Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You should come with me.”

“Huh?” Buggy squinted down at the fire he was trying to encourage to grow. He had a guest tonight, damn it! Why couldn’t this sad, stupid little flame recognize that and get bigger?! With a sigh of defeat, he peered up at the rich kid talking nonsense at him. “What, where? Did you find a better place to squat?” Not that his current squat was bad, but it was too far from the docks for Buggy’s taste. All the urchins wanted to be near the docks—that’s where the rubes came from, it was home to the easiest pickings and the best ones—so any time Buggy found a decent place it was quickly taken over by one of the kid gangs (or, once, one of the grown-up gangs—now that had been a scary day). None of them ever let Buggy stay, even though he was the one who’d found those squats and made them livable. They didn’t like his attitude, whatever that meant.

“No, I mean you should come with me.” The kid laughed when Buggy frowned at him. “I told you, I’m an apprentice on a pirate ship. You can be one too!”

“A pirate?” Buggy shrunk back from the red-haired madman. “But I don’t know anything about boats, or sword-fighting, or—”

“That’s okay! ‘Apprentices are here to learn,’” the kid said, definitely quoting somebody. “And besides, you already know all the most important things!”

Buggy scowled. Was he being made fun of? Nobody ever thought he knew anything. “Like what?”

The kid started ticking things off on his fingers. “You’re a great swimmer, you run fast, you’re really good with that knife, you know what things are worth on sight, and I had a lot of fun getting away from that shopkeeper with you!”

“That was fun for you?”

“Yeah! Haven’t you been having fun?”

Running wildly across town, hiding in barrels and under docks, shoving their hands over each other’s mouths to keep from being heard, working up such an appetite that the food he’d hoped would last the week had been gone within an hour… fun? Buggy shrugged, feeling weird. “I don’t know. I don’t really think about things like that as ‘fun’ or not… it’s just what I have to do to survive.”

“Well, I don’t know about surviving, but living here doesn’t look like fun. So you should stop living here, and start living with me, as a pirate!” The kid’s grin was so wide it was almost blinding.

Buggy sat down. He didn’t know what to think. All his plans… his hidden little cache of coins, the secret bigger squat he’d been daydreaming about building, the gang he had hoped to start someday… they seemed so small, next to the ocean, and the smile on this kid’s face.

“So? What do you say?”

Buggy smothered the stupid little fire with a fistful of sand, sprung to his feet, and shook the kid’s outstretched hand. “I’m in!”

Chapter Text

“I think we should kiss!” Shanks squeezed his eyes shut and ducked his head, like he was expecting some kind of attack and was willing to accept his punishment.

For once, Buggy didn't have any to offer, totally dumbstruck. This was why Shanks had been acting so weird lately? This was why he kept running off at random times for no reason? This was why Mr. Rayleigh’d had to pull Shanks aside for a private conversation about responsibility, of all things? All because Shanks—he wanted to—!

Shanks cracked one eye open and straightened up to his normal posture when he saw Buggy was staring at him, goggle-eyed. “What?”

“Don't you ‘What?’ me!” Buggy snapped. “You’re the ‘What?’!”

“Huh?”

“You want to kiss me?!”

A patchy flush came over Shanks. He nodded, eyes locked on Buggy.

Buggy continued to stare at him. Even with confirmation, he didn’t know what to do with this information. Shanks wanted to kiss him. Shanks wanted to kiss him? “Like, right now?”

“Uh.” Shanks glanced up and down the deck, which was empty at this time of day. “I mean, we still have to finish swabbing this deck, but after? Yeah. Yeah, if you’d like.”

“If I’d—?!” Buggy started to sputter and shout, but then he realized what Shanks’ weirdness really meant. All the embarrassment, the shyness, the hiding away, it all pointed to one truth: Shanks didn’t know that Buggy wanted to kiss him! He thought he was the only one!

…which meant Buggy could save face, and still get to kiss Shanks! All he had to do was keep a level head right now. He just had to be cool, calm, collected. Buggy swallowed, his throat thick. All things he was very well known for being, of course.

“Well, I guess we could do that. If you want to so bad.” Buggy’s voice cracked mid-sentence, spoiling his I don’t care about this at all, I’m being flashily generous in doing you the favor of kissing you, so now you owe me one scheme. He turned to stare out at the sea, arms akimbo in a totally natural pose, in the hopes of hiding his flustered expression. He felt Shanks staring at him, and pretended he didn’t care what that guy thought.

“Really?!” Buggy spun around to stare. Had Shanks’ voice seriously cracked too?! Shanks went red. Buggy smirked. Shanks coughed. “I mean, uh, cool.” He grabbed his mop and bucket. “So, we should probably get back to work, then…”

“Oh! Yeah, I guess so.” Buggy snatched up his own tools, stole a glance at Shanks, thinking and then, when we’re done… and found Shanks staring at him with a speculative look on his face that definitely meant he was thinking the same thing. Both of them suddenly quite red in the face, they got down to work.

The upper deck wasn’t left especially clean, or very evenly wiped down, but it was, without a doubt, the fastest that deck had ever been swabbed.

Chapter Text

“Come with me, Buggy!”

Buggy’s hand curled into a fist. Shanks dared?! After what he’d just said?! “I’m not gonna work under you, idiot! Coward!”

Chapter Text

“I have a proposal for you, Buggy.”

Buggy frowned. Mihawk made a disgusted noise and stood to leave.

Shanks chuckled. “Not that kind of proposal, Hawkeyes!” Some of Shanks’ men hid laughter in a coughing fit. Giving Shanks a wary look, Mihawk sat.

“I want to propose an alliance,” Shanks said.

“No,” Buggy said instantly.

“Why?” Mihawk asked.

Shanks didn’t look away from Buggy. “The One Piece.”

“You dare,” Buggy spat. “After all this time?!”

“I dare,” Shanks agreed. He smiled, a self-deprecating thing. “Whitebeard’s last words inspired a new generation of upstarts. I’m worried one of them might get there first.”

Buggy scowled. “Not worried about me getting there first?”

“Worried? No,” Shanks said. Buggy fumed. “You’re one of two people I wouldn’t mind losing to.” Buggy sputtered, his ire undercut. “But I’d rather go there with you than against you.”

Buggy leaned forward, nose to nose with Shanks. “You must think I’m real stupid.”

“I’m hoping you’re smart enough to see a good deal when it’s on offer,” Shanks countered, not moving an inch.

“How exactly is this a good deal?”

“Buggy, have I ever wanted treasure a tenth as much as you?” Gesturing to his men, Shanks said, “Do you think a crew would serve under me unless they were also uninterested?”

“So?”

“There’s something I want on Laugh Tale. I don’t care about the treasure; you don’t care about anything else. If we share the workload—the poneglyphs, the translation, the coordinates—we can outpace the others, and both get what we want.”

On one hand: the One Piece!

On the other: Shanks.

Buggy’s choice was obvious: “Hell no! I’d rather lose than team up with you.”

An ominous presence loomed over Buggy. “Not so fast, clown,” said Crocodile.

“C-Croccy?” Buggy asked, trying for charming. He didn’t want Crocodile mad, and more importantly he didn’t want Shanks seeing what Cross Guild was like behind closed doors. “I thought you didn’t care about this… project.”

“I don’t,” he said, scowling. “But I’m not letting you reject an offer, sight unseen, over this grudge.” His golden hook pressed against Buggy’s throat—not painful, but a reminder that it could be. “We’re hearing him out. Understood?” Buggy nodded, swallowing weakly. Crocodile sat down, muttering, “If I have to be involved in this asinine treasure hunt, I’d prefer to win it.”

Sweaty, Buggy turned around, dreading Shanks’ reaction.

Shanks was blank-faced. “Do you remember what I asked you, the day we met?”

Oh, that bastard. “I might,” Buggy said coolly.

“Has your answer changed?”

Buggy laughed once, harshly. “No.”

The corners of Shanks’ mouth turned down.

And if you try to offer me a way out this time, I’ll refuse, Buggy thought, grimly satisfied. That frown on Shanks’ face meant he knew as much.

Shanks nodded, turning his attention to Crocodile. His charms didn’t impress, but his first mate easily providing all of the information Crocodile requested did.

Buggy had a feeling things were not going to go his way.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Buggy, here.”

Buggy held out a hand automatically—and damn Shanks for worming his way back into Buggy’s life so completely, to make this overly familiar behavior automatic again—and tore his gaze away from yet another pile of unimaginable riches to consider the piece of metal Shanks dropped into his palm. It wasn’t the coin or medallion from some ancient culture that Buggy’d half-expected of Shanks, but a ring. Buggy inspected it with greater interest. A wide, gold band, at least 20 karat by the luster, with a large, ocean-blue sapphire taking center stage, surrounded by the glint and gleam of—Buggy counted—two dozen small diamonds.

Buggy whistled. “Nice.”

“You like it?”

“Like it?” Buggy brought the gem up close, admiring the way the cut of the stone reflected his eye, the quality of the color making his iris look that much bluer. “I want it.” He scowled. “Of course you nabbed one of the flashiest things for your personal collection.”

That had been a detail Crocodile teased out of Shanks when they were drafting the alliance contract (a process that barely involved Buggy, who was highly suspicious of contracts after his last deal with Crocodile had gone south), that Shanks did want treasure after all. Just one item, he said. He didn’t have something specific in mind, he said. He’d know it when he saw it, he said. And now he’d seen it.

“If you like it so much… you could have it,” Shanks said.

Buggy snorted. “You take a piece of treasure for yourself just to turn around and give it to the guy who would’ve taken it if you hadn’t? What’s the point of that?”

“Buggy.”

“What?” Buggy spun around, glaring—he hated that amused, I know something you don’t know tone!—only to realize Shanks wasn’t where he’d left him. He glanced left, right, then down, to find Shanks crouched on the ground. “Did you drop something?” Shanks blinked. He shook his head, frowning in a bewildered sort of way. “You okay?”

Shanks shook his head again, expression frozen in that frown.

What a weirdo. “Leave your face like that long enough, it’s gonna get stuck that way,” Buggy said. When Shanks didn’t move, not even a twitch of an eye, Buggy started to get a little worried. “Seriously, did you trip? Can you not get up?”

Shanks blinked a couple times. “No. No, I—I’m alright.” He got to his feet and turned to go.

“Uh, hello? Your ring?”

“Keep it,” Shanks said, not looking back. “It suits you better anyway.”

So weird.

This alliance had been worth it in the end, Buggy thought, sliding the ring into a place of pride on his left middle finger, but he really should’ve said no to the more personal requests Shanks had made of him since. There was nostalgia for your first kiss, and then there was getting back together with a guy who did things like kneel in the dirt for no reason.

Chapter Text

“Shanks!” A gloved hand slapped something down on the table. Shanks didn't bother to look up; wasn’t his humiliation complete enough as it was? “Hey!” With a scrape of metal on wood, Buggy shoved the object closer to Shanks. He lifted his hand, and it turned out to be the ring. Of course. “Give it to me again!”

Shanks had to look up at this. Buggy was twitchy in a way Shanks hadn't seen him in ages. Nerves or lying? Probably not lying—Buggy was almost a good liar these days. (Unfortunately for him, Shanks was an expert at seeing through Buggy’s bullshit.) What could he be nervous about? Shanks looked down at the ring. What had he said? Give it to him again?

Shank set down his pint and flicked the ring across the table to Buggy. “There.”

Scowling, Buggy shoved it back at him. “Not like that! Like…” He went twitchy again.

“Like what, Buggy?” Shanks was not in the mood for one of Buggy’s mind games. He’d been lucky, earlier, that no one had seen them, that his complete mortification had stayed private. Now, sitting on the deck on his own ship, Shanks was about as far from alone as he could get while sitting at an empty table. (His crew had seen he was in a mood, and Beck was too busy cataloging things to deal with Shanks yet.) He was not eager for a continuation of those mind games to happen in earshot of most of his crew.

Buggy grimaced, leaning in close. “Like you’re making me an offer, not just giving me something flashy.”

Shanks blinked a few times, making sense of Buggy’s words. So Buggy hadn’t even known what Shanks was doing. That was a small comfort; he hadn’t been faking ignorance to spare Shanks the embarrassment of a no. But then… he squinted at Buggy. “Why? You want to turn me down properly?”

Buggy scowled. “No!”

“Because—no?” It took a moment for Buggy’s meaning to connect. (Shanks had maybe had a couple pints already.) His jaw dropped. “You… don’t want to turn me down?”

Buggy flushed. In an undertone, he said, “Like I said. Give me the ring like you’re making me an offer.”

Shanks held the ring up so it caught the light. The blue gleam of the sapphire had captivated him when he first saw it, unlike almost anything he’d ever seen. He looked up at Buggy, the same shade of blue in a paired setting on that dear, dear face. Shanks set the ring down and said, “I’ve wanted this for a long time, you know. The two of us at Laugh Tale. It seemed like such a hopeless dream for a long stretch in the middle there that I made myself a promise. If I ever managed to get you here, I’d try and fulfill an older dream while I was at it. Really press my luck," he added with a smirk.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. I have hopes, fears.” Shanks squeezed Buggy’s hand. “But I’m going to try to use the secrets I found here to establish the new era, to make a freer world. And if I survive, I would love nothing more than to be your husband.”

Smiling fondly at Buggy’s overwrought expression, Shanks said, “How was that?”

Buggy sniffled wetly. “Needs improvement.”

“It does?” Shank said, stung.

“Yeah, there wasn’t nearly enough in there about how madly in love with me you are,” Buggy said, wiping at his eyes. “And what’s all this about marrying me if you survive changing the world?” He crossed his arms huffily. “Are you seriously gonna make me wait until after you’ve taken down the government or whatever?”

Shanks blinked.

“I don’t give a shit about your new era, Shanks. But if it’s serious enough that you think you’re gonna die making it happen, the least you can do is marry me first.”

An incredulous laugh burst out of Shanks; he tried to muffle it with his hand, and got glared at for his trouble.

What did he care? This was, somehow, really happening.

“I’m either gonna be your husband or your widower. None of this ambiguous “oh, they were engaged, but before they could say “I do” that idiot Shanks got himself killed” nonsense.” Buggy leaned in close. “Are we clear?”

Pinching the ring between his thumb and forefinger, Shanks grinned and held it out. “Crystal,” he said, and watched Buggy eagerly slide it on.

Cheers erupted around them, and Buggy finally noticed that they had an audience. His shoulders hunched up, his cheeks flushing a beguiling pink. A few senior officers gave Shanks a congratulatory word or pat on the back. Some bold crewmen tried to do the same thing, not seeing the cornered animal in Buggy, seconds from unsheathing his claws.

Shanks hastily arranged their escape.

“Sorry about them. I did try to propose in private,” Shanks apologized as he led them away.

“You call that trying?” Buggy rolled his eyes. “You didn’t say anything!”

“I was nervous!” Shanks said defensively. “I’d thought about it a lot, and then looking up at you holding the ring… I got tongue-tied.” And then mortified.

“I don’t see why,” Buggy said absently, angling his wrist to make the diamonds on his ring sparkle. “You’ve asked me that question tons of times.”

Shanks paused mid-step, turning to scrutinize Buggy. “What?”

“What?”

“I’m pretty sure I’d remember if I asked you to marry me before.”

Buggy rolled his eyes more emphatically. “Not literally the same question, dumbass. But you’ve always been asking me to be with you, ever since that first day.”

…so he had.

“And now you’re gonna stay with me.” Shanks took Buggy’s hand and interlaced their fingers, enjoying the feeling of cool metal against skin. “Right?”

“Ugh, I guess,” Buggy sighed, squeezing Shanks’ hand, following where he led. “I never was any good at saying no to you and meaning it.”