"You should go… He's byour/b captain…" The voice called out, echoing on deck. A small crowd was gathered around as they tried to figure out who should deal with the situation at hand.

"He's impossible when he's like this, I'm not dealing with it…" Another voice resonated - Mohji. "Besides, he's your captain too." He added with a roll of his eyes.

A deep, irritated sigh interrupted both men. "He's everybody's captain." Cabaji reasoned but he was aware of the tension among the crew, the tension that came when Buggy was like ithis/i. The smallest inconvenience could disrupt their entire dynamic for days it seemed.

Only… This was no small inconvenience.

Cabaji looked among them but his crewmates were determined, standing firm in their decision that they would not approach their captain right now. They didn't want to risk being the target of Buggy's wrath if one wrong thing was said, if one wrong move was made. Cabaji could understand that. They didn't know him like he knew him.

"I'll go." He decided for them, his gaze shifting to the deck floor for a long moment. He always went. He always made this decision for them but was it ever truly for them or for Buggy?

Cabaji tried not to think about that, tried not to get in too deep.

"Just leave him alone. He'll be fine once he's done sulking. He always is." Mohji tried to say again and maybe he was right but his words fell on deaf ears.

Cabaji turned from Mohji and the small crowd, disappearing from the deck of the ship. He soon found himself standing at the captain's cabin.

Cabaji released a deep breath, knocking on the door.

"Go away." It was the answer he was met with, rude and cold. Cabaji debated doing just that, walking away and letting Buggy wallow in his sorrow. But that just wasn't him, not when it came to his captain.

"It's me." Cabaji's voice was firm but calm at the same time, met with silence from the other side of the door. Then, he heard a long, drawn out sigh.

"Come in."

Slowly, the door was opened and Cabaji stepped inside of the dark room.

"What do you want?" He was met with bitterness and Buggy's scowl when he entered. However, he was undeterred. He had done this far too often just to cower away from a look or tone of voice.

Cabaji locked eyes with his captain, a smirk stretching across his lips. The door was closed behind him and he leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. "Came to see if I could coax you out of this pit of despair… Seems depressing as hell to stay here all day… Why don't you come join us on deck?."

"Screw off." Buggy retorted sharply. "I have no interest in coming out right now." He said, turning away from Cabaji.

Cabaji's snarky smirk fell a little at the answer. Mohji was partially right. Buggy was always difficult when he took a hit to his ego but, he wasn't impossible. Not to Cabaji, not when he had ways to turn this all around.

Cabaji let out a soft breath, every footstep he made was exaggerated by the silence of the room and the creak of floorboards settling beneath his weight as he made his way over to Buggy's bed.

"It's really bothering you, isn't it?" He asked as he sat on the edge of the bed with his back to Buggy. Cabaji glanced over his shoulder, seeing his captain tense up at his question.

Cabaji knew a small semblance of what Buggy was feeling. Being defeated by Roronoa Zoro was a hit to his confidence, a testament to his strength - or lack thereof - but it seemed he had already bounced back quicker than his captain, a hatred for the Straw Hats replacing the embarrassment of defeat.

But Buggy, well he was handling it differently.

Buggy exhaled a deep breath he was holding in. His scowl softened and his body relaxed.

"It's not that…" He muttered. At least, that wasn't all of it. What was Monkey D. Luffy but just another lowly, no name pirate? Buggy had already vowed his revenge on the brat. Luffy wasn't the problem… He was just a reminder of the problem, busting in out of the blue when Buggy had spent all of these years trying to forget.

"It's… It's nothing." Buggy said but his words were quiet and his tone hinted at the way he truly felt.

Shanks. Now Shanks, he was a problem. All of these years, Buggy had bottled up and repressed a multitude of feelings for him. Anger, disappointment and… something else that Buggy desperately didn't want to acknowledge, desperately tried to hide away in the darkest depths of his mind and heart. Buggy's grudge was justified, or so he told himself.

He tried to forget all of the things that had transpired between them. However, it only took one cocky kid wearing that stupid hat to shatter Buggy's world and open up old wounds again.

"I see…" Cabaji's voice broke the silence and disrupted Buggy's thoughts. He didn't know. How could he possibly know? Buggy was so tight lipped about his past, about Shanks. However, Cabaji didn't need to know to be just as understanding.

"In that case, I think I'll just stay here and hang out with you, until you feel better." Cabaji declared, falling back onto his Captain, his head now resting on the small of Buggy's back.

Buggy let out a disgruntled groan, glaring over his shoulder at Cabaji. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" He demanded.

Cabaji smirked once again, meeting Buggy's glare with his own playful stare. "If you're not going to join me on deck, then I'll just relax with you here. Is that a problem?" He challenged.

Buggy had all of the authority in the world to demand Cabaji leave. Had all of the power to force him out and yet, he didn't…

"Ya know, you make it really hard to be upset, asshole…" He grumbled, a soft blush tinting his cheeks. "Very well… I guess it wouldn't hurt if you stayed a while…"

Maybe he didn't have Shanks, but perhaps he had something even better.