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“Ready?”
Roger crouched down between Shanks and Buggy, covering each of their eyes with a hand.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Shanks and Buggy were already bouncing up and down in his arms.
Rayleigh chuckled before sliding open the door to the cabin that would become the two cabin boys’ permanent room aboard the Oro Jackson from now on.
Shanks and Buggy had already darted inside before Roger even took his hands away. They rushed straight past Gaban, who stood there with his arms spread wide.
“No need to thank me! I only spent the last few weeks building–”
“We have a closet!”
“I can put my own treasure chest here!”
Gaban lowered his arms as he was thoroughly ignored, then slowly turned to Roger and Rayleigh, who had stopped beside him.
“...A small ‘thank you’ would’ve been nice.”
Roger laughed, giving Gaban a hearty pat on the back. “Good work. Can’t believe we couldn’t find any kid-sized furniture on the last island. But this is much better.”
The cabin was simple but had everything they needed: a bunk bed, a closet, a desk, and shelves. Everything was built to fit their little frames. And for the two boys, who had only shared rooms with the adults before, it was practically a palace.
Buggy had asked over dinner one day, “Why are we called cabin boys if we don’t even have our own cabin?”
Rayleigh ruffled his hair. “It’s just what pirate apprentices are called. Most of our crew sleep in the shared cabins, remember?”
“But Ray-san has his own cabin!” Shanks pointed out.
“That’s the captain’s and vice-captain’s privilege,” Roger said through a mouthful of food. “You two will get one when you’re sailing your own ship.”
“But Gaban also has his own room…”
Rayleigh chuckled. “That’s because he’s in charge of our maps. He needs the space to work. Some of our senior officers have private cabins too, after they’ve led enough successful missions.”
“That’s too hard. I haven’t even been allowed to join a mission…” Buggy stopped chewing, his mouth curling into a pout.
Roger laughed as he reached over to poke Buggy’s puffed-up cheek. “Want your own room that badly? Then you’ve got to work hard for it–”
When Buggy’s pout only deepened and his eyes even started to glisten, Roger immediately caved. “Actually, you have been working hard! You deserve your own cabin!”
Rayleigh tried to interrupt with a cough, but Roger had already lost the battle when Shanks and Buggy scrambled into his lap, making him promise. The rest of the crew could only shake their heads. Though none of them minded that the two boys got a private cabin before they did. Everyone aboard the Oro Jackson spoiled their two little boys as much as Roger himself.
Crocus added, “It’s not a bad idea. They’ll be hitting puberty before long. Better they stop sharing a room with a bunch of grown men.”
So, at the grand old age of six, Shanks and Buggy earned their own cabin, probably setting the record for the youngest cabin boys to ever have one.
***
Shanks and Buggy couldn’t focus on their chores all day. They kept hovering around their cabin, spending half the time telling the crewmembers where they were going to put everything, and the other half pestering Roger until he emptied his treasure stash so they could decorate their room.
“Quick! It’s bedtime!” Buggy tugged on Shanks’s sleeve while the boy was still chewing his last bite.
“It’s only eight,” Gaban snorted. “And here I’ve had to wrestle you into bed every night at ten.”
The moment Shanks swallowed, the two boys quickly wished everyone good night and bowed before racing out of the dining room, not even waiting for dessert.
To everyone’s surprise, they didn’t fight over who got the top bunk.
“The top bunk is way cooler!” Shanks declared as he scrambled up the ladder.
“Idiot. If we get attacked in the middle of the night, I can run faster.” Buggy had already thrown his pillow onto the lower bunk.
So, at exactly eight o’clock, the two were already tucked into their respective beds. Shanks completely relaxed, enjoying, for the first time, the peace and quiet without a cabin full of crewmates talking or snoring around him. He stretched out as far as he could, grinning now that he and Buggy no longer had to share a bed.
He closed his eyes, ready for the best night’s sleep ever. The new room smelled nice too, thanks to the citrus peels Buggy had put by the window, instead of like the old cabin, which always smelled of sweaty men after a day of training.
Shanks kept his eyes squeezed shut and a stubborn smile on his face for exactly fifteen minutes before finally opening them with a frown.
“Buggy?”
Buggy grumbled, “What?”
“Are you asleep?”
Shanks could practically picture Buggy rolling his eyes from the bunk below. “I was, before you started bothering me.”
Shanks frowned. It felt a little strange when he couldn’t just turn his head and see Buggy. They were always side by side, whether they were sleeping, eating, working, or playing. So Shanks leaned over the edge of the top bunk until his head was hanging upside down.
“I can’t sleep.”
“That sounds like your problem. Leave me alone.”
Shanks pouted. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him that Buggy could fall asleep so easily without him. So, just to make sure Buggy was just as annoyed, Shanks climbed down from the top bunk and slipped under Buggy's blanket.
“Hey!”
Buggy squirmed when Shanks quickly wrapped an arm around his waist.
“Much better,” Shanks sighed happily.
“I knew it! You had to ruin my first night in my own room!” Buggy tried to kick and punch him.
Shanks struggled to keep him pinned in place. “I didn’t ruin it! We’re still in our own cabin. Nobody said we had to sleep in separate beds too.”
Shanks had expected to wrestle with Buggy a while longer before he finally accepted it, but to his surprise, Buggy suddenly stopped struggling.
“...You’re not wrong.”
Shanks blinked before a grin spread across his face. He knew Buggy had answered too quickly when he had asked if he was asleep.
“Aww, if you missed me beside you too, you could’ve just said so–”
Buggy smacked him hard across the forehead. “I’m throwing you out of my bed if you say one more word!”
Shanks happily complied with a yawn. He let Buggy settle more comfortably against his chest. It wasn’t every day Buggy chose Shanks’s arm over his pillow.
Shanks pouted a little as he glanced at his lanky arms. They were nowhere near as big as Roger’s, and definitely not as comfortable to sleep on as their captain’s. But Shanks would fix that one day. He made a mental note to train even harder tomorrow so he could replace Buggy’s pillow soon.
***
Over the next few weeks, the little cabin quickly became Shanks and Buggy’s favorite place on the Oro Jackson. Every time the crew docked at a new island, the two boys came back carrying another little treasure to decorate it with. Buggy carefully arranged shiny trinkets on the shelves while Shanks proudly pinned up odd souvenirs they found along the way. They no longer had to worry about someone accidentally sitting on their things.
Best of all, Shanks and Buggy could still spend their days with the crew as usual: following Roger around like ducklings, messing up Gaban’s maps, and falling asleep halfway through Rayleigh’s lessons. But afterward, they could retreat to their cabin and do whatever they wanted without having to ask anyone’s permission.
The top bunk remained perfectly made every night. Shanks always ended up climbing down, and Buggy grumbled but scooted over anyway. None of them brought up the fact that they had pestered Gaban for days to build them a bunk bed.
One evening, they were sitting at the captain’s table as usual, deeply focused on stealing each other’s meat.
“If I’d known giving you your own room was all it took to get you into bed early, I would’ve done it ages ago,” Gaban snorted.
Shanks and Buggy exchanged a glance. It was true they ran around the deck a lot less at night these days, but that was only because they ran around inside their own cabin instead. Judging by the look Rayleigh gave them, the vice-captain knew exactly what they were up to. Though as long as they didn’t make too much noise, he seemed content to pretend he didn’t.
Roger nodded. “Mm-hm. You two disappear into your cabin every evening now.” Then, with an oddly awkward laugh, he added, “R-remember when you used to sneak into my room because everyone snored too loudly? You don’t need to do that anymore, do you?”
Shanks and Buggy simply nodded before finishing the last of their dinner, ready to dash off like usual. They still had their latest treasure haul to sort through in their cabin.
“Excuse us!”
“Uh, right... Just so you know, even if nobody’s snoring, you can still knock on my door–”
But the two boys paid him no mind and had already disappeared out the door, as Roger’s hand remained awkwardly raised in midair.
Rayleigh couldn’t watch any longer. “You could just tell them you want them to come over.”
“What?! No!” Roger nearly jumped out of his seat. “They’re six now! I’m not some traditional old man who can’t let kids grow up!”
Then, he spent the rest of dinner absentmindedly poking at his food instead of eating it, earning a long, helpless sigh from Rayleigh.
***
Midnight meant Shanks and Buggy’s monthly watch duty. Their usual chores only consisted of scrubbing the deck and cleaning crew's quarters, so being entrusted with something as important as protecting the ship was easily the most exciting thing that had ever happened to the two cabin boys. It wouldn’t be until years later that they learned Roger had kept his Observation Haki active the entire night to cover for them. For now, though, they took the job very seriously.
Buggy yawned as he slumped against Shanks, absentmindedly playing with the end of Shanks’s sash.
“How many hours until the next shift?” Buggy mumbled.
“We only started thirty minutes ago,” Shanks reminded him.
Back when they still slept in the crow’s nest whenever they could get away with it, watch duty had been something they looked forward to because they finally had a space all to themselves. Now that they had their own cabin, though, standing watch had become a lot less exciting.
Shanks glanced at Buggy’s teary eyes. “Just sleep. I’ll keep watch for both of us.”
Buggy immediately glared at him. “You think I can't do it?!”
“Of course not!” Shanks said quickly, knowing if he insisted, Buggy wouldn’t go to sleep just to prove him wrong. “I’m tired too. You can keep watch while I nap afterward.”
Buggy considered that for a moment and seemed satisfied as long as they were both slacking off equally. So he rested his head on Shanks’s shoulder and was snoring almost immediately. Shanks huffed, Buggy really had had a long day.
Shanks had planned to stay awake, he wasn’t that sleepy yet. But the gentle rocking of the ship and Buggy’s soft breathing beside him quickly made his eyelids grow heavy. Shanks didn’t even realize he had drifted off when he heard footsteps. Or maybe he was still dreaming. He was too sleepy to tell.
It wasn’t until the footsteps came closer and someone let out a huff that Shanks recognized Roger. A second later, both he and Buggy were scooped into the captain’s arms. Roger had done this often enough that he knew how not to disturb their sleep. Most of the time it was Roger, and sometimes Rayleigh or Gaban if they found the two boys dozing off somewhere. The next thing Shanks and Buggy usually knew, they would wake up tucked comfortably into bed.
Shanks decided he would deal with the ‘punishment’ tomorrow. Roger’s arms were too comfortable to worry about it now. Besides, the punishment was only mopping the deck, which they did all the time anyway. Half-asleep as Roger carried them back, Shanks sank happily against his captain. Roger was warm and broad, and his familiar scent – nothing sweet like Buggy’s – made him feel the safest he had ever been.
Shanks frowned slightly when he felt himself being lowered onto a bed. It was much bigger than theirs.
“Told you they’re too young for watch duty,” Rayleigh whispered beside Shanks.
Roger settled down next to Buggy, tucking the two boys comfortably between himself and Rayleigh. “How am I supposed to say no when they just want to help?”
Rayleigh huffed as he pulled the blanket over all four of them. “I usually don’t mind, but we’re getting close to a winter island. It’s too cold for them to be outside.”
“Okay, okay, mother hen,” Roger chuckled before leaning over to steal a quick kiss from Rayleigh. “I’ll talk to them tomorrow.” Then he bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to Shanks’s forehead, followed by another to Buggy’s.
“Night, sons.”
Shanks nodded sleepily, or maybe he only nodded in his dream. He wasn’t sure anymore. The nights really had been getting colder. Even Buggy had stopped pretending he didn’t like cuddling and always snuggled up against Shanks.
Usually, when it got too chilly, the two of them would sneak into the captain’s cabin or Gaban’s navigation room and happily borrow their warmth. They should do that again, Shanks decided. Because being tucked between Roger and Rayleigh, with Buggy curled against him, was the warmest and most comfortable place in the world. Shanks drifted back to sleep, convinced he was having the best dream ever.
…
When Shanks opened his eyes, the sun was only just beginning to rise. Pale golden light filtered through the cabin window, painting the room in a soft glow. Everything was quiet except for the creak of wood and the familiar sound of Roger’s snores.
Shanks lay comfortably on Rayleigh’s broad arm, squeezed snugly between the vice-captain and Roger. He stayed still for a moment, happily enjoying the warmth surrounding him before glancing up.
Buggy was fast asleep on top of Roger, rising and falling slightly with Roger’s breathing. One of Roger’s arms was draped securely around Buggy, while the other rested beneath Rayleigh’s head, letting him use it as a pillow.
Shanks huffed softly when Buggy frowned in his sleep. He reached up, trying to push Roger’s arm off him. Rayleigh knew how to drape an arm over them without squashing them, but Roger usually dropped his entire weight onto whoever he was hugging, as though he forgot he was a nine-foot-tall man. Buggy always complained that his whole body ached after getting crushed under Roger’s arm.
But even asleep, Roger was impossible to budge. Shanks had to sit up a little to shove at the heavy arm, only for it not to even move an inch. He nearly let out a yelp when, from behind him, Rayleigh reached over, lifted Roger’s arm off Buggy, and wrapped it around himself instead. Roger merely hummed in his sleep and seemed perfectly content with his new pillow.
Shanks turned slightly to meet Rayleigh’s sleepy smile. He giggled before snuggling into Rayleigh’s chest, feeling the vice-captain’s arms tighten around him. Shanks knew they had successfully earned themselves a late morning and happily closed his eyes again.
***
Shanks and Buggy paid for their lazy morning by listening to Gaban whine about why they had snuggled with Roger and Rayleigh instead of him. He only let them off after they promised to spend tonight in his room instead.
“I want another storyyy.”
Buggy tugged on Gaban’s sleeve as he and Shanks lay on either side of Gaban, hugging one of his arms. Buggy had yawned at least three times already, but the two of them always loved Gaban’s bedtime stories.
“Alright, alright,” Gaban chuckled, turning the page. “Let’s do Liar Noland.”
Shanks felt his eyelids grow heavier as Gaban’s soothing voice filled the room. He only stirred a little when Buggy mumbled,
“What an idiot,” Buggy muttered, his eyes still fixed on the page. “Of course there’s no island in the sky.”
Gaban paused his reading to lightly pinch Buggy’s cheek. “Hey, boy. We’re navigators. What’s the fun in sailing if we only believe in ordinary islands?”
Buggy pouted, clearly trying to look unconvinced, but the way his eyes lit up with curiosity told Shanks otherwise.
“It’s definitely real. I’ll take you there.”
Buggy glared at him. “Why would I need you? The Roger Pirates are way stronger than you.”
Shanks was instantly wide awake. He pushed himself up from Gaban’s arm.
“Just for now! I’ll get stronger! Then I’ll take you to the Sky Island… or whatever the hardest island is!”
“That would be the last island on the Grand Line,” Gaban said, thoroughly amused by their ridiculous argument.
“Then I’ll go to the last island with you!” Shanks declared.
Before Buggy could launch himself at Shanks with another “I don’t need you,” Gaban pinned both boys down with his strong arms and reached over to blow out the lantern.
“Alright, bedtime.” He sighed as Shanks and Buggy continued trying to swat at each other across his chest. “And if you want to grow stronger, you need a full night’s sleep.”
That convinced Shanks and Buggy immediately. They weren’t entirely sure if the adults only said that to trick them into going to bed early, but they couldn’t risk the chance of not growing taller. So, within minutes, the two of them were snuggled up under the blanket with one of Gaban’s arms tucked beneath each of their heads, happily fast asleep.
From then on, the two cabin boys became expert negotiators, trying to work out whose room they would sleep in each night. Roger, Gaban, and occasionally a few of the others had turned it into a competition over who got to use the two cabin boys as pillows. Since Shanks and Buggy still wanted plenty of nights to themselves in their own cabin, balancing everyone’s requests became the greatest challenge the two six-year-olds had ever faced, which, admittedly, wasn’t saying much when they had never experienced real stress in their lives, having been protected by one of the strongest pirate crews in the world.
Usually, it all started when someone found Buggy dozing off somewhere and quietly carried him back to their room without asking. They quickly learned, however, that the two cabin boys came as a package deal. If someone stole Buggy without Shanks, Buggy would eventually wake up and leave to look for him, no matter how much they coaxed or even bribed him with shiny treasures. The same thing happened in reverse. So, everyone figured out they had to wait until both Shanks and Buggy had fallen asleep before snatching them.
At the moment, Rayleigh was in the lead. Whenever he worked late in his own cabin instead of sleeping in the captain’s quarters, the two boys almost always wandered in on their own and fell asleep beside him. Roger and Gaban had therefore formed a highly suspicious alliance out of sheer jealousy to take Rayleigh down. Unfortunately, it was probably the weakest alliance in pirate history. It lasted exactly until one of them spotted a sleeping Shanks or Buggy first, at which point they immediately betrayed each other.
Just a couple of years later, though, they found themselves facing their most formidable opponent yet – Shanks himself. As soon as Shanks grew tall enough, he easily took over the exclusive job of carrying a sleepy Buggy back to bed.
Shanks sat at the breakfast table as usual, feeling Roger’s and Gaban’s murderous stares boring into the back of his head while Buggy, sitting beside him, remained completely oblivious. Simply because Shanks had ruined their chances again the night before. He didn’t really mind sleeping with the adults every now and then, but they had both grown taller now, and squeezing three people into one bed was getting a little cramped for his long legs. Besides, Buggy was always at his softest first thing in the morning, and Shanks could easily steal a morning kiss. So Shanks spared Roger and Gaban’s jealous glares only a glance before deciding Buggy was much cuter to look at.
That night, Shanks found Buggy dozing off over his maps again. He huffed and crouched down beside him, but his Observation Haki suddenly flared. Roger was only a few feet away, anxiously chewing on the collar of his shirt while pretending not to watch.
Shanks’s hand hesitated for a second before he casually pulled it back. “Ah, my sword,” he muttered to himself, then whistled innocently and wandered away.
He stopped just around the corner and waited. A few seconds later, his Observation Haki picked up Roger tiptoeing toward Buggy. Shanks had to bite back a laugh as the captain scooped Buggy up with muffled giggles.
Shanks smiled to himself at the sight. Even though they had both grown taller, Buggy still looked tiny in Roger’s arms, for a moment, he was Roger’s little boy all over again. Ever since they became teenagers, neither of them willingly let the adults carry them around anymore. So Roger was probably savoring every second of it while he still could.
Shanks suddenly felt a little jealous looking at them. Quietly, he circled around to the path leading to the captain’s cabin, sat down against the wall, and pretended to doze off. Right on cue, Roger nearly jumped in excitement before carefully scooping him onto his other arm. Resting his head over Roger’s shoulder, Shanks decided he would worry about the leg cramps tomorrow.
He only cracked one eye open when Roger nearly bumped both of their heads into the cabin door. Roger really needed to remember they weren’t knee-high little kids anymore if he insisted on carrying them both at once. That was when Shanks caught Buggy’s eyes, wide open and just as annoyed by the collision.
Buggy shot him a resigned look before immediately closing his eyes again. Shanks had to hide a grin as Roger lowered them both onto his bed. Well, it was about time they spoiled their old man a little in return.