I Missed you

The Morning

Morning comes by slowly, Buggy distantly feeling a warm hand caressing his shoulder, sliding down his arm... He stirs a little but not too much, enjoying the sensation. Fingers trace the dip of his hip, squeeze his thigh and only then he lets out a light moan.

He feels a tingling breath between his shoulderblades before a soft kiss is planted there, followed by a sleepy-sounding "Hey there."

Buggy blinks awake, with the stunning realization of being in Shanks's arms, having spent an awesome night, and well, having a crush on the redhead, once again.

"Slept well ?" Another kiss on his shoulder.

The blue-haired man contentedly sighs. "Yeah, like a cat." He feels the curve of a smile, Shanks's mouth still latched on his shoulder.

"Good", the other says, "Anything planned for today ?"

"Hmm, let me think. We're... Saturday ? Nah, nothing tremendous."

"How about we spend the day together then ?"

Buggy's face feels hot all of a sudden. Does that mean they can have a remake of last night ? Does that mean Shanks would want to be more than friends ? Friends with benefits ? Boyfriends ? Where is this going ?

A disappointed-sounding Shanks adds, "If you don't want to it's ok, I just-"

"N-no ! I, uh, I'd like to", Buggy stutters before he loses a chance at spending some quality time with the hottest man he knows.

"Great !" Shanks beams, and with that he leaves the bedroom and strides stark naked – allowing a perfect view of his perfectly toned body for Buggy to admire – towards one of the rooms they'd forgone the night before.

Buggy is kinda confused now : he thought they'd spend some time together, what is the redhead up to ? He decides to follow him and see what his problem is. No need to make me want to stay if he's going to stay in another room... By the time he's finished his mental rant, Buggy has put his boxers back – he's not as much an exhibitionist as Shanks is, he doesn't know if the other has curtains and he certainly doesn't need the neighborhood to watch his fading morning wood, thank you very much –, he tied his hair back in a loose ponytail and he's entering the foreign room. Oh, it's a kitchen. Actually, an open kitchen next to a solid living room. Pretty decent flat indeed that the other has. He bets Shanks makes more money than he does. And he is a bit jealous, not that he'd admit it out loud. Then he opens wide eyes as he sees his friend cooking.

Shanks is making scrambled eggs and bacon, complete with toast already served on a nearby plate, but above it all, he's wearing nothing more than an apron and Buggy kinda wants to take a picture because it's priceless. He doesn't though, because then the redhead has one of his trademark lopsided smiles and asks, "You hungry ?"

The blue-haired man nods in approval, unable to detach his gaze from the other's lips, thus to form a coherent sentence, and makes his way towards the kitchen table. All of this seems... familiar. Of course, they've had breakfast together more often than not while they shared a room back in college, but it's not that kind of familiar. It's more like... coming back from holidays and find yourself back home. Weird. Buggy shrugs the feeling away, earning a questioning look from Shanks and answers by sticking his tongue out.

Shanks chuckles and finishes serving breakfast. Everything smells so good that Buggy's stomach growls. "Just on cue", the redhead hands out Buggy's plate.

The hungrier man all but dives in, enjoying the mixed flavors and the company of the man watching him from the other side of the table, smiling. Between bites, he compliments, "So good", and gets back to devouring his plate's contents.

Shanks chuckles again and starts eating as well, still wearing nothing than the ridiculous apron, but the sight is oddly endearing.

Every once in a while they exchange looks and smiles and it should be awkward but it's not. Should it be ? They're friends after all, Buggy reminds himself. Friends that had sex together... friends with benefits ? Alright, not being able to label their relationship kinda bothers Buggy, who frowns in thought.

Shanks raises an eyebrow. "Something wrong ?"

Buggy blinks twice before blurting out, "Are we still friends ?"

Shanks starts and blushes. "W-What do you mean, of course we are."

"Then last night..." Buggy trails out.

"No, it's not- I mean..." Shanks sighs and his blush intensifies. "I... wanna be with you, but it's okay if you don't, but I still wanna be friends and spend time with you anyway, even if there's no sex", he quickly explains.

Buggy tilts his head to the side. Shanks is way too cute like this. "Listen, I want to be with you too. I just- I didn't know what you wanted, so... sorry for my wording."

Shanks smiles, "So we're, like, together ?"

"I guess so."

A split second passes before both men burst out in laughter.

"Shanks, you're such a dork."

"You're no better."

"Okay, we're two dorks together, what do we do now ?"

"I propose Netflix and cuddling under the blankets."

"You speak my language."

Shanks winks, "I speak fluent weekend."

Buggy snorts.

Shanks finishes his breakfast then starts clearing the table from the empty dishes, reminding Buggy along the way of the fact that he wears nothing more than a small apron.

The blue-haired man secretly admires once again the body displayed in front of him. You mean I get to have all of this and then more... for myself ? Lucky me.

Then the almost naked man removes his apron and goes to the bedroom.

Well, that doesn't help with the staring but hey, who's Buggy to complain?

When Shanks is back he's rolled in the blanket, his sexy bedhead barely emerging from the fluffy fabric. He installs himself on the sofa and invites his friend – boyfriend – , patting the sofa at his side.

Buggy quickly complies, nestling himself close to Shanks under the covers. He looks up at the older man, receives a warm kiss on his forehead and he sighs contentedly. He could definitely get used to that.