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It was just another party on the ship. Like any other before. Which meant Shanks and Buggy drinking all that they could manage. A very common thing in a pirate's life indeed. Somehow Shanks and Buggy always ended up by themselves in a reclused part of the ship. For some reason, they always wanted to enjoy each other’s company.
Shanks rested his head on Buggy's lap and started playing with Buggy's hair.
"Soft," he thought to himself out loud.
Buggy was way too drunk to think any of this was strange. As weird as it might have been he didn't seem to mind it one bit. In fact, he had never felt so comfortable.
Shanks then raised his hand a little more to caress Buggy's cheek. And he couldn’t help but lean into the touch.
"Pretty," he muttered to himself once again.
God, this was doing numbers on Buggy's heart. He felt his face catch on fire due to so much closeness.
Buggy then raised a hand to settle it on top of the one Shanks’ had placed on his cheek before. With that, Shanks grabbed Buggy’s other hand, interlocked their finger, and let it rest on his own chest.
Buggy could feel so much love and kindness from Shanks that it was almost overwhelming. They were friends for a long time now, it was normal for them to hug or give a pat on the back from time to time but… this? This was definitely new. He blamed it on the booze. Yeah. That was definitely just the alcohol playing with them. They weren’t in their right minds.
“I-,” Shanks blushed a little. That was an unusual sight to be seen. Shanks being embarrassed. Nothing seemed to faze him. “I really wanna kiss you,” he admitted and they both went quiet for a moment.
What?! Had he heard it right? Did Shanks really say that? The Shanks who flirted with every and any person he met when they ported in a new town. Why would he ever want to kiss Buggy? He wasn’t as pretty or as cool as any other of Shanks’ suitors.
Buggy bit his lip.
“Why… why would you wanna kiss me?” He asked dropping the hand that was on top of Shanks’.
“Just felt like it,” he said nonchalantly.
Maybe it was just that Shanks hadn’t kissed anyone in a long time. Maybe he missed the feeling and Buggy just happened to be there. Maybe it didn’t really mean anything to Shanks. Anyone would do.
Well, it didn’t have to mean anything to Buggy either. I mean, it definitely wouldn’t. Definitely.
“So, can I?” He asked hopefully and Buggy couldn’t find it in his heart to refuse.
“You can,” he muttered shyly and Shanks gave him a shit-eating grin.
“Oh, really?” He seemed amused. Like he didn’t think Buggy would ever say yes. Buggy could never say no.
“Yeah, really. Just do it before I change my mind.” He would never change his mind.
And with Buggy’s permission, Shanks raised his head and placed a small peck on Buggy’s lips. He then laid his head back on Buggy’s lap and smiled softly at him.
God, Buggy had never felt more alive. And then he had a realization that he wanted to do it again. And again and again. He was so fucked .
He hated himself right now. He wasn't supposed to feel like this about Shanks. Stupid annoying Shanks! He was supposed to hate him. He did hate him! Most of the time anyways. Less and less each passing day if Buggy was being honest. But then… Shanks goes and does something sweet like this and it does things to Buggy's heart. Things he isn't ready to admit to anyone, not even to himself.
The very next time they end up drunk is when they are ported in a new town. Buggy knew how this usually went. With Shanks leaving him behind to go flirt with the locals at the bar. But for some reason, Buggy couldn’t bear to watch this happen today. It would do too much damage to his heart.
Without warning anyone of his departure, he left the bar where the whole crew was drinking and walked himself to the beach. He just wanted to be alone right now. Lies. He wanted Shanks to be with him.
He found himself a spot on the deserted sand, laid down, and closed his eyes. He just needed to rest for a while. He needed to calm his heart before going back to everyone.
A little while later he heard someone speaking to him, a voice way too familiar for him not to know who it was.
“What are you doing here?” Shanks asked him, making Buggy open up his eyes.
Shanks was standing next to him looking down at him.
“Nothing,” Buggy replied and closed his eyes once again.
He felt a thud next to him and he opened his eyes again and looked to his side and saw Shanks sitting beside him.
“Why are you here?” Buggy asked.
“Was looking for you,” Shanks replied turning to look at him and Buggy couldn’t help but blush a little.
Why would Shanks leave the party and look for him ? Why… why would he always search for him? There was nothing special about Buggy. He was just average. But he would never admit it to anyone, especially not to Shanks. He had to keep up the facade of how confident and brave he was. He couldn’t let it show how insecure and scared he actually was.
“Well, you found me,” he said trying to sound composed, and shut his eyes again.
They stayed like that for a moment until Buggy felt a hand rest on his arm and he opened his eyes again, only to see Shanks looking at him with so much longing in his eyes.
“Buggy, I-,” he rambled.
Oh. Was… was this going the way Buggy thought it was? No way right? There was… no way Shanks wanted to…
“Can I kiss you again?” He pleaded.
Fuck. Buggy knew he shouldn’t kiss him again. He was going to get used to the feeling and start craving it more and more. Not like he wasn’t already, to be honest.
“Fine,” Buggy said, giving in to temptation.
Shanks lost no time in lowering his head to press a peck on Buggy’s lips.
God, the second time was even better than the first. Buggy couldn’t seem to get enough. He just wished he could stay here kissing Shanks until morning came. But there was no way he would ever make the first move himself.
Once again the two of them were drunk and hanging out by themselves. They were sitting on the edge of the ship with their legs dangling.
Nothing much was being said that night though. They were just basking in each other’s presence.
Buggy was way too aware of how their hands were so close resting next to each other. He wanted so badly to reach out and hold Shanks’ hand. He bit his lip. No. He couldn’t.
But like Shanks was reading his mind he interlocked his pinky to Buggy’s. Buggy’s heart skipped so hard he felt like it was going to come out of his mouth. He tried to not let it show how much Shanks’ affection short-circuited his brain.
Buggy glanced at Shanks and to his surprise, Shanks was once again looking at him with so much desire.
Fuck. No. No way. He wasn’t doing it again.
“Buggy, can I… just one more time?” Shanks pleaded.
“Just… just this once, okay?” Buggy complied.
Shanks smiled fondly at him and pressed yet another peck on his lips.
As of late Shanks had grown the habit of wanting to kiss Buggy whenever he was drunk. Now Buggy couldn’t help but wonder if it was going to happen anytime they started to drink.
They had drunk too much for the night and were heading to go to sleep already. Buggy had to admit he was a tiny bit disappointed that Shanks hadn’t kissed him that day. Well, there was nothing he could do about that so he just laid on the lower part of their shared bunkbed.
Shanks seemed to be distressed as he kept opening and closing his mouth while glancing at Buggy every so often. It was unsettling. Why wasn’t going to his bed already?
To Buggy’s surprise, Shanks sat down on the edge of Buggy’s bed. Buggy’s heart began to buzz with hope.
“What is it, Shanks?” He asked and propped himself up.
“I-, it’s just-.” It appeared Shanks was at loss for words in a way that was rare to see.
Shanks reached out to place a hand on Buggy’s cheek. Buggy hoped Shanks wouldn’t notice how fast his heart was beating.
“It’s the last time. I promise.”
Buggy prayed it wasn’t.
“Okay,” he replied and braced himself for just a peck on the lips like all the others before.
Shanks then brought Buggy’s face close to his and pressed their lips together. But this time he didn’t back away right after. Instead, he pressed further and slipped a tongue in.
Buggy was in shock. That was an entirely different feeling than before. All he could taste was Shanks. All he could breathe was Shanks. It was intoxicating. But sooner or later, this was going to be over. Buggy just wished it could last forever.
Without being able to contain himself, Buggy reached out and placed a hand on Shanks’ neck and pressed forward as well.
They kept kissing for what felt like hours until Shanks’ backed away and rested his forehead on Buggy’s for a while. He then pulled away again and interlocked their fingers.
“Can I… can I sleep with you tonight?” He said as he squeezed Buggy’s hand.
“Sure,” Buggy replied quickly without thinking of the consequences that would happen to his heart.
Shanks grinned at him and Buggy laid back down and gave space for Shanks to lay next to him. Shanks immediately pressed his head to Buggy’s chest and wrapped his arms around him. Buggy rested his head on top of Shanks’ and wrapped his arms around Shanks as well.
That was most definitely not the last time any of this happened.