Cool? The brat thinks he is cool? I mean, he is. He totally is. Far cooler than the red bastard for starters. But most people don't see it that way. Especially powerful people. And this brat, with his monstrous strength and unbreakable Will, thinks Buggy is cool.
"Really Buggy, where were you during the battle? You are so lame!"
Buggy had thought... Well, the kids clearly admire his strength and worldly knowledge and he may be the most competent pirate the two oldest have met but that was now. As soon as they set sail they would meet so many stronger people and they would think back and laugh at how easily impressed they had been. With any luck they would think of Buggy with fond exasperation. Or most likely be disillusioned by him. That was what was supposed to happen at least.
"I thought Roger's apprentices were supposed to be strong! Were you a pity case?"
But he has told Ace he was going to let a piece of garbage beat him and the brat had said he was cool.
"Buggy, I know it's easier to back away but don't you have any pride?"
"East Blue, eh? Should I be surprised you are running away with your tail between your legs?"
"Didn't Shanks-kun offer you a place in his crew, Buggy-kun? Maybe you could have stayed with him, he's got a powerful crew, he would have protected you and you could have stayed in the Grandline."
"Blue! Blue!" Luffy is tugging at his cloak. "I think you are cool too. You gave me meat!"
"Thank you." He somehow manages a smile but the kids are looking at him with worry. Fuck. "And I'm sorry I'll have to leave early."
"That's okay," Sabo assures him. "You need to look after your crew, some are hurt after all."
"Yeah," his tone turns a bit darker when he thinks of Pablo and the Funas Bros. "I'll enjoy taking out Krieg's crew. Especially that first mate of his, he's getting twice the broken ribs Pablo has. Have to prove I have some strength, after all, otherwise Krieg's victory won't feel as good to him."
"Shishishishi," Luffy laughs. "You are like Shanks!"
"I'm nothing like him!" His voice is higher than usually and he hates it.
"Wow, Bugs, you are the coolest! You'll be my co-captain when we grow up, right?"
"No, you are!" Luffy insists like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Like people don't do a double take when they find out he and Shanks know each other, let alone that they used to be nakama. "When some bandits threw sake and food on him and insulted him he was the first to laugh so I thought he was a coward but then those bandits tried to hurt me and he took them all out. He said that he wouldn't care if someone spit on him but he'd get mad if his friends were hurt. And you don't care about Krieg winning against you but you are really mad about his nakama hurting your crew."
So the idiot is still not demanding the respect he deserves, has Buggy taught him nothing? Really, Shanks is always letting everybody push him around even when he is worth at least twice as much as them. It's fucking annoying is what it is. Still, he can guess why he didn't want to get it on with some lowly mountain bandits. 'Yonko candidate slaughters a village' is not quite the headline he is aiming for. "I guess we both did learn from Captain."
"Roger was like that too? Didn't you say he never backed down from a fight?" Ace asks with probably more curiosity than he wishes he had.
Buggy feels himself smiling. "That doesn't mean he let every little thing provoke him into one. Captain didn't avoid fights for the same reason I do. For me it's about self-preservation. For Captain it was about not destroying the world. He was too strong to get into conflict blindly, he could have seriously hurt somebody. Shanks is the same. Luffy, does someone deserve to die for spilling some drink on you?" The kid shakes his head. "Of course not. So Shanks doesn't take it to the point where someone will."
"Come on Bug, is just a bruise, it doesn't hurt one bit! And if Captain finds out he will kill him. So let's keep it between us, yeah?"
"But how does he manage to not get mad?" Ace is looking almost guilty and Buggy really needs to find a way to convince him that he is not responsible for all the evil in the world.
"I suppose he just thinks it's not worth it. Or he gets mad and he's just good at hiding it. Anyway, he doesn't want to be the person that goes around hurting the weak, even the annoying ones, just because he can, so he isn't. It's as simple as that." Buggy shrugs his shoulders. "Of course there are exceptions. Mainly: anyone touches his people and they are dead regardless of motive and strength."
"You said it was okay, that it was only a bruise!"
"That was when it was my bruise. This time he has hurt you !"
"I kept your secret so you are keeping mine!"
"I won't tell Captain, that's all I'm promising."
"What if someone insults his friends? Where is the line?" asks Ace and he better not be taking conflict management advice from Shanks of all people. There is such a thing as a middle ground.
"Just follow your gut, Ace, you are a good kid. Just remember that you are a lot stronger than the rest so you may hurt them more and they may handle it worse. For some people, a broken arm is pretty bad and they don't heal as fast. Keep it in mind when you are deciding how you should react." Buggy sees that Sabo is nodding and that one could maybe benefit from more strict guidelines. His head still hurts and that hit could have actually killed someone. That being said, it would have been someone that had made Ace cry so maybe Sabo's got a point there. "Same goes for you two. Being strong doesn't mean being a bully and I do not care who 'starts' it, okay?"
"Okay!" Luffy agrees.
"Fine," Sabo's smile is a bit too sharp for Buggy's taste. "I'll follow my gut."
Yup, that one is definitely trouble. It would be terrifying if it wasn't kind of adorable. He tousses Sabo's hair just because he can.
"Stop it," the kid protests but he doesn't even try to bite him. "Anyway, at what time are you leaving tomorrow?"
And that's the question. He would like to wait until they wake up but his crew is counting on him, not to mention the villagers under his protection. "As soon as the sun rises probably."
Luffy pouts but surprisingly, he doesn't try to protest. "But you will come back, right?"
"Of course, I'll even bring you gifts." Buggy knows he is going to regret it, he really does. "What do you want?"
"Meat!"
"A lighter!"
"A knife!"
