"If the zombie apocalypse were to happen, do you think you'd be able to survive?"
She blinked and glanced at the man at her table. The diner was virtually empty at this time, 2 a.m. being the time for night owls and desperate students. Although she had a feeling he was neither of those things.
"Well, what do you mean by survive? Like day-to-day, or long term survival?"
His dark glasses slid down his nose – why he was wearing sunglasses indoors she wasn't positive – and mismatched eyes stared up at her. One a bright green, like fresh spring grass, the other as dark as the coffee she was pouring.
"Hmm, good point." He pushed his glasses back up, hiding his unusual eyes from view. "I was thinking more day-to-day."
She set the pot on the table with a clack, resting her hand on her hip. "I want to say yes, but …" She lifted a shoulder in a half shrug and began to tick the reasons off on her fingers. "My sense of direction is shit, the most fighting I've done was when I tackled Levy for spoiling me to a book I'd been waiting ages for, and I suck at video games."
He chuckled and shook his head. "What do video games have to do with zombies?"
She rolled her eyes. "A lot, honestly. It's hard to find a game these days that doesn't have zombies in it." He gave her a look and she laughed. "But my point is, my reflexes are awful. You do not want to see me in Mario Kart." She shook her head sadly. "It's brutal."
"I suppose you have a point." He tapped a finger against his chin and stared down at his coffee mug. "I suppose I should thank my lucky stars I have nothing better to do than play video games all day." The grin he flashed her was bright, and something fluttered in her stomach. Something dangerously similar to a butterfly.
"Well." She cleared her throat and picked up the pot. "If you need anything else, like a refill or some food, just wave me over." She gave her best waitress smile and turned away, already letting her thoughts drift to her novel.
Although, as the night progressed she couldn't help but glance his way now and then, just to see what he was up to. He'd taken out a laptop at some point, and seemed to be furiously typing something. Then, when she was down the final stretch of her shift, he just packed up and left.
His untouched coffee still sat where she'd poured it.
X
"What's your stance on vampires?"
"You know, if you're not going to drink the coffee then maybe you shouldn't order it."
Bickslow – she'd learned his name the third time – shook his head. "You can't just sit in a diner for hours without ordering anything, plus it's a bottomless cup."
"But does that matter if you never actually need a refill?"
He shrugged and waved a hand dismissively. "You're just trying to change the subject." She arched a brow and he nodded, expression serious. "Maybe you're a vampire, and this question is too close to home. Think carefully on your answer lest you reveal too much."
She could feel the smile twitching at her mouth and had to press her lips together to keep it back. In the last few weeks she'd learned a couple of things about Bickslow. One, he was rarely without his sunglasses, and two, encouraging him would only lead to more strangeness.
Although based on the smile that stretched over his face, she hadn't done a great job at hiding her own.
"I can assure you that I'm not a vampire."
"Except that's exactly what a vampire would say. How do I know you're not going to use your weird vampire mind control on me?"
She pressed her lips together and leaned forward, lips curling with her smirk. "Maybe, I already have." Then she grabbed her pot and headed back to the counter, laughing at his indignant squawk.
"You didn't answer the question!"
"Are you sure about that?" She arched a brow, laughing when his lips twisted with his frown. "Although, if you really must know. I think vampires are overdone and overrated."
"Huh." He fell silent, and she figured the conversation was over.
But as he was leaving he glanced at her, a small smile playing at his lips. "That's what a real vampire would say."
She could only laugh.
X
"If you could live on any planet, which would it be?"
"Jupiter."
Bickslow barked a laugh. "You didn't even have to think about it."
She shrugged, feeling the warmth creep into her cheeks. "I've always loved Jupiter." He nodded, accepting her answer, and she studied his face.
He was looking more tired than usual, the bags under his eyes visible even with the sunglasses. There was a subdued slump to his shoulders, and she wondered when the last time he slept was.
"What about you?"
"Pluto." She arched a brow, and the grin he flashed her way was bright. "Because Pluto is still a planet, regardless of what science says."
She laughed and shook her head. "I can't even judge."
"You're right, you can't."
She smiled, feeling the beginnings of a flutter in her stomach. Over the past few weeks it'd been getting worse and worse and she was worried it was becoming a full blown crush. She didn't have time for crushing right then, she had a novel to write.
Yet when Bickslow left that night, she found she couldn't stop thinking about him.
X
"Do you ever sleep?"
It was her turn to start with a question. He glanced at her, sitting in his usual table, and she smiled up at him. As usual his eyes were unreadable behind his glasses, and there was a moment of fear as he just stared. Had she messed up? Was he going to leave and never come back? Should she say just kidding and make a run for it?
But he dropped his pack in the booth and slid in next to it, resting his elbows on the table and his chin in hand.
"Not really, no." He paused, dipping his head to peer over his glasses. "Do you?"
Her stomach twisted and she stared in his eyes, doing her best not to drown. "Occasionally."
Juvia approached the table and glanced between them. Normally she worked earlier in the night, but someone had to work the 2 a.m. shifts, and unfortunately Lucy needed a day off every so often. Although here she was, spending her day off in the diner.
All for a stupid boy.
She knew what Juvia was thinking as she looked at them, and she shook her head.
"He'll have a coffee," she said, before Bickslow had a chance to say anything.
"Cream and sugar?" Juvia stared at Lucy as she asked, and Lucy couldn't quite stop the smile from twitching over her lips.
"No thank you."
Juvia nodded and sashayed off to get a mug and the coffee, placing it on the table without another word.
"Not going to order anything for yourself?"
Lucy laughed, picking up the steaming mug and taking a sip. He watched her, his eyes hidden behind the glasses again, and she smiled.
"The coffees good, you should really try it."
His lips twitched and he shook his head, dropping his gaze to the table. "I'll take your word for it."
Silence fell over the table and she curled her hands around the mug, letting the warmth crawl up her arms.
"It's sort of weird."
"What is?"
He glanced over his glasses at her again and she felt her stomach twist. "Having you sit across from me."
"Oh?" She swallowed past the lump in her throat, silently hoping he wouldn't ask her to leave. She didn't care if they just sat in silence for the night. She wanted to sit with him.
"I like it." His smile was bright and infectious, and she found herself smiling back.
"I thought you could use some company."
"Yeah." His expression became somber and he glanced out the window. "I suppose I could."
She stared at him as he stared out the window, and she fought against the urge to slide her hand across the table to rest on his. She wanted to find out what he was hiding behind those glasses, and why he felt the need to spend every night in a diner. She wanted to know everything she could about him.
As the night progressed, he asked many questions about her, some unusual and some just about her life. She answered them, wanting to ask her own in return, but for some reason the words never got past her throat. And when they parted ways, she realized she didn't need to know things like what his job was and how many siblings he might or might not have.
She already knew the things that were most important.
X
"What would you say if someone were to ask you out?"
The question came as a surprise, and Lucy glanced up at Bickslow. She hadn't heard him enter, yet there he sat in his usual spot. As if he could feel her eyes on him, he turned to face her, his own eyes glittering with his grin.
"What happened to your sunglasses?"
He shrugged. "Felt like it was time for a change."
She was moving on auto-pilot as she grabbed the coffee pot and mug. He watched silently as she filled the mug, then glanced up at her. Her thoughts were moving a mile a minute as she tried to figure out what was happening. He just continued to stare, clearly waiting for an answer.
"I guess it depends on whose asking."
"Huh. And if it was me doing the asking?"
Oh.
She couldn't have stopped the smile even if she'd wanted to, and she glanced at Bickslow from beneath her lashes. "Are you?"
He shrugged, his own smile full of mischief. "I could be."
She laughed, shaking her head and glancing around the diner. It was completely empty, even the cook had left for a smoke break, and nothing was stopping her from sliding in across from him and taking his mug for herself.
"Well, you're doing a shitty job of it."
"Am I?"
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. "A little."
"But, you still want to go out with me, don't you?"
She chuckled. "Unfortunately, I think I do. But I'm not going to tell you that until you ask me properly."
"So demanding." He tsked his tongue, but his eyes were lit with a smile. "Lucy, will you please take pity on me and go on a date?"
Her grin split across her face, and she tapped a finger to her chin as she pretended to think on it. "Alright, but on one condition." She paused and he stared at her expectantly. "We can't come to the diner."
He laughed. "Well, there goes my plans." His smile softened, and she felt her heart constrict. He really was too cute, it just wasn't fair. "When are you free next?"
"How about you pick me up after work, tomorrow?"
notes: First let me just say, this is complete. I just felt like experimenting with a new ship and decided BixLu might be a bit fun. Hopefully I didn't mess up the ship too much and you all enjoyed reading it.