Gold, Knives, and Birthdays

Summary: On Buggy's fifteenth birthday, Shanks gives him a gift that he never thought he would want to get. Buggy/Shanks.

Author's Note: Hey everyone and welcome to Buggy's birthday one shot! So, I got distracted playing Among Us and didn't post this on his birthday xD oops xD I hope you enjoy!

Pairings: Buggy/Shanks

Gold, Knives, and Birthdays

If there was one thing that definitely led to a party on the ship, it was a birthday. Roger took birthdays extremely seriously. Making sure that they spent the entire day celebrating. Buggy was positive it was because of his Captain's shortened life span.

He had noticed something moving into the time around his birthday. Shanks was being secretive. He knew it meant one thing. Shanks was finding him a gift. There weren't many times that Shanks was away from him. With his birthday around the corner. It was a plausible guess.

On the morning of his birthday, he was woken up by Roger with Rayleigh trailing a bit behind. He had noticed immediately; it was later in the day than normal. They normally woke up early in the morning, but he would put them closer to lunch. Shanks was already long gone. His bunk completely made up and cleaned. Roger had a grin on his face, holding out a gift to him. "Happy Birthday, Bug."

Buggy smiled, snatching the gift out of Roger's hands immediately as he sat up in his bed. It only took him a few seconds to rip through the paper. He immediately knew what it was, a large grin coming to his face as he opened up the box. It was a finely crafted box. It wasn't necessarily big, but his name was carved into it. Inside the box was expensive jewels and gold. Just by looking at them, he could tell they were worth a lot.

"Thank you, Captain." Buggy stated, practically giddy at his newfound riches. It wasn't much but it was still treasure. The way right to his heart right there.

X

The rest of the afternoon was spent between lunch and gaining more gifts from the Roger Pirates. Though there was one thing bugging him. He hadn't seen Shanks at all. It was like he wasn't even on the ship at all. It brought a frown to his face. Normally, the red head would be completely glued to his side right now. He had gotten a mixed amount of gold and explosives. It was nice enough, but for some reason. It wasn't what he actually wanted.

He placed his hand on his chin, looking around for a moment to see if he could spot Shanks' straw hat. It was usually always the first thing that he saw.

Yet, he just wasn't here.

It made him angry.

Shanks was supposed to be celebrating this day with him. He would celebrate Shanks' with him. Why couldn't he get the same favor back?

X

It was hitting late into the night and the party had already started. His birthday cake had been cut. The candles blown out and still Shanks' hadn't shown up.

Finally, Buggy had enough and went searching. Looking at all the spots he knew Shanks like to hide out in sometimes. The second that he found him. He would drag him back to the party and force him to be a part of it. If he had to be with Shanks, Shanks would have to be with him.

He had checked everything before he paused. There was one place he hadn't looked yet, and it was their shared room. He turned on his heel, starting towards where the cabins were. Their room was closest to Roger's.

As he got to the room, he threw open the door and sure enough, Shanks was in there. His sudden appearance had made Shanks jump, turning, and using his body to block what he had been doing before. Buggy grumbled, snarling as he hissed out, "Why have you been avoiding me all day? Today of all days you choose not to be up my ass?!"

Shanks gave him a nervous smile for a second, moving forward for a second to keep Buggy's attention on him. The red head didn't say anything to him, instead just wrapping his arms around his shoulders and burying his nose in Buggy's neck. For a moment, Buggy's mind short circuited. Realizing just how close Shanks was too him. His hands moved, finding a place on Shanks' hips for a second before he was instead wrapping his arms around his midsection.

All the anger that he felt was now long gone and he couldn't even explain how such a small action had worked to quell him.

"Sorry, but I had to make sure everything was perfect." Shanks stated, pulling back, and moving to show Buggy what he had been hiding. "I know we usually send the day together, but I was thinking instead…" Shanks looked nervous as he let a slight smile come to his face and he looked at Buggy. "The night."

Buggy had short circuited again.

There were a few presents on the table but not much other than that. It was more of what Shanks had just heavily implied to him. "You, uh, what?"

"Well, we tend to spend the entire night drinking and are so plastered before the night ends that… I figured this might be nice." Shanks mumbled, scratching at the back of his neck. Roger must have known what Shanks had been planning. He hadn't said a word about where Shanks was other than he was around. Shanks grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the table, "Here, open them."

"You still missed the entire day." Buggy snapped, "You really think I would just come in here, you can smile at me and give me a present and think I'll be happy."

Shanks gave him a look, tilting his head as he said, "Did you tell me that you would rather me just disappear?" Buggy rolled his eyes. He hated that Shanks was right. He has told him that time and time again. "Besides, you'll be happy. Just open them."

Buggy grumbled, walking over to them. There were three sitting there. One was much bigger than the others and one was small. Buggy went with opening the biggest one first. Tearing through the paper and getting into the wooden box. He stopped as he noticed what they were. Knives. They looked well crafted and definitely not something just found on any island. His mind flashed back to a few months ago when Rayleigh and Shanks departed the ship for a few weeks before coming back with some supplies and Shanks had a box he had been hiding behind his back. Which he had handed to Roger. He shoved the thought away as he picked them up. What he noticed immediately was that they were emborder in gold. His name was engraved in the grips, but they looked specially made. As if they could fit between his fingers better. On the blades, there was lettering there. Each of the three having a word.

Flashy.

Lucky.

Perfection.

"What is this?" Buggy questioned.

He slipped the knives between his fingers, looking at them in awe. They were the perfect size and shape and even fit better than the ones he typically used.

"Well, I wanted you to have something I knew you'd use a lot and wasn't just treasure or something for you to destroy something with, so… I saved every piece of gold I had. Every berrie… and Ray-san and Captain Roger found this island that specialized in weapons and took me there." Shanks explained, reaching around letting his fingers move over the grip. "Something that wasn't just some knife I found. It had to be for you."

Buggy was astonished. Shanks had put some thought into this one. The blue haired apprentice looked over at him. "How much did you spend on this?" Shanks just smiled and shook his head. To think about it, Shanks hadn't bought anything for himself in a long time.

"This is probably the last birthday that we'll celebrate together but I wanted to make sure it was one to remember." Shanks stated, smiling as he leaned over and placed his cheek against Buggy's shoulder blade. "I didn't mean to upset you by not showing up earlier, but I wasn't actually on the ship. I had something I had to go get."

Buggy hummed, reaching for the next biggest present as he placed the knives to the side. Opening it up, it revealed to him waterproof face paint. There were multiple colors. Buggy snorted, shaking his head as a smile came to his face and he grabbed the last one.

It was so small but any present was good enough for him.

When he opened it, he was surprised at what he found inside, but it also confused him.

It looked like a half of necklace. At least the charm on it did. It was red. The same shade as Shanks' hair. Engraved in it though was just simply Jester. He looked over at Shanks, seeing the way he was shifting his weight and avoiding looking up. Using the hat to hide his eyes. Then his eyes fell onto what was around Shanks' neck. It looked like the other half. His though was the same blue that Buggy's hair was and his said Akagami.

This one was so personal. He could tell just by the way that Shanks was acting. It was like he was expecting Buggy to explode into a rage over it, but it had left him completely speechless.

"Shanks…" Buggy whispered. Shanks wouldn't look up. Buggy huffed, turning and reaching out and forcing Shanks to look up at him. "You are a helpless romantic."

Shanks gave a nervous smile as he shook his head, "In all honesty, that's you. Not me." He stated, lifting his hand to show the bracelet that Buggy had gotten Shanks for his birthday that had the mixture of diamonds in colors of red and blue.

"Jester?"

Shanks shrugged. "You always said you like being a jester and wanted it to be your epithet if you could."

"Why did you put a nickname on each of them but have my nickname on mine. Why not yours?" Buggy questioned. His question seemed to take Shanks by surprise.

He smiled reaching up and messing with the one around his neck. "You know how dangerous being in a relationship is when you're a pirate. So, if anyone saw them… they just think it's a nickname on top of our favorite colors, but we would know what it means. It's both of us on one thing." He replied, letting his smile come back completely. "Maybe I can make up the day for you."

Buggy chuckled, turning and pulling the necklace around his neck and clasping it before he smirked at Shanks. "You're going to."

Shanks smirked, "Make me."

There it was. The snark. He knew it wouldn't have been long before Shanks got it back. "Is that a challenge?"

Shanks shrugged. "Are you taking it as one?"

Buggy grinned, leaning in and letting his lips ghost over Shanks'. "You bet."

This day might not have worked out in just the way that he thought it would, but the night was definitely going to be better than any party they could have thrown.