Work Text:
If you asked Buggy how he found himself sitting on the lap of an Emperor, he wouldn’t have an answer for you.
Just some forty hours ago, he was stuck in a dirty, stuffy, overcrowded cell in the world's worst prison. Just thirty hours ago, he had finally managed to get rid of Straw Hat in his mad dash to utter doom. Ten hours ago, he had believed he had, at long last, attained his freedom.
Just nine hours ago, life was so good!
He had gained not only his freedom, but some stupid, stupidly loyal, and stupidly overpowered followers.
So, when exactly did it all go to shit? Why did he end up injured and exhausted in the very center of an earthquake that was going to change the entire world… and how the fuck did he get roped into ‘just one drink, for old time’s sake’ with Shanks?
He knew what would happen if he accepted. He knew that after everything that happened in the past two days, after all these years of nothing but heartbreak, anger, pain, and what-ifs… If he so much as entertained one of Shanks’ puppy-eyed looks…
And yet, he still accepted.
Now, he had to face the consequences of his own weakness.
Buggy sighed as Shanks’ hand slipped under Buggy’s shirt, his touch gentle and tentative, as if the man was worried he was going to scare Buggy away if he moved too suddenly. As if there was any going back at this point.
“Touch me, you fucking asshole,” Buggy growled, detaching one of his hands to grab Shanks’ wrist while still clinging to his shoulders.
He could see—almost feel—Shanks gulp, as he pulled away the slightest bit, meeting Buggy’s eyes, searching for something.
Buggy didn’t know what he was looking for, but he didn’t fucking care.
Clicking his tongue impatiently, Buggy grabbed Shanks’ hair roughly, yanking his head back… before smashing their lips together only a split second later.
Shanks gasped in surprise; he didn’t return the kiss as he seemingly froze in place, but Buggy was done. Done dealing with Shanks’ stupid face, done waiting for his broken fucking heart to get over this asshole, done thinking.
He had stopped caring about anything about three drinks ago.
Their captain was long gone, now Whitebeard had followed along with Captain Roger's son, who none of them knew even existed. The era was changing, the world about to become a circus… but for Buggy, the greatest show was just starting.