Smash or Pass: Part 1/4 (LA!Buggy the Clown x F!Reader)
Summary: It's the last stop before the Grand Line and you slink away for a quiet evening. The universe, however, decides to clown on you. Sequel to Kiss, Marry, Kill.
Pairing: LA!Buggy the Clown x F!Reader
Rating: Semi-explicit.
Warnings: Alcohol, death threats, implied threat of sexual assault.
Word Count: ~3.1k.
Mama told me what I should know
"Too much candy's gonna rot your soul
If she loves you, let her go'
Cause love only gets you down!"
---
PART 1: In which you are threatened with a knife, a gun, and a good time.
You thought the night would be fine. You thought no one in this bar would bother you. You thought you’d have a little nightcap or three and head back to the ship. You thought you’d have one last night to spend on your own before sharing a small space with five other people for the foreseeable future.
But nothing worked out as you’d hoped.
As soon as you got comfy at a table in the corner, a horde of rough-looking sailors descended and lit up the place. Loud. Rowdy. Obnoxious.
Ugh. At least they’re not Marines. You can lay low. Sink deep in your chair and focus on your drink.
Gazing into the scrying beer glass, you let your mind wander among the swirls. Thoughts ebb and flow.
Like how you need to remember to get more sutures before you cast off. Or how heavy your fingers feel under all the jewelry. How naked your ring fingers look with no adornment. Your family would be nagging you to get married by now. They’d like Sanji.
But they wouldn’t like that stupid, stupid clown.
He’s been on your mind a lot lately. You hate it. But how could he not be? Made you an offer you had to refuse. You tell yourself it wouldn’t have worked out. Where was he last month when you were looking for an escape? You hope you never see him again.
…but if you did see him again, you wouldn’t complain. He’d probably sidle up to you and say something like—
“Well, hello, gorgeous."
Yeah, that's exactly what he would say.
Wait. That was loud. That wasn’t your thoughts. It can’t be. You turn.
Buggy the Clown grins at you. “Fancy meeting you here, Miss Sawbones."
You dive to the floor as he pulls a knife from his sleeve and throws it at you, sinking up to the handle in the wall. You clamber to your feet, put on your best snarl, and raise your fists.
All eyes are on you and Buggy as you size him up. The clink of chains and scrape of drawn swords sounds all around you. You’re not sure who your allies are, but you’re grateful for the support.
Especially because there’s just as many goons behind Buggy. He looks as surprised as you feel. His stance softens as he glances around. You could get a punch in while his guard is down—
“Hey!”
A gravelly voice splits the very air of the room. Like a child caught in the cookie jar, you freeze. You’re in big trouble.
Buggy freezes too. His shoulders hunch and his eyes go wide. He glances at you, and then to the side. You look in the same direction.
Standing behind the bar is a stout woman in an apron. A cigar dangles from her lips and she wields a wicked glare. Along with a very, very large shotgun.
She points at a big sign hung above the shelves. NO FiTiN IN DaH baR in big red letters on weathered wooden planks.
“‘No fittin’…?'” Buggy mutters.
“If you’re gonna kill each other,” the matron says, “do it outside.”
Due to a sudden lapse in self-preservation, you speak up. “He started it—“
Everyone jumps as she fires into the ceiling. “And I’m ending it. Get along or get out.”
You glance at Buggy. He glances back. You can see the whites of his eyes, even from all the way over here. Slowly, he replaces his knives back into his jacket.
You lower your fists, feeling awful sheepish.
The bar matron nods. “Back to your drinks, all of you,” she says.
You can’t help but feel a little embarrassed as the crowd disperses. You can read. You’re very literate. How’d you miss that?
“Guess we both need glasses,” Buggy says right next to your ear.
You jump and nearly swing on him again, but you pull the punch. You have no interest in being shot tonight. “What the hell are you doing here?!”
“Getting a drink, same as you. Last stop before the Grand Line.” His voice dips low and he leans in close. “And last chance I’ll likely get to cut you and your little captain’s throats.”
You scowl. “Over my dead body,” you growl.
“That’s the idea.” The matron clears her throat loudly. He flinches and pulls back, but the glare remains. “Once you leave, babe— snnckt!” He draws his finger across his throat and his head rolls off his shoulders and into his arms. You yelp and he cackles as he puts it back.
Well, now you’re in it. This wouldn’t have happened if you stayed on the ship, you dumb lush. You could have just drank with Zoro. Or shot the shit with Usopp while he shot at shit. Or let Sanji hit on you while you sharpened his knives. Literally anything would have been better than this.
But here you are. Time to get yourself out of it. Somehow.
"Well, I’m not going anywhere," you tell Buggy. You sit back down at your table. "So get comfy, clown."
He places his hat on the table and plops into the seat across from you. He snatches up the mug -- your mug -- and takes a long, long, long pull. He tips his head all the way back, throat bobbing with every swallow.
You try and fail to drag your eyes away. You like sharp throats.
When it's drained, he slams it back down on the table. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and how he doesn't smudge his makeup, you'll never know.
“Don’t mind if I do.” He kicks up his boots onto the table. “So what’re we drinkin’? Rum? Ale? Whiskey? Bet you’re a rum kinda gal.”
This is gonna be a night.
---
One bottle in. You glower at him and he smiles back, eyes twinkling in the dim light.
Second bottle. The sun is fully down. He’s started chattering about nothing and everything. Rage roils inside you.
Third bottle. The room slowly spins. He’s still talking. You might leave just so you can strangle him.
Fourth bottle. You flip him the bird. He just giggles.
Fifth bottle. You mix it up a bit and order some shots. The matron brings the glasses and leaves the bottle.
“Hey, the good shit.” Buggy pours two glasses and raises one. “Cheers.”
Something bubbles up in your chest. The urge to speak. You’re gonna say something stupid. You just know it. And you’re just lubricated enough that it slides through.
You raise your glass. “Another day, another bender. No retreat, no surrender.” You toss it back and it scorches your throat on its way down.
Your head is so full of cotton that it takes you a moment to notice the laughter. Strong. Sharp. Bellyful. Contagious. You like that laugh. You’d like to hear more of it.
And then you realize it’s coming from Buggy. He has his head tossed back and his eyes scrunched and he’s letting out the most glorious laughter you’ve ever heard.
Before you can be properly disgusted with yourself, he recovers. “I got one.” He pours another pair of shots and slides one to you. “Here’s to our wives and girlfriends. May they never meet.”
Two more shots tossed back and two more glasses slammed on the table. It’s all going right to your head and the more it does, the more you’re enjoying yourself.
“Everyone knows that one,” you say. You pour. “One drink is good, two at the most. Three I’m under the table, four I’m under the host.”
His eyebrows shoot up, lips pursed into a circle. Then he laughs again. “Workin’ blue tonight! Alright!” Two more shots poured. “It ain’t the length, it ain’t the size, it’s how often I can make it rise.”
You weren’t expecting that and you almost spit the shot out. You hack and sputter as it goes down the wrong pipe, but you recover.
Though now you’re thinking about Buggy’s dick. You should probably stop that. You wonder if it’s small and that’s why he is how he is.
“Y’alright, babe?” He takes a pull right from the bottle and spills some on his chin and shirt. He’s sauced too. Small comfort.
One more comes to mind. You reach across and snatch the bottle. “Now he lays me down to screw.” You pour one shot. “I pray this clown knows what to do.” You pour the other. “If he should cum before I end…” You raise yours. “I swear to God I’ll fuck his friend!”
He stares at you a moment, grinless, just long enough for you to worry. And then it returns with a howling cackle. He slams his glass into yours hard enough to slosh some whiskey out and you both shoot it back.
You stare at each other, giggling like hyenas. Some part of you knows this is ridiculous. You’re getting smashed with a guy who tried to kill you and your friends. Who was just ready to kill you. Who is plotting to slit your throat right when you’re not expecting it.
You just laugh harder. What’s your life come to?
You come back down to see him staring at you, head resting on his hand. "You laugh cute."
“Nuh-uh.” You take a swig from the whiskey bottle. “I laugh like a News Coo.”
“News Coos are adorable!” He snatches the bottle back and takes a pull. “We switchin’ back to rum after this one? Or do we wanna get avden— abvench— adventurous?”
A good question. "Let's go nuts."
"My kinda woman!" He slams the table to catch the matron's attention. "Bring us something strong!"
---
Bottle six is gin. Neither of you like it and you both down the whole thing. Bottle seven, you're back to ale.
On eight, you wonder if the throat-cutting threat was a ruse and he's really just going to give you alcohol poisoning.
At least it's a fun way to go.
"So there I am," Buggy says, "looking at the giant hole in the hull where the cannon once was, holding a cannonball like this--" He jumps to his feet, pops his head off, and clutches it to his chest like it weighs fifty pounds. "--when the first mate himself walks in."
Your jaw drops. "What'd you do?"
"Only thing I could do.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “Threw the cannonball at him!"
He lobs his head to you. You squeal in surprise, just barely managing to catch him before you fall out of your chair. The giggles flow from you like water from a spigot.
He grins as you look at him. "Gotcha," he says with a wink.
Maybe it's the booze. Maybe it's the surprise. Your cheeks heat up all the same. You throw the head back and clamber to your feet.
A moment of clarity hits you as you sit back down. "Why are we drinking together? You wanna kill me."
"It's not that weird. Best drinkin' buddies I ever had tried to kill me. When I tried to skip out on the tab, but... y'know." He takes a gulp from his mug. "’Sides, I like you."
"Why?"
“Barber. Cute laugh. Helluva haymaker." Another swig. “You'd do better with me than that group of losers."
"I am not joining your crew."
He watches the ale swirl in his mug, tracing the rim with his fingers. His lips purse and he glances everywhere but your face.
You try to wait for him to speak, but music catches your attention before he can reply. A lively tune, one perfect for dancing. It looks like some of the pirates pulled out instruments and are entertaining their fellows.
"Aw, I love this song," you chirp. “Luffy’s right, we gotta get us a musician already.”
A chain of dancers sails past. You wish you could hop in, but you’ve got two left feet in ill-fitting high heels when you’re sober on a good day.
Buggy watches you watch them. “Go cut a rug. I’ll watch your shit.”
You shake your head a little too hard and the universe spins. “No way. Can’t dance worth a damn.”
“I’ll give you a hand.” His left hand detaches with a little flourish. “Or two.” Off goes the other one. “Or all of me, if you want.”
“Then who’s gonna watch my shit?”
He blinks, then sits back. “Whatever. I gotta piss anyways,” he mutters. He tries to stand, only for his feet to slip out from under him. “Can I get a hand?”
“Alright, but I’m not helping you aim.” You’re less sober than he is, but you’re drunk enough to try. Hauling yourself to your feet, you offer your hand. He takes it, pulling himself upwards.
And then you see the smile on his face. In a burst of coordination, he pulls you into the throng of people.
Oooooh no. No. No no no. He whirls you around, making your head spin. You step on someone’s foot. “I. Cannot. Dance.”
“Can’t?” He lifts you up, moves you to the side, and places you down again. “Or won’t?”
“Both!”
“Bullshit. Hand here.” He plants your hand on his shoulder and places his own on your—
You slap the smile off his face. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make your point. He accepts it.
“Sorry, thought you were shorter,” he mutters. He puts his hand on your waist. Even through his glove, you can feel his warmth. “Stand on my feet.”
“I’m not a child!” You try to pull away, only to collide with a very large man and get knocked back into Buggy. You’re trapped. No way out but to dance.
You know what? Fine. You stand on his feet — making sure to stamp his toes good — and glower at him. “What’s next?”
The smile returns. “Hold on tight, sweetheart.”
You clutch him as tight as you dare. And thank God you do, because soon you’re spinning like a top.
He guides you over and under, side to side, forward and back. And you don’t trip once. Neither of you do. You don’t even feel nauseous. How is he doing this? Is he magic? Is he just that good?
You glance down. Detached from his ankles, his feet support yours as they scoot around. The rest of him glides through the air, guiding you among the other dancers.
It might as well be magic.
"Light off your feet!" you say.
Buggy's chest thrums with a chuckle. Your stomach jumps into your throat as he drops you into a dip just long enough for him to wink at you. "Ain't I clever?"
He pulls you back up and your stomach slides into your boots. The dance continues.
Whirling, twirling, ducking, weaving, bouncing, bobbing… Is this what a dolphin feels like, swirled around by ocean currents? Or a kite, floating on the breeze? Or a princess swept off her feet by a dashing scoundrel?
Somewhere in the recesses of your mind, you ponder what your life has come to. A pirate, dancing on the feet of a clown who tried to kill you and your friends. Who then stole several kisses from you and made your heart flutter and got really drunk with you and now you're a little in lo--
No. Don't say it. If you don't say it, it won't come true. Unless it's the other way around?
It is the other way around. If you say it, you'll jinx it and it won't happen. So you admit it to yourself: you're smitten with this psychotic jackass.
The laughter bubbles forth and it just won't stop. You don't want it to stop. You never want this to stop. This feeling, this dance, this fit of hysterics.
But it must, as all things do. With one final fiddle run, the music stops and everyone applauds. You would join them, but you’re too busy holding onto Buggy for dear life, catching your breath and trying to stop the room from spinning.
“Can’t dance, huh?”
He’s as breathless as you, mouth parted as he takes breaths deep enough to shake his shoulders. Sweat glistens on his face. Glows, even. A few shimmering strands of hair have slipped from his bandanna and stick to his forehead.
What little breath you’ve recovered vanishes from your lungs. Your heart flutters — no, it flaps, like a gull fighting a gust.
You wanna kiss him, but that last shred of self-restraint stops you. “Let’s go again,” you say instead.
His face lights up. “Lemme-- Lemme get rid of this.“
His forearms slip out of his coat and fly to his shoulders, catching his coat as he shrugs out of it. They zip over toward your table. Pretty slick, you admit to yourself.
And then it gets caught on a chair. The arms yank and yank, but it’s snagged good. You giggle.
“C’mon, you piece of…!” He huffs. He pecks your cheek. “Don’t go anywhere.”
He scrambles over to the snag, tripping on every table and chair along the way.
And then you realize he kissed you. Your spine goes rigid.
A tap on your shoulder knocks you out of your stun and you turn. You half-expect it to be one of his hands, but a rather large pirate is there.
“My captain fancies you,” he rumbles. He nods at a smug-looking blond with the worst come-hither face you’ve ever seen. “He would like the pleasure of your company.”
Nnnnno, you think. “Nnnnno,” you say. Buggy has freed his coat and is draining the rest of the bottle you’d abandoned. “Already spoken for.”
The man’s hand engulfs your shoulder and pulls you around. “It wasn’t a request.”
The blond snakes his arm around your trunk, his hand going to your breast. You try to pull away, but the goon’s grip is like iron.
A sharp whistle makes everyone turn. Buggy stands there, arms behind his back. His expression is neutral, but you see his clenched jaw and the bulging tendon in his neck.
“And where are you going with my leading lady?” He’s got the showman voice on. “Our number isn’t over.”
The captain smiles. “I’ll return her once we’ve had our fun,” he says.
He takes a few meandering steps towards them. “Look, gentlemen: we can play this as a tragedy or a comedy. Your choice.”
The goon straightens up. He cracks his knuckles with a chorus of pops. The captain draws a rapier. You’re not sure how well a Chop Chop man handles being stabbed.
Buggy glances between the two of them, nonplussed. “Comedy it is.”
Two disembodied hands slam a bottle over each man’s head. Shards of glass and drops of rum fly everywhere. The pirates’ grips go slack, and you jump away as they hit the floor with dull thuds.
Chaos erupts.
---
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