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“What’s this?” Buggy’s eyes narrow suspiciously, looking from Captain Roger to the item in his arms. Despite its relative harmlessness, Buggy has the wariness of a stray cat confronted with something potentially dangerous.
“Can’t you see? It’s a bear!” Roger says, a cheerful smile stretching across his face. “I thought you might like it, Buggy.”
Buggy looks at Roger, then the bear plush in his arms, and back to Roger again. “Is it because of the…?” He doesn’t want to say it, but the bear and him share a striking resemblance in at least one feature, and it’s making him feel sour about the thing already.
“You guys could be twins!” Roger moves the bear so that its nose, round and red, presses against Buggy’s own. “Isn’t it cute?”
Buggy scowls. “We don’t look anything alike!” Still, he’s never been one to refuse a gift, especially from Captain Roger, so he reluctantly opens his arms and wraps them around the bear.
The bear is big, almost as big as Buggy himself, and its fur is soft and fuzzy. Buggy doesn’t want to admit it, but the bear’s kind of nice to hold.
“…Thanks, captain,” Buggy says, because Rayleigh has ingrained it in him and Shanks to be grateful when receiving a gift. Not that Buggy always follows that rule, but it’s the captain, so he’s more willing to be polite for once.
“Hey, what’s this?” Shanks pops up around Buggy’s shoulder. His mouth is smudged with chocolate, his own gift from Roger. Buggy tries and fails not to get irritated by Shanks’ sudden appearance.
“What does it look like, stupid?” Buggy hugs the bear close to his chest, hoping to hide its nose at least. Shanks is going to have a field day when he sees it regardless, but Buggy rather not deal with his teasing in front of everyone right now.
Shanks tries to reach out to touch the bear, but upon seeing his sticky hand, Buggy detaches his arms and lets them fly away with the bear. No way is he letting Shanks get his grubby hands on the bear’s clean fur.
“Aw, Buggy, don’t be mean!” Shanks whines. “I’m not going to do anything to it!”
“You’re going to make a mess of it!” Buggy yells. The bear is almost to the crow’s nest now, just in case Shanks gets any idea of trying to grab it out of the air.
His initial dislike of the bear forgotten, Buggy vows to protect the stuffed animal from Shanks’ evil hands. No way is he going to let his present get tossed around and trampled upon (by anyone other than him)!
Most of the crew seems to view Buggy’s attachment to the bear as something sweet, albeit a bit silly. For someone as rowdy and prickly as Buggy, seeing him with something soft and cute is a pleasant change.
Since Buggy’s never been interested in anything beside knives or gemstones when it comes to material items, Shanks expected the bear to be mostly ignored, even if it had been a gift from Captain Roger.
Instead, Buggy seems to have gotten more and more attached to it over the last few weeks, sleeping with it at night and cuddling with it during his free time. He’s even brought it with him around the ship while they’ve done their chores at times, like he doesn’t want to be away from it. Though the last part was likely due to Shanks always trying to touch it; he still doesn’t know why Buggy’s so stingy about that anyway. His hands were totally clean except the first time, he swears!
Buggy has even given the bear a name—Andy, after the gemstone andradite. Apparently, the bear’s fur is the same color as the gem, a yellow almost like honey.
Normally, this wouldn’t be a big issue for Shanks. In fact, he’d probably spend most of his time making fun of Buggy for being so attached to a stuffed animal. But instead, he finds himself getting more and more irritated every time he sees the bear, especially since Buggy seems to prefer its company to his own.
In the mornings, Buggy takes the bear with him to breakfast, placing it in Shanks’ usual spot so he has to find somewhere else to sit. Instead of the two of them taking watch in the crow’s nest together, Buggy tells Shanks he can stay in bed because he’s bringing Andy with him instead. Rather than spending time with Shanks on the deck after their chores are done, Buggy heads back to their room to read his gemstone encyclopedias while using the bear as a backrest. Shanks could totally be Buggy’s backrest!
“Buggyyyyy,” Shanks whines. “Come hang out with me for a bit! We can do some sparring practice!”
“No thanks.” Buggy doesn’t even bother to look at Shanks, instead shifting to rest his cheek against Andy’s stomach as he flips through a newspaper he swiped from Rayleigh earlier in the day.
“Ugh!” Shanks flops down on the floor of their room, defeated. It’s been impossible to sway Buggy away from the stupid bear recently. It’s like he’s been replaced by a stuffed animal of all things.
“Why do you like that thing so much anyway?” Shanks asks, pushing himself up into a sitting position with a huff. “It’s just a dumb bear, isn’t it?”
That earns Shanks a glare from Buggy. “You’re the dumb one,” Buggy says. “Are you jealous that I got a better present from the captain this time?”
“What? No!” Not that Shanks wouldn’t appreciate a bear if the captain gave him one, but he definitely doesn’t want one of his own. “It’s just… you’re always with the bear now. It’s kind of weird, isn’t it?” Right as the words leave his mouth, Shanks knows that it’s the wrong thing to say. “Wait—no, I didn’t mean it like that!”
Buggy just scowls at Shanks before he turns his back on him, tightening his grip on Andy. “If it’s so weird, then you can get out of here. I like him, and I’m not going to stop using him how I want.”
“Buggy, I didn’t mean it.” Shanks tries to go to Buggy’s side, but he moves until Andy is a wall between them.
“Whatever,” Buggy mutters, his voice barely audible past Andy’s mountain of fur. “Don’t you have some sparring to do or whatever? You can just leave me and my weird bear alone.”
You’re not going to beat me, Shanks thinks, glaring daggers at Andy’s perfectly pleasant face. He’s definitely going to find a way to take back his rightful place at Buggy’s side.
Unfortunately for Shanks, Operation: Defeat Andy goes… pretty poorly. Despite all his best efforts to woo Buggy away from the bear with gifts (hotdogs, new knives, gems, etc.), Andy still remains number one in Buggy’s heart (and arms). Even the shiniest gem that Shanks managed to swipe from an enemy ship only got Buggy’s attention for a few minutes, and mostly because he was busy berating Shanks for still not being able to tell apart glass baubles from genuine jewels.
For a moment, Shanks thinks he has a chance for victory when Andy is put out to dry with the rest of the laundry that's just been cleaned. With the sea winds being unpredictable as they are, it isn’t uncommon to lose some clothes or sheets when they’re hung out to dry on the lines on the deck. Maybe Andy would suffer an unfortunate accidental fall into the sea, never to be found again.
It’s a cruel and underhanded move, but Shanks is a pirate, and pirates do whatever they can to defeat their enemies. No one would blame Shanks for throwing his nemesis overboard.
Except. Someone finds him before he can put his dastardly plan into motion.
“What are you doing?” A hand lands heavily on top of Shanks’ straw hat. When Shanks glances up nervously, he sees Rayleigh looking down at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Nothing…” Shanks says, trying to make himself look as trustworthy as possible. Not that that would do anything for Rayleigh, who can sense misbehavior from a mile away. “Just… you know, checking on the laundry to see if it’s dry.”
“Right,” Rayleigh says. “Even though you’re supposed to be in the kitchen right now?”
“I finished with all my kitchen chores earlier!” It’s technically true, though the quality of his work was likely shoddier than usual. Did it matter if all the vegetables were misshapen if they were just going to be in a stew anyway?
Rayleigh shakes his head with a sigh. “Leave the bear alone, Shanks. I don’t know what grudge you have against it, but Buggy likes it a lot, so don’t mess with it, okay?”
“Ughhhh, but Rayleigh, that’s why it’s a problem!” Shanks complains. “He likes it more than me! What does it have that I don’t? Do I need to eat more to be fluffy…. Is there a devil fruit that can make me a bear…”
Rayleigh knocks his fist against Shanks’ head, gently though, so it’s just a minor thump instead of his usual punishing hit. “It’s just a bear. I’m sure Buggy will get tired of it soon enough anyway. Just give it some time.”
“Okay…” It’s not what Shanks wants, but with Rayleigh around, there’s no way he’ll have a chance to get to Andy anyway. He’ll just have to wait for another time then.
That night, the mercurial weather patterns of the Grand Line shift suddenly, going from the warm spring breezes to freezing cold air in less than an hour. Due to the unexpected change in temperature, it’s a rush to pull out all of their cold weather bedding and clothes to make sure the crew doesn't freeze during the night.
Buggy and Shanks are no different, each of them carrying back a bundle of blankets and extra sheets in their arms. In their room, they pull the thin mattresses of their bunks to the floor, making one big mattress for them to share. During weather like this, it’s better to sleep together than apart.
Teeth chattering, the two of them set up the blankets and sheets on their joined mattress as quickly as possible. Even though they’re lucky enough to not be on watch tonight, it’s still freezing cold inside the ship.
Once the blankets are spread out on the joined mattress, Shanks dives inside, wrapping the fabric tightly around his body so that the cold air won’t get inside. “Buggy, c’mon,” he calls, only his eyes peeking out from above the blanket. “Get in quick so we can warm up!”
“I’m coming!” Buggy gripes. “You think I want to be freezing right now?” Unfortunately, in Buggy’s arms is Andy, and he shoves the bear under the blankets first before he gets in himself.
Mood souring by the new addition in their bed, Shanks opens his mouth to complain, but before he can, one of Buggy’s hands grabs Shanks’ arm and pulls it over Andy’s stomach. “Here,” Buggy says. “He’s really warm if you hug him. Be grateful that I’m sharing him with you tonight and not just keeping him all to myself.”
Buggy’s right. Andy is warm under Shanks’ arm, and his fur is just as soft as it looks. It’s no wonder Buggy likes the bear so much. He’s soft and warm and nice to hold. Shanks, though, is much more focused on Buggy’s arm touching his own where they overlap in their hold on Andy.
Even though there’s still a blasted bear between them, this is the closest Shanks has been to Buggy in a while. At this point, he’ll take what he can get. “Thanks, Buggy,” Shanks says, squeezing Andy a little tighter. Maybe if he closes his eyes, he can pretend that he’s holding Buggy instead of the bear.
Ensconced in their little nest of blankets and with a furry stuffed animal between them, they’re cozy and warm. It only takes a few minutes for both of them to fall into a comfortable sleep.
Much later, though not yet the morning, Shanks briefly wakes. Honestly, he’s not sure what pulled him out of his sleep. He’s still warm and toasty, and the room is quiet. Shifting, Shanks goes to tighten his hold on Andy, hoping to pull the bear a little closer. They may be enemies when it comes to Buggy’s affection, but Shanks can admit the bear is useful during cold nights.
Unlike before though, there’s no fur under his arm. Instead, there’s another body pressed against his own, and a head tucked tightly under his chin. Huh? Shanks thinks, still mostly asleep.
It’s dark in the room, but when Shanks lifts his head, he can just make out the blue of Buggy’s hair below him. Buggy himself is pressed tightly against Shanks’ chest, his breath gusting out warmly. Andy, on the other hand, has somehow been tossed out of the bed. He lies on his side on the floor, the gleam of his black eyes and the shine of red nose just visible in the dark.
“Ha!” Shanks ducks his head down, hiding his triumphant grin in Buggy’s hair. He tightens his hold on Buggy, too, making sure that he won’t suddenly roll away later in the night. Peeking out, he looks at Andy again, cast out from their bed, just like he should be.
“I won,” Shanks whispers. Even if it was just a consequence of Buggy’s poor sleeping habits, he chose to cuddle with Shanks instead of Andy in the end. A warm and fuzzy bear is no match for human body heat, it seems.
Shanks knows that this is just one battle in a war, though. In the morning, Buggy will probably shove Shanks away, flustered at their proximity, and go get Andy instead. That just means Shanks has to work even harder to convince Buggy that he’s better and more useful than a dumb bear. He’ll make himself as cuddly as possible if he has to!
For now, though, Shanks will take his victory, even as minor as it might be. There’s only a few more hours until they have to get up, and he’s going to enjoy having Buggy in his arms for as long as possible.