Chapter Text
Luffy had seen a lot of humans in pictures, but seeing them in real life was completely different. The human was tall, and his hair was blue. Luffy wondered what it would feel like to touch them. He bit his lip, while he could not detach from the handsome stranger standing on the pontoon. Luffy moved closer to the pontoon. He wanted to know more about the unknown human. He pulled his head out of the water, staying far enough away that the human did not notice his presence. Luffy stood like that for a while, watching the human in silence. He wanted so much to know him, to know what he was thinking, but he did not dare show himself because he did not know if the human would be friendly with him. Luffy was looking at the legs, wondering how humans could walk with that. He found them intriguing, and was curious as to what they served. He came a little closer to the pontoon, wanting to know more. Luffy slowly reached out his hand, wanting to touch one of the human’s legs. He wondered how different it was from what he knew. He came a little closer, still in silence. Luffy was now close enough that his hands almost touched the human. He hesitated for a moment, but his curiosity prevailed. He reached out and touched one of the legs with a finger. Luffy froze as he heard the human whispering something. He didn’t understand what he was saying, but he was intrigued by the sound of his voice. He wanted to hear more, but didn’t know how to communicate with him. Luffy thought for a moment, then decided to try something. He tapped gently on the pontoon, trying to get the human’s attention.
The blue-haired man jumped up on the wooden pontoon, speaking in a foreign language to Luffy.
"What are you doing in the water, kid ?"
Luffy backed away when he heard the human speaking in an unknown language. He did not understand what he was saying, but he felt that he was surprised to see him. He tried to signal that he did not understand what he was saying, but he wasn’t sure the human would.
"Oh ? Okay, you don’t understand what I’m saying, do you ?"
Luffy shook his head in response. He wished he could speak the same language as the human, because he had so many questions to ask. He wondered where he came from, and why his legs were so different. The blue-haired man thought long and hard before putting his hand against his own chest.
"Buggy" He tapped his chest again. "I’m Buggy."
Luffy listened to the human, trying to understand what he meant. He mentally repeated his name, "Buggy". Then he pointed at his own torso, trying to make him understand his name.
"Luffy" he said in his high-pitched voice, showing that he also had a first name.
"Luffy ? It’s pretty." The human makes a gesture showing that he likes his name.
Luffy smiled as he saw the human making this gesture. He felt happy that the human found his name pretty. He wanted to be able to communicate with him, to ask him why he was so different from him.
"Luffy ? What are you doing in the water ?" Buggy tried to explain himself as best he could.
Luffy frowned trying to understand Buggy’s words. He tried to make him understand that he lived in the water, pointing at the ocean around them and touching himself.
"Oh.?" Buggy leaned towards the water to finally notice the fin of a beautiful red Luffy. "You’re a newt ? I’m human Buggy."
Luffy was excited that Buggy had figured out he was a newt. He nodded forcefully and slapped his tail against the pontoon as a sign of approval.
"I see !" He nodded with his fingers to his eyes, then to Luffy.
Luffy was a little confused by the gesture of Buggy, but he understood that he was asking him to get closer. He approached the pontoon, standing right under Buggy’s gaze. Luffy noticed that Buggy was looking at his palmitate hands. He held out one of his hands towards him, wanting to show him more closely how they were different from the human. Luffy let Buggy touch his hand. He was fascinated by the difference in size of their hands. Luffy exclaimed, raising his hand to compare size, he showed his astonishment at the big difference. He then tapped Buggy’s leg showing that he wanted to touch a moment. He wished to be able to touch the leg too, as the human had touched his hand.
"It’s a leg." He lifted it up to Luffy. "This is a foot, it’s for market, you understand ?"
Luffy listened carefully to Buggy’s explanation on his leg. He looked at the foot and nodded to show that he understood. He was fascinated by the way Buggy walked with it. He reached out to touch Buggy’s foot. It was even stranger than he imagined touching him with his claws. He examined the foot from each angle, looking at the toes and the surface in general. He was curious about what the human thought of the fact that he did not have limbs like a human but a long tail. He looked at Buggy pointing his tail and himself, wondering if the human had any questions. He was curious to know what Buggy thought of him, his difference. Luffy let himself be made, closing his eyes for a moment. The sweetness of the human hand sent him a little shiver. He opened his eyes to observe the expression of Buggy, wanting to know what he thought when touching him.
"It’s soft and smooth." Buggy made a gesture trying to make himself understood as much as possible.
Luffy smiled as he understood Buggy’s gestures. He nodded, showing that he was happy that the human found his skin soft and smooth. Luffy liked to be stroked, especially given the difference in skin of the two. He came a little closer to the pontoon, putting his arms over the edge and leaning his head over to get closer. He wanted to be even closer to Buggy, and he also wanted him to keep touching him.
"How old are you ?" Buggy wondered how he was going to make himself understood. "Me Buggy, my age 32."
Luffy thinks for a moment, not knowing how to answer. He didn’t know the numbers, so he couldn’t understand what Buggy’s age meant. He tried to make himself understood by tapping the ground with his tail, showing an undetermined number.
"Hummm. Okay, let’s try simpler." He looked at Luffy for a moment. "I’m an adult Buggy. And Luffy ?"
Luffy understood what Buggy meant. He nodded, indicating that he was also an adult. He showed his tail to show that it was developed, proof of his maturity and that he was not a small triton.
"You are also an adult. You must be in your early twenties." Buggy nodded.
Luffy frowned, not understanding the term "twenty years". He looked at Buggy with a slightly confused expression, intrigued by this notion of human age.
"Wait, look. I Buggy three times." *
He makes the gesture of his fingers three times. "But Luffy only twice." He made gestures with his hands twice.
Luffy looked at Buggy’s fingers carefully, trying to figure out what he was showing him. He looked at his own fingers, then the human’s fingers, and he nodded in understanding. That meant he was younger than him, right ?
"Luffy younger than Buggy."
Luffy nodded, realizing he was younger than Buggy. He leaned a little more toward the human, wondering what else he wanted to know about himself.
"Do you want to learn how to talk with me ?"
Luffy nodded vigorously. He wanted to learn how to talk with Buggy. He looked at the human with glowing eyes of excitement. Luffy was seriously immersed in this learning all day. He repeated the words carefully, tried to imitate perfectly Buggy’s way of speaking, and asked all sorts of questions. By nightfall, Luffy had made a lot of progress, but he was tired from the whole day.
"Tired. That’s how you feel right now."
Luffy nodded in response, rubbing his eyes with fatigue. The day had been long and intense, but he felt satisfied to have made so much progress.
"When you’re tired. Say good night, tomorrow. Want to try it?"
Luffy thought for a moment, getting ready. He repeated, trying to pronounce the words he had learned.
"Good... night... to... tomorrow..."
"Good night, too, tomorrow Luffy."
Buggy got up, ready to go.
"Good night... see you tomorrow... Buggy..."
Luffy also stood up, watching the human preparing to leave. He hoped to see him again soon to continue learning with him. Luffy responded to his smile by waving at him, watching Buggy leave the beach. He went back to the ocean thinking about all the things he had learned today.
"Luffy, where are you ?"
"We were worried! You decided to venture again, we don’t know where ?"
"What if, a human had seen you !"
Luffy sighed as he heard his brothers' reproaches. He slipped into bed, lying down comfortably.
"I was just at the beach, don’t get upset." He didn’t want to tell them that he had met a human, because he knew they would worry even more.
"You should be a lot more careful, don’t forget. Humans are dangerous."
"Sabo is right, he eats fish and even small marine animals. He could catch you and do nasty things to you."
Luffy stood up when he heard the words of his brothers. He knew that humans could be dangerous, but he was so fascinated by the one he met on the beach.
"I am conscious, but... I was careful. There is no problem."
"We’d better sleep. Tomorrow you’ll help us hunt. Okay ?"
Luffy nodded in response. He was tired anyway, so resting seemed like a good idea.
"Okay, tomorrow we’ll hunt. Good night."
*-*-*-*-*
Like the day before, the beach was empty at this beginning of the day. Luffy looked around impatiently, hoping to see something that would indicate the presence of Buggy. He came closer to the sea, his heart began to beat a little harder in anticipation. He hoped that Buggy would come, that the day before was not just a waking dream.
"Luffy! hello."
Luffy jumped a bit when he heard Buggy’s voice behind him. He turned around smiling, happy to see him already in front of him.
"Buggy!"He quickly approached him, all excited to see him.
"You look happy, I look happy."
Luffy nodded vigorously. He was really happy to see Buggy again and find that yesterday wasn’t a dream. He wondered what the human has in store for him today.
"This morning, I thought you wouldn’t come," he said with a slight pout.
"I’m here. You learned the human language quickly."
Luffy smiles proudly at the praise of Buggy. Yes, he had tried to learn as much as possible and was happy that his efforts paid off.
"Yes, I practiced a lot with you yesterday, so I moved pretty fast."
"You learn fast. What are you doing today?"
"Me and my brothers, we’ll have to go hunting later."
Luffy showed the direction of their cave.
"But for now, I’m free."
"You live there underwater? That’s impressive. I wish I could swim underwater like you."
Luffy nodded proudly as he heard Buggy’s compliments on his ability to live underwater. He moved a little closer to the coast to be closer to the human.
"Yes, my brothers and I live in a cave under the sea."
"Wait, don’t move."
Luffy obeys and does not move, looking at Buggy with curiosity as he joins the water to get closer to him. He wondered what the human wanted to do.
"It’s much better to be closer to talk."
Luffy nodded in approval. Being closer to him did allow for a better conversation. He also felt more comfortable now that Buggy was in the water with luiLuffy observed Buggy’s different way of swimming, and could not help comparing it to his own swim. He noticed the obvious difference in their bodies, including the absence of gills in humans. He came a little closer to him in order to observe him better. Luffy took a closer look at the human’s body, observing his different skin, arms, hands. He reached out to touch her torso, wanting to know the texture of her skin more closely. He felt the immediate difference with his own skin. Buggy’s was firmer under his fingers, softer too. He passed his hand on the torso of the human by getting a little closer to him. Buggy didn’t expect the newt to be so curious and tactile. He laughed when he realized that Luffy was interested in his chest hair.
"It’s just hair, nothing important."
Luffy seemed puzzled by Buggy’s response. He got closer and closer to him, wanting to better observe these "hairs" in detail. He passed his hand over it, touching and wondering what they were supposed to be for. Buggy was surprised by Luffy’s insistence, but he let him do it, amused by his curiosity. The hair was soft under Luffy’s fingers, and Buggy couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the newt’s puzzled head.
"All humans have hair. Men often have it on their torsos, unlike women. Some keep them, others don’t, it’s a matter of preference, it doesn’t matter but it helps a bit to keep warm."
Luffy listened carefully to Buggy’s explanations. He did not understand everything, because some notions were foreign to him, but he tried to grasp what the human spoke of.
"You humans are really different from us, we tritons..." he murmured.
"exactly"
Luffy continued to obsess over the hairs, touching them even more insistently. He tried to compare them with his own skin, which was smooth and soft, but for other reasons. He also noticed hair on Buggy’s face.
"I didn’t have time to shave this morning, some humans, men, have beards. I don’t like it too much, so I cut them off."
Luffy was always listening to this information, trying to mentally picture what a beard on a face was. He wondered why human beings had it, when in newts the appearance was always soft and hairless. Luffy’s eyes were drawn to the necklace around Buggy’s neck. He got closer and closer, wanting to observe him more closely. He reached out, touching the collar with his fingertips, intrigued by how it hung on the human’s chest.
"Is it gold, do you like it ?"
Luffy looked at the necklace with obvious curiosity, while nodding his head in agreement to Buggy’s question.
"Yes, it’s very bright..." he murmured as he touched the jewel.
Luffy jumped when he felt the object around his neck. A smile of stupor shone on his face and he put his hand on the necklace, feeling it against his skin. His cheeks were colored, touched by the gesture of Buggy.
"For me..." he murmured, looking at Buggy with amazed eyes.
"for you."
Luffy blushed a little more when he heard the confirmation from Buggy. He felt surprised that the human made him such a present.
"Thank you..." he said, his heart beating, passing his finger on the shiny metal.
Luffy stared at the sky for a moment, noticing that the sun was already there. He suddenly remembered that he had to help his brothers with the hunt today.
"I have to go..." he said, a touch of regret in his voice.
"See you tomorrow."
Luffy nodded, a smile on his face. He knew he was going to have to leave Buggy for today, but he was looking forward to seeing him the next day.
"Yes, see you tomorrow!"
Luffy slowly moved away from Buggy, waving to say goodbye. He was swimming quickly towards his cave, excited about telling his brothers about his day soon.
*-*-*-*-*