heading for your own.
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Things had been a little awkward for the last few days. You headed to meals as normal, but made no conversation with the Captain. It was strange, you usually talked to him quite freely, and everyone could see that something was different, but Buggy yelled if anyone asked, and you simply denied the issue entirely. You mostly kept to your room, working through the books you still needed to catch up on, and it took time. Not every passage was about Devil Fruits, and sometimes they'd be mentioned in the middle of a chunk of text, so there was truly no way to speed up the process. There was only reading. It was relatively nice, it was the most you'd been left alone to work since you set off sailing to begin with.
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Another few days passed of the new silent dance between you and Buggy, and a crew member approached you to ask if you were leaving. The question caught you off guard. Of course not, not unless you were asked to leave. They seemed relieved, and walked away. It only left you with more questions.
You headed through the ship, looking for anyone else you could ask about the peculiar interaction, but everyone was.. gone. You were still sailing, where the hell had they gone? You walked through, aimlessly searching, until finally you heard a voice from inside a room. One crew member left, holding the door open for you as they did, and you thanked them. Inside, was none other than Buggy. You turned to leave, when you heard the door lock behind you. Bastards.
You sighed and turned to face the Captain, greeting him softly before dropping yourself down on a chair. You always keep a notebook on you, in case you needed it - a habit you'd formed before joining the circus. You took it out, flicking through some notes that you'd made in the past, just to make sure everything in there still held true, and that you'd added it to your full records. You could feel Buggy's presence in the room, but you still didn't know how to approach him. You'd been a fool, and he'd not even replied in his Buggy way and agreed with you.
He plopped himself down beside you - that was truly the only word to describe the way he'd sat down - but said nothing. He'd clearly been caught off guard here too. Wonderful.
"What are you going to do to them when you get out?" You asked, just for the sake of breaking the silence and creating a neutral conversation between the two of you.
"I'll think of something." He said with a shrug, and that was distinctly un-Buggy of him.
"Come on Captain, you can do better than that." You encouraged, looking up from your book to actually look up at him.
"Stop it!" He yelled, standing and kicking the chair he'd been sitting in aside, startling you just a little.
"What?" You asked, not standing to mirror him. If you did that, it'd escalate the situation further.
"Acting like nothing is wrong! You've been ignoring me for days! Haven't said a word to me except excuse me and yes Captain, it's like when you first got here!" He yelled, and now that was just another thing that caught you off guard.
"I'm sorry Captain." You apologised, unsure how else to proceed. What did you say to that?
"No! Stop it!" He yelled again, and you then did stand, because screw him, what did he even want? You were trying to be as normal as you could be after making a fool of yourself.
"What do you want me to do Buggy? Want me to get on my knees and beg for your damn forgiveness? Well guess what, I'm not that kind of guy!" You yelled, and in your frustration you missed his relief to be called Buggy again, that you had said just more than a few words.
"I'm not stupid, I know you wouldn't do that! That's what I like about you!" He yelled back, and you just didn't have the energy to question that.
"Then what the hell do you want, oh mighty Captain?" You asked, hands balled at your sides to contain both your anger, and your upset. You were trying, damnit. You'd humiliated yourself, and you just wanted some time for yourself to recover from that. You got it, he didn't like it, you'd stop it.
"I don't know!" He yelled, and both of you stood there, panting your way through your frustration. There was silence for just a moment before Buggy's hands flew at you, separate from his body, and fisted in the fabric of your shirt. He pulled you closer and smashed your lips together forcefully, still angry. Truthfully, so were you, and you were glad for an outlet like this. Fuck yes.
You hit his had from his head, tugging his hair lose from the ties that held it even as he grunted from the discomfort, just so you could tangle your fingers in it like you'd been thinking about since the day he'd jumped into the sea, and you'd been given the chance to touch it, helping him dry and re-tie it. One of his hands, now reattached, moved around your body to pull you closer from the back, pressing you up against him everywhere that you could manage it while you smashed your lips together, teeth clacking as you did. It wasn't careful, or gentle, or romantic - it was a week of frustration, anger at yourselves and each other, and stress from the day he'd almost died all combined into one. He gripped you tightly, like you'd pull away if he didn't, and you held on just as tight, almost worried about the same thing.
When you finally separated, you kept holding each other just as tightly, desperate, as you panted softly in each other's faces. It was quiet for a long moment, just the sound of the sea through the open window and the sound of your combined breathing. Then, Buggy began to laugh. You didn't understand, and at first the sting of rejection ran through you - had it been a joke?
"You're.. covered in face paint." Buggy said softly, like it was a secret for only you to hear, and then you couldn't help laughing along. "Flashily claiming you as mine by covering you in red, white and blue. Captain Buggy colours." And those words sent an entirely different feeling running through your body. His.
"Yours, eh?" You asked, and a truly feral look crossed Buggy's face for just a second - and then he licked you.
"Whatever I licked is mine." He said, and you considered the adult conversation you could've and probably should've had about this entire situation - then you decided that this was better.
"You could lick me somewhere else, Captain." You said, and that led to the two of you making a mess in the cabin of whichever poor soul had donated it to the cause.
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You took some time to calm down and clean up when you were done, because you had a plan to execute. The crew had done something good, of course, but ultimately they still deserved what was coming to them all. Once you were clean of face paint, and your love bites couldn't be seen, and you'd shared a few final kisses, Buggy just busted down the door.
He stormed away to his own cabin and you headed in the opposite direction, similarly angry. You stole a cigarette from someone's mouth, then their lighter to light it, and leaned over the railing of the back deck, enjoying your post-sex smoke. It felt damn good. You didn't think Buggy could bend like that. The crew members around you immediately looked worried, and you were glad - that was the desired effect. At the other end of the ship, you could hear Buggy yelling at someone, and it didn't really matter who. The crew around you floundered a little before retreating back to their work, to hide from the wrath of the Captain.
When the back deck was empty, you laughed softly, taking another drag from your cigarette. You'd tell everyone at dinner, but for now, let them suffer. You felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist, with no torso behind them, and reached your free arm down to link fingers with Buggy's hand. You waited until the arms were reconnected with the torso of your now lover, then offered him your cigarette, which he took a drag from before he let you take it back.
"I could hear you from here." You told him, and he laughed, leaning in close while being careful not to get any more of his paint on your face.
"Good, means I did a flashy good job." He said, and the two of you could only keep laughing. His laughter was damn contagious.
"Should've known you'd like being called Captain in bed." You remarked, and he squawked, nipping your ear.
"Shut up, next time I'm going to be the one on top." He insisted, and for now you let him have it. He certainly wasn't, but he could believe that for now. He enjoyed being the bottom too much to have it anyway, you could already tell.