What He Means To Us: Buggy
When Buggy served under Gol D. Roger, he thought that the man was a fool but he was... fond of the guy. (A part of him remembers how tears trickled down his cheeks at the sight of the man invincible in his eyes laughing his life away.)
But don't think he misses him! And don't even get him started on Red-Haired Shanks.
Buggy scowls at his reflection in the mirror.
"Dumb flashy bastard..."
He remembers when he had first met the straw hat wearing captain.
(His smile had made him cringe, it was just too similar to an old king he remembers… misses.)
He remembers seeing that straw hat on unruly black hair and wanted to laugh at the fact that Red Hair gave away his hat to the brat.
(When he saw that hat on the brat's head, his breath hitched as a thought clouded his mind. The Red-Haired moron couldn't be dead, right?)
A part of him wondered why Shanks gave his hat away, not that he'd ever admit it.
(Was that his way of forgetting them?)
Buggy almost laughs at the thought of the Red-Haired bastard forgetting the captain (them), but he stops himself because if he showed too much, wouldn't that break character?
And the great Buggy doesn't break character for anyone! And this time, he laughs.
(The Pirate King's there on his knees, with chains binding him and Marines ready to crush him. And all Buggy can feel is rage and sadness at the sight of his father preparing to die for them and a coward like himself.)
Suddenly, Buggy's not laughing anymore. No, instead he's looking at his reflection in the mirror, longing for the sea with a title that isn't his and serving under people who make him sick.
(He's safe this way. Buggy knows that he wouldn't make it against The World Government.)
(The world.)
But that kid! That brat with his captain's hat and an eerily similar smile shows up and ruins everything! Buggy frowns, gritting his teeth at the thought of 'Monkey D. Luffy'. Who woulda thought that the idiot is a D? (Something about 'em felt world-changing). Now, Flashy Bastard II has been making big waves everywhere he goes, and places he hasn't reached yet.
Buggy hisses after his fist makes contact with the mirror and the glass shatters, falling into the sink. He almost had the stupid brat at Loguetown! But NO, a damn miracle of nature had to happen.
(Secretly, under all that scarred heart, he's happy that fate intervened which he will never, no matter what, admit.)
He looks over his hand; he left his gloves on the side of the sink. Blood trails off his hand, dripping into the sink staining the white (as white as the clouds on a warm day). He thought that he was rid of the brat after all that fiasco, but fate is one cruel bitch, in Buggy's opinion. Even though most would say that she's rewarded him with dumb luck.
(Each time the luck would have mattered most, it's never to be found.)
(Watch your captain die and his son/your drinking buddy/friend die, and the only walking, breathing miracle in this era crumble with his brother dying in his arms and say that she's been 'rewarding'.)
After all, what's his life compared to kings?
He stares at the blood trailing off his hand while flexing it over the sink in fascination by what the red liquid inspires in his memories. (That long white scar from when that knife came too close to him and his captain intercepted it before it would become fatal, remembers how his captain laughed it off and told him to let it scar over, good for the memories, he said. He was right. Remembers how Rayleigh had scolded him and Shanks joked about it to mask his concern. Or that's what Rayleigh said, anyway.)
Not to even mention Impel Down when the moron dragged him into hell with him. (He might have slipped, but still! It's the Straw Hat captain's fault, dammit!). The boy's a fool, trusting someone based on what they say, he can almost scoff at the thought.
Try being stuck in hell with an idiot sometime, it's not a fun experience. (Okay, it was a little fun, only because it reminded him of the days with the king's crew!). Buggy stares at his hand, recalling the determined teen he hasn't seen in two years. (Aside from the newspaper, not that he's checking up on the teen – he's just keeping up with competition!)
"Here you go."
Buggy closes his eyes, his hand still above the sink. The blood dries against his hand, while the red still stains the white as the words flow through his mind until he can see the other smiling ignorantly while they run for their lives.
"Huh?"
What a fool, handing over a treasure marker. He was shocked from the stupidity that the teen seems to radiate.
(He freezes, hand holding the large axe, doubting what he just heard and surprised by the smile directed at him.)
"You're still willing to give it to me even knowing that it's a Treasure Finder?"
"We made a deal. All I care about is rescuing Ace!"
So stupid (nice)...
"But if you give it to me now, I might abandon you and run away!"
(Doesn't the fool know you can't trust anybody?)
"Oh, right! But you said you'd take me there!"
Painted lips curve into a smile while his eyes remain closed and hand remains above the sink as the memory continues.
'Don't look at me like that! I'm a scoundrel... a no-good pirate! You shouldn't trust guys like me!'
That thought was of sarcasm. Why would Buggy's thought be anything else for a fool like the teen?! (The smile directed at him didn't deserve to be near him, a coward.)
(A smile like that shouldn't even bless hell.)
(Someone like that shouldn't have to see their brother die.)
(Someone like that shouldn't have to go through hell, much less walk through its gates to only lose their main purpose for going there in the first place.)
(Someone like that deserves luck better than Buggy's.)
But Buggy knows that the foolish (best) people always get hurt the most and die the quickest.
(But didn't the Red-Haired moron prove him wrong?)
(Didn't his captain prove him right?)
Buggy opens his eyes and examines his hand once again before turning the knobs on the sink which makes no sound. (Unlike at the king's ship, where the knobs squeaked because the captain liked the sound of it, said it reminded him of an old house far off and out of sight.)
The water stings his cuts but washes off the red from both the pale sink and his hands, washes it down the drain until it's out of mind and out of sight, so the only thing that remains is the water dripping off his scarred (bloody) hands.
The kid's stupid and crazy, no doubt about that. (But aren't the best pirates a little out of their minds? And maybe it's not stupidity...) He's almost everything a pirate is not supposed to be. He helps people and trusts (Buggy winces at the word) too easily, when he shouldn't trust at all! but it's not like Buggy cares about the moron or anything!
He grabs the towel beside the sink hanging on the wall, with those fancy wall racks things (it's not wooden or dented like in the king's ship), and dries his hands, drying away the day (era) and the left over red streaks (blood, so much blood, and filth and –). He sets it back down and snaps on his white gloves.
Luffy's not like other pirates, or probably any other human or creature out there.
So maybe it's not so bad to follow some of the things the devil-may-care attitude teen (man) does, just to show him up, of course! There's no other reason than that...
Satisfied by the feel of his gloves on the skin of his hands, Buggy turns around and begins walking to the door. A grin on his painted lips all the while.
"Like I'd let a stupid brat like yourself to upstage me! Just you wait Straw Hat!"
He swings the door open and it clicks shut behind him.