Chapter Text
Buggy scowled as some nameless underling (to be fair, Buggy probably knew the mook's if not name, then at least which crew he was part of but right now he just couldn't be bothered trying to remember) scurried out as if he was on fire (he wasn't, for the record). The poor guy hadn't been the first member of the 'illustrious' Cross Guild to react like that today. In fact, most of the people who'd popped in to speak with him or one of the other Cross Guild leaders had been a bit... jumpy... to say the least. And when you considered that the members of Cross Guild were to a man (and a woman. Say what you will about Cross Guild – and much said about it was... less than complementary; particularly by anyone connected to the Marines – they were an equal opportunity pirate conglomeration thankyouverymuch) hardened pirates... And it wasn't even like it was their fault that Buggy was in a bad mood.
“Doesn't this bother you?!” Buggy blurted out out of the blue (well sort of anyway), drawing brief bored looks from both Mihawk and Crocodile before the pair went back to what they'd been doing (playing some sort of solitaire game and reading the newspaper respectively). “I mean...” he continued in the face of the others' indifference, gesturing at his body for effect. Correction. Her body.
Never piss off Emporio Ivankov. There was a reason that he was so highly placed in the Revolutionary Army. (And no, it wasn't because he was one of the founding members. Well, not just because). Worst of all, Buggy wasn't even sure what he or Cross Guild had even done to get on Ivankov's bad side. Surely it had to be something particularly egregious. Ivankov wasn't known for over-reactive punishments or for pranking people.
“It certainly bothers you (idiot).” Mihawk pointed out blandly even as she drew a card from the deck. Crocodile did not snicker at that – no matter what a lesser person would've done.
Buggy gave out a sound more fitting for some sort of dying rhino or other large herbivorous land mammal before jumping to her feet and stalking out. Dramatically.
Crocodile might have let out a somewhat amused snort once she was sure that Buggy was actually fully gone (and hadn't in fact left a bit of herself behind – say her left ear. Hey! It's been known to happen. And sometimes it was even by accident).
(For the record, neither Mihawk nor Crocodile were quite as blasé about their abrupt Ivankov induced sex change as they'd appeared to Buggy. Mihawk was in fact quite cross about it; her entire center of gravity was off which was leading to a degree of clumsiness that she hadn't had to deal with in years. Not that most people would be able to tell since she remained a damn good swordswoman. But she knew. And so would anyone with a lick of true talent with a sword. Crocodile... With her it was a very subtle uneasiness; some barely noticeable dip into the shallows of the uncanny valley that might've been more a case of feeling the wrongness of how not wrong it felt. But then, she was a logia fruit user and ever since she'd eaten of the Suna Suna no Mi, her form had been a bit... fluid. They just liked yanking Buggy's chain more than suddenly being women irked them. Buggy was just so fun to mess around with.)