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"You really need to stop, clown."
A shaky huff escaped the clowns lips as Crocodile went to work on his arm— both of them were settled on their shared bed, with Crocodile pressing a cool wet cloth to Buggys wounds. Buggy avoided eye contact, feeling the cool water on his burns.
He had done it again.
Crocodile was thankful he had caught the clown in the act before it got worse— he knew the clown very well, how willing he was to destroy his own body without a second thought. If something went wrong, Crocodile knew where his mind went. It infuriated him, though he tried to convince himself It was because of Buggys impulsive decisions, not because Crocodile hadnt caught him in time.
He sworn he had hidden all the matches from him. He guessed wrong.
"This doesn’t help with anything, with what you’re doing." Crocodile sighed, Crocodile wasn’t the best with comforting words, or anything of the sort. It was out of his league— to say the least. Mihawk was much better on treating the clown than him. Perhaps Crocodile could order the others to get Buggys comfort food— it shouldn’t be too hard.
"…sorry…" Buggy squirmed, his eyes unfocused and nervous as he looked away from the ex-warlord, anxiety clearly emanating from the clown. He could feel how his body threatened to break into little pieces— literally. Crocodile hoped that wouldn’t happen.
As Crocodile deemed the cloth was enough, he set the wet fabric down and reached for the bottle of aloe vera— looking over to Buggy and handing him the bottle, a silent ask for Buggy to pour some in Crocodiles hand. It was hard treating wounds when you had one hand, after all.
After a moment of confusion, Buggy understood and began to pour the aloe vera into Crocodiles hand— Buggy could’ve done this himself, they both knew that very well. But Crocodile knew the comfort and trust that came from treating ones wounds, even if it was nervewracking for the clown.
Once it poured in his hand, Crocodile gently applied the aloe to his burns, feeling how Buggy tensed up at the cool feeling— all the while Crocodile held Buggys arm up with his hook, making sure Buggy wouldn’t pull away.
Once he finished, Crocodile reached for the roll of bandages, using his large hook to pierce the tip of the roll, and there he began to loosely wrap it around Buggys arm, making sure it was secure enough on Buggys damaged arm. The silence was overwhelming for them both, especially for Buggy. It upset Crocodile, knowing his clown resorted to this. And he still didn’t know the reason why.
"That should be good enough." Crocodile hummed, as he finished applying the bandages. Buggy nodded weakly, as Crocodile pulled Buggys sleeve back down, setting the treatment off to the side. Crocodile looked at Buggy, now that they were done— what was there to do?
"…thank you— I should be going now, haha…" Buggy scratched the back of his neck, noting how he tried to shrug this off as not a big deal. Buggy went to leave the room, before Crocodile reached for Buggys hand. "Wait."
Buggy tensed, looking at Crocodile with a nervous gaze— sweat trickling down his brow as Crocodile tried to think on what to say. "…Stay. I dont trust you to be by yourself right now." Crocodile muttered— they both knew there was more to that than what Crocodile entailed, but neither acknowledged it. Buggy hesitated, before leaning in close.
As Buggy moved closer, Crocodile took this to his advantage, with Crocodile slowly wrapping his arm around Buggys waist, pulling them both down onto the bed gently. Buggy didnt say a thing, neither did Crocodile.
As they laid down, Crocodile took the time to detach his hook from his nub, setting it down on the bedside table, aswell as removing the lining and setting it next to his hook. Now that was situated, Crocodile wrapped both arms around Buggy, making sure to avoid Buggys injured arm as he brought the clown close to his chest. Buggy tensed, before slowly melting into the affection.
They laid like that for a bit, encased in eachothers arms for the time being— and soon enough, he felt the other drift off to sleep, hidden in Crocodiles embrace. Crocodile huffed, looking down before closing his eyes aswell.
He could use a break, too.