The next day, Buggy got a good taste of embarrassment first thing in the morning.

"Waddaya lookin' at, kid?!" he barked at Carrot. The boy had entered mere seconds ago, but the moment he saw Buggy's face, he froze in place. Not that Buggy could even see his eyes. After all, the kid had bangs like curtains. It was a surprise he could see at all, but Buggy didn't question him to his face. "You hungry for a knuckle sandwich?!"

A little smile blossomed on Carrot's face like a tiny dandelion. Alongside it, the slightest laugh found its way out, barely stifled by Carrot's hand. Finally, with that done, he shook his head and descended the stairs.

As a final gesture, he placed the tray in the cell and took a step back.

Buggy glanced between the young marine and the food tray.

It contained a pair of sandwiches, an apple, and a glass of some sort of fruit juice. Together with a small note. "Eat up, big-nose!" it said, the bottom corner signed with a little drawing of who Buggy could only assume was Usopp.

"W-, WHO'S A BIG-NOSE, LONG-NOSE!?" Buggy roared, ripping the note from where it sat, crumpling it into a little ball and promptly stuffing it into his own mouth. He chewed for a few seconds, arms crossed tightly, before he realized what he just did. "Wh-, ew, shit, ptuh, ptuh!"

The half-chewed piece of paper splattered to the ground.

He glanced up. Carrot was still standing there. "Um, uh. You didn't see that, did you?"

Carrot rubbed his chin thoughtfully before shaking his head at noticing Buggy's dark glare. Didn't see nothing, yessir.

Buggy nodded and turned back to the tray. He grabbed one of the sandwiches. It felt soft and springy, meaning that the bread was likely newly baked. He couldn't tell what the inside was filled with, but he didn't care to check it. Instead, he took a bite, chewed and swallowed. peanut-butter and jelly.

Something here felt off. Not the sandwich or anything, just… Wait, he wasn't alone.

"-Somethin' bothering ya, kid?" Buggy asked Carrot, taking another bite of the sandwich.

Carrot made an odd little sound of surprise before shaking his head, a sheepish smile on his face. He scratched his head, and turned to leave.

"...No, wait."

Carrot stopped in place and glanced back.

"Tell the greenhorn… No, tell Usopp I'll eat. Tell him that."

Carrot smiled, nodded, and walked out.

Buggy hadn't eaten in so long. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like to have a full stomach. He'd almost forgotten what a really good sandwich tasted like. It was good. It was very, very good. It didn't taste like pulp or newspaper or anything like that at all. It just tasted like breakfast. A warm, lovely breakfast.

He grabbed the red apple and almost crushed it in his grip. It wasn't just an apple, after all. Someone had carved something onto it. A pair of eyes, a big full-lipped smile, and…

"WHO'S GOT A BIG RED NOSE!?" Buggy screamed into the empty room, apple raised high in preparation to smash it into the ground. But he halted his hand. There was something else to this apple. He'd noticed it just out of the corner of his eye. He lowered the apple, letting his eyes run over the details of it. It was well-sculpted. A well-sculpted apple resembling his face. More specifically, what was drawn on it.

There was a spade sign on his forehead, large but not overwhelmingly so. From this spade sign, two arrows protruded like arrows puncturing a heart. These arrowheads went down and through his eyes. The final details were a pair of upside-down hearts below his eyes. Compared to his usual motifs, it was… a bit odd. Less so something a pirate would wear and more so something a genuine clown would wear.

Somehow, he didn't feel insulted in the least.

He ate the apple, and drank his juice. It was tasty. Real tasty.

"Hey, Apprentices, you know you can't sit by this table!" Usopp scolded. Carrot, Pepper and Onion didn't seem any inclined to rise though. They were all smiling oddly, giving each other knowing glances. Usopp gestured to the other people sitting at the table. "This table is only for officers!"

"Hey, hey, Usopp-chan, they can stay, can't they?" the oddly dressed Bon Clay said, waving his hand with a grin. "If they wanna hang out with the big shots, who's to stop them?"

"...Ensign, don't step outta line, this is adult matte-,"

"Buggy ate his breakfast!" Onion blurted out. Once he noticed what he'd said, he clasped his hands over his mouth, but it was too late. Two fists bonked his head to a chorus of "idiot!"

Usopp stared at them, sandwich frozen mere inches from his gaping maw. "-He did?"

The three former Usopp pirates turned to each other, grinned, and nodded all at once.

Usopp smiled softly. "Well, ermm, I guess, as honorary Usopp pirate members, you may sit at this table. But only today!"

The three youngsters shared a mischievous look and got to eating.

"You ATE the apple!?" Usopp screeched at finding his beloved creation little more than a seedy core. Overcome by emotion, he almost dropped the little white box.

Buggy burped. "Hey, who wouldn't? It's part of a healthy nutritious breakfast!"

"It, but, I-,, don't you clowns have clown eggs to keep track of who has used what faces? I thought-, I was so proud of it, I wanted it to be a bit more of a, y'know, permanent fixture?"

"Some clowns do use clown eggs, yes, but I don't. Why? Cuz' I'm a pirate!" Buggy said, spreading his arms wide in pride. Usopp didn't quite understand what he meant. Couldn't you be both a clown and a pirate? Wasn't that his whole schtick? "-And even if I did use clown eggs, there's a reason we use eggs and not apples. No chance of rotting."

Usopp stared at Buggy for a moment, taking in how absolutely smug the imprisoned captain looked, what with that grin and everything. "...I'm leaving," Usopp said and spun on his heel.

"No-, wait! Nooo, don't go, greenhorn! I'll behave, I swear!"

A glance ensured that Buggy was, indeed, showcasing his most effective puppy-eyes, including having his lower-lip pout out. "...Well, okay. Sure. But you owe me an apple!"

The evening passed rather similarly to the last one. He wiped off the make-up from last night (though unwillingly, he'd gotten rather attached to it), wallowed in Buggy's true face, applied a new design, and that was that. The night was young, and Usopp had no reason to stay down by the cell.

Other than his emotions, that is. If he could choose himself, he'd gladly stay up all night with Buggy. To-, to keep an eye on him, that is!

Buggy is still a high-risk prisoner, and so it only made sense that Usopp, as a high-ranking marine, would be tasked with keeping an eye on him. Well, technically speaking, tasking a Commodore with keeping an eye on a single prisoner was a bit of a hyperbole. Not even a Lieutenant would normally be tasked with such a mundane duty.

And yet… here he was.

"You know what we need?" Buggy said, leaning in closer to Usopp while his newly-painted face twisted into a cunning grimace. "Booze."

Usopp squinted. "No. No way. Dude, I'm only-"

"You're almost twenty!" Buggy argued sensibly, his shackles clacking together as he threw his hands to the skies in indignation. "Practically an adult!"

"I am an adult! But-, but I'm also the captain of these ships, and I can't just steal liquor to-, to give to a prisoner of all things!" Usopp said, shaking his head decisively.

"Sure you can! As the captain of these ships, you can do-, wait. Hold on. These ships?"

Usopp gave him a blank stare. "Well, yeah. Ships. Vergo let me borrow two of his warships and a few hundred of his soldiers while we transported you to Impel Down. They're only coming along to get to HQ though, so I'm only temporarily governing over them, but they still respect me alright." Usopp furrowed his brows. "-How did you not see them? All the higher-ranks from these ships get together in the mornings and evenings, you should have seen them from the window!"

Buggy crossed his arms. "I wasn't looking, duh." A glance from Usopp prompted Buggy to continue. "W-, well, y'see, I wasn't looking for marine ships, per se."

"You were looking for…" Usopp put two and two together. "-Your own ships?"

Buggy glanced away.

"You were! Why, I'll have you know, we haven't seen them yet, and we probably never will. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing though…"

If Usopp was conflicted, Buggy was ten times worse off. He'd weighed the pros and cons so much that he could no longer consider them without breaking into hysterics. If they came, it was bad. If they stayed away, that was bad. There was no good to be had here. With a single possible exception. "You sure we can't have a drink? Just two beers, bro-to-bro?"

Usopp jerked at the casual greeting. Bro. A blush spread evenly across his cheeks. "Mrr, just… only one, okay?"

Buggy grinned. "Only one," he lied.

Giving an unhappy murr, Usopp rose from his seat and left Buggy to wonder how in the world that justice coat didn't fly off Usopp's shoulder every time he did anything. Maybe they glued it to the suit? Ah, then again, Usopp didn't wear a suit.

No, he wore a free, boyish light-blue vest with a pair of matching dress pants, alongside a dark-blue shirt and a white tie. Apparently, once you got to a high enough rank, you could no longer wear anything even remotely casual. Man, Buggy sure was glad he'd never even considered becoming a marine. He didn't look much good in suits, so skipping out on that was a clever choice.

...The purple vest he was wearing right now was an exception.

The door creaked open once more, revealing a surprisingly skittish Usopp. "What's the matter, greenhorn? You look like you made a ghost!"

"I-, what? What does that even mean?" Saying so, Usopp descended the stairs, holding a single bottle of beer. Just one.

Buggy eyed Usopp disapprovingly. "What's that supposed to be? I'm not sharing a beer with you if it's a single bottle, buster!"

As soon as Usopp got the door closed (and took a peek outside to make sure nobody saw him), he opened up his coat, revealing another bottle, hidden in the empty arm-hole. "-Geez, I wouldn't do you dirty like that, cool it!"

Usopp tossed the bottle into the cell, which Buggy grabbed after a few seconds of fumbling for it. Once he had it in his grasps, he grinned ferally. God, he was parched alright. Hadn't had a good drink in, what? A week? Two? Who knew. Too long, that is. Buggy brought the brew to his dry lips, and immediately felt the bitter betrayal. "-Dude, you didn't even open it. What's wrong with-,"

Usopp flicked open the cap with one finger. "-Wassup?"

After a moment's pause and a moment's stunned stare, Buggy reached his bottle out through the bars, watching in silent awe as Usopp flicked it open. At least it tasted as sweet as nectar. He'd needed that. He glanced up, watching how Usopp flinched from the taste of the meek beer. "...You're kinda weak, aren't you?"

Usopp seemed deeply offended. "Am not!" And a second later, as if to prove his case, Usopp rolled up one of his dark-blue sleeves, revealing a surprisingly muscular arm. He flexed it a few times, proving his strength. "I could easily lift you if I wanted to!"

"Oh, I don't doubt that." Buggy took a sip of his beer. "But, see, I didn't mean it like that."

Usopp gave him a blank stare. "Then, how-,"

"Try chugging that beer." Usopp sputtered. All Buggy did was grin. "-Betcha can't."

Usopp glanced at the bottle before breaking out into an assured smirk. "Easy!"

The moment he finished the first bottle, Buggy challenged him to do yet another. His duties as a captain were calling to him, telling him this was something that could easily make him lose most ranks he'd gained, but… Despite what he said, he was far too weak to alcohol to debate Buggy.

In the end, all he could do was leave and return with an entire keg of beer. Buggy beamed at the sight. "Ohohoho, now we're talking!" Usopp handed him one of the beers, making sure to flick it open first. "Wait. Hold on. That color scheme, that seagull… Are these marine beers?"

Usopp shrugged. "Uhh, yeah, um, yup. Guys up top wont let us drink nothing they didn't make themselves."

"Seriously?" Buggy took a swig of it. "-Bleh! What is this, water? They feed you water when you could have real beer?"

"I, um… I think it's pretty good? Like, I'm not much for strong stuff, it hurts my-,"

"Hey, dude. We're gonna get you plastered, and I won't let you do that with this as your guide. You've gotta have stronger stuff, right? Like… like rum! Or whiskey! Anything that'll make your stomach churn like the bowels of Impel Down!"

Can't disagree with that. Seemed sort of rebellious, but Usopp could faintly recall that they did have a few bottles of Marine Certified Hard Liquor.

Usopp swallowed his drink and left to go grab them.

Buggy drank his beer. It wasn't actually that bad, but he absolutely wanted to see Usopp get smashed. He was the weak type, clearly didn't drink often or a lot, so seeing a physically strong guy like him get shitfaced would surely make Buggy's evening a whole lot more enjoyable.

Certainly, less than a minute later and Usopp returned, stumbling downstairs with half a dozen bottles in tow. "-I didn't know which one you'd like so I grabbed, uhh, most of them?"

"Ohohohoho! Would ya look at that!" Two of the bottles seemed to be of the Marine brand, but the rest were not. One was a tequila from Alabasta, another was a rare gin from the fishman island down below, and the list went on. It was almost impressive what kind of drink they had on this unassuming little caravel. "And you brought glasses?"

Usopp innocently presented a pair of beer mugs. "Yup!"

Maybe Buggy should have argued with him, told him that people seriously shouldn't drink tequila from a beer mug, but at this point, he just wanted to see how drunk Usopp could get. "Sounds good to me."

An hour later and Usopp was pretty much ready to pass out.