White and Blue

Bickslow opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the darkness. When they focused, he wasn't surprised to find them locked with blue irises which hadn't been there before, when he'd drifted off. She was home.

"Hi," the woman next to him whispered.

He was too tired to smile, really, but he pulled one off, just for her.

"Hi."

"Mmmm," she sighed, settling into the bed. He could smell her, without even trying. She had gone at least a few days without showering.

Not that he minded.

Jobs were tough.

"What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?" she asked softly then, her voice laced with the exhaustion he was sure she was suffering from. Not shifting in the slightest on the bed, he just laid on his stomach, face turned to the side so he could stare at her.

"Sleeping."

"Seriously, Bickslow."

"I'm serious, Lissy," he insisted then. "Been sleepin', like, all day. That's how depressed I've been. You know? I missed you."

"Aw."

"You were gone for three weeks," he kept up. "That's, like, almost a month."

"I brought back tons of jewels though."

"Bah!' he snorted. "You know that I can't be bought."

"You can't?"

"No."

"Really? Because I'm super tired right now," she was saying then, "but I thought that I could show you the new gift that I bought you while I was out of town."

"Gift, huh?"

"Mmmhmm."

"What'd you get me? What'd you get me?" He was pushing out of the bed then, scrambling off to find his present. "Babies! Wake up! Mama's home and she got us something."

His dolls, who were resting around the room, their bodies dormant as ever during the night, woke up at his call, all five immediately taking to greeting Lisanna.

"Lissy!"

She only laid on the bed, giggling as they came to float around her. "Did you miss me?"

"Miss Mama!" they all cried. And they had. They loved Lisanna. Of course they missed her.

Err, when they remembered that she existed. Like their papa, they were quite absentminded.

But when they remembered her, they mourned her. She was their mama, after all.

"You are missing the point here, babies," Bickslow said as he looked around the room for his gift. "Yes, Mama is awesome. And yes, we all missed her terribly. But there is a present in our midst and we're not-"

"It's in my bag, silly," Lisanna giggled as he scoured the room for it. "By the closet."

"Ah-ha."

"Just bring the bag over here."

He did so quickly, going to drop it down on the bed before falling onto it himself. He sat on his knees over her, watching as she dug through the duffle bag for his gift.

"I know it's stupid," she said even before she lifted it out. "And I might be, like, totally overstepping my boundaries here, but I thought maybe you could wear it sometimes? Instead of the one you have now? Just if you wanna."

"Lissy," he whispered in awe as the babies fluttered around, oohing as they went.

"Mama," they whispered.

"I'm sorry. Do you hate it?' Lisanna lifted the white sallet out to him. "I figured it would match other things you have better than your usual one. You hate it, don't you? Well-"

"Hate it?' He reached out to snatch it, holding it above his head. "I love it! Look, babies! Papa has a new mask!"

"Papa!" They were circling around him happily then. Well, most of them. Pappa, Lisanna's favorite of the dolls, came to land in her waiting palm like always. "Papa!"

"Ha ha!" He moved to slip it on. "I gotta go buy a whole new look for this, kid! I'm, like, the coolest knight ever now."

"Really?" Lisanna was slowly beginning to grin as well. "You really like it?"

"Of course I do. Mama did a good job, didn't she, babies?"

"Yes!" They took to her then, floating around her head. "Lisanna! Good job!"

Giggling, she said, "Elf said it was stupid when I stopped to buy it, but I thought…I dunno."

"You're so smart," he complimented, look around then. The bars were slights different on the face mask than his normal one, but he would get used to it. "We're, like, connected, you know? Me and you? We just get each other."

"Yeah," she sighed. "We do."

"I love you."

"I love you too." It still felt odd on her tongue, saying that. But Bickslow never had an hesitation with it.

Actually, he'd told it to her on their first date.

"You mean," he had asked, watching her with amazement, "to tell me that you like to dip your fries in salad dressing too?"

"Yeah. Who doesn't?"

"I love you, kid."

That made her blink, of course, as they sat next to one another at some restaurant. She hadn't actually meant to end up on a date with him. Mirajane was supposed to hangout with her that day, but she broke their date to go on a real one with Laxus and, considering Elfman and Ever were having one of their spats while Freed was none too casually stalking Mira and Laxus, that left the two of them with nothing better to do.

She didn't have time then to say anything because, feeling the need to suddenly, the babies began repeating Bickslow then.

"Love you, kid," they told her. "Love you!"

And it was so embarrassing that she thought she'd never be able to go on another date with him. If he was weird, then his dolls were the epitome of it. But…the next time he asked her she had nothing to do and, well, a little over a year later and she more than loved him back.

"Love you too, Mama," the babies were crying then as their father jumped out of the bed, rushing off to the bathroom no doubt so he could admire his new face mask. "Lissy."

"I love you guys too," she assured them, not pushing up out of the bed. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long. But I got us so many jewels that I won't have to go anywhere again for awhile."

"Yay!" Taking to landing then, the babies all cheered as she snuggled the ones in her arms to her. "Mama."

She couldn't even imagine life without them anymore.

"Okay, Lissy." Bickslow was back then, still wearing the new sallet. "I'mma buy a new white cape and some boots and gah! I'm be smoking hot, Lissy. Don't you think?"

"Aren't you always?"

His tongue stuck out then, wagging slightly as he grinned at her. "You're the best person ever! I'm, like, so pumped! If it wasn't four in the morning, I'd run out and do a job right now! I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep again!"

Only, he was kinda sleepy. And Lisanna was more than tired. It had taken her and Elfman all night to walk back to town, due to the train system being down. He could tell too as he came to lay back down on the bed with her, Lisanna shifting onto her side, letting go of Pappa.

"So you'll wear it sometimes, you think?"

"Sometimes?" Bickslow pulled it off then, so that they could stare at one another. "I'll wear it all the time!"

She just giggled as he moved to lay it down on the nightstand, next to his normal gray one. "Now you're, like, a white knight, huh? Aren't those real prestigious or something?"

"I think so," he said as she cuddled up to her. "Which I am, by the way. A real prestigious guy, huh? Super prestigious. I'm-"

"You have no idea what that means, do you?"

"Not a clue," he said with a nod of his head. Leaning down then to brush a kiss against her forehead, he said, "But I know that I'm real happy right now. You're the best."

"You're the best."

"I am," he agreed.

"Bickslow."

"Well, we both are. Together." He nuzzled against her then as the babies, annoyed that they were both on their sides and they couldn't lay on their papa's chest, complained. "You guys quiet down. Lissy's sleepy! She just got home, after all. I get fist dibs at her. Not you guys. It's just the rules."

They were still grumbling as they moved to rest against the mattress instead. It wasn't fair!

"I missed you so much," Lisanna giggled, reaching out to lay a hand on Bickslow's cheek, the room being so dark that it was hard for her to even see his tattoo. "That job was so long. And Elf complained the whole time about some fight he and Evergreen got into. I was miserable."

He sighed softly. "Me and you should be a team. Screw Elfman and Ever and Freed."

"Not Laxus though," she mocked.

"Of course not! Never!"

More giggles. "You're so cute."

"I ain't cute. I'm a knight, baby."

"You're my knight, huh?"

"Uh-huh." He frowned slightly when she shifted away from him slightly, shutting her eyes. "Lissy-"

"I'm just resting. Keep talking."

"You're sleepin'."

"No way."

"Yes, way. I can see you do it."

She only yawned. "You're the knight, not me. You're supposed to be the one keeping guard over me, huh?"

"Guard over you? Hmmm."

"That's what guards do, isn't it?"

"I thought that they went out and fought and did all sorts of cool stuff like that."

"Well, they do," she agreed, voice dripping in undertones of sleep. He knew that it would only take a few more seconds and he'd lose her. "But they do other stuff too. When they're home at the castle, they're like guards. Aren't they?"

"I really don't think so."

"You sure?"

"No."

"Huh."

"Hmmm."

"We're not too smart, are we?"

"We're smart enough for us," he told her. "And the babies. They think I'm a genius. And that you're, like, a super genius. What more do we need?"

Grinning, she whispered, "Nothing else, I guess."

She fell asleep around that time. And oh, if that wasn't the best night's sleep she'd had in forever. Some significant time had passed too, she could tell, when she awoke.

Bickslow's clock next to the bed read four, which at first didn't make sense to her. She had gotten in at four.

Then it hit her.

"I slept for twelve hours?"

With a groan, she sat up some, rubbing at her eyes. It was then that she noticed the bed was extremely empty, considering it was usually full of wooden dolls and a man-child.

"Bick?" she called out. "You still here?"

Apparently not. Oh well. It would give her a chance to shower. With a sniff, she could tell quite easily that she needed it desperately.

She sure hoped Bickslow hadn't noticed…

Sighing as she went, Lisanna headed over to the closet to find something to wear before heading off to the shower.

Lisanna found herself still yawning too, as she waited for the water to warm up. Lately it felt like she just couldn't get enough. The days she wasn't on jobs were either spent with Natsu and Lucy or with Bickslow, both equally as strenuous. By the same token though, she found it hard to think of a time when she was happier.

It was while she was in the bathroom though, busy washing her hair (once again, Bickslow had used all her shampoo and his, leaving her with just conditioner. It didn't matter how many times she explained they were not the same thing to him; he just wouldn't understand), when she heard the front door bang open.

"Lisanna! You here, kid?"

"Mama?" the babies yelled, their exited tones carrying over all the way to the bathroom.

"In the shower," she called back to them, thinking that those words would be enough of a tip off to them to leave her alone. No such luck.

The bathroom door was the next to burst open.

"Kid! Come look at my new getup. Me and the babies think I look quite fancy."

"Fancy Papa," they all agreed. "Mama?"

"I said that I was in the shower," she told them with a frown though she couldn't put as much annoyance in her tone as she would have liked. "Seriously, this couldn't wait a minute or two?"

Apparently not, as Bickslow came over to throw back the shower curtain. "Lis-"

"Bickslow!"

"It's only me." The he blinked, a realization coming over him. "Oh! Babies, look away!"

"Mama!" they shrieked as they turned to flee out of the bathroom. "Naked!"

"That wasn't my fault! Why would you think I would be anything but in the shower?" she complained. "I- Oh, hey, you did get a new outfit."

Over his shock and fear for the scars that his children would bear in future situations (he liked to pretend that one day they might grow up, sue him), he realized his original goal.

"Yep!" He took to grabbing part of his cape and swishing around, showing off his new attire. He was almost blinding, the white shine of his clothing only accented in certain areas by blue. "Don't I look regal?"

Lisanna moved to grab a towel after turning off the shower. "You look great. Real prestigious."

"Which means distinguished."

She nodded. "Who'd you ask?"

"Well, Freed, of course, but that's not the point."

"I like it." She was moving to get dressed herself then, but kept glancing over at it. "Did he help you pick it out?"

"Sorta," he said, rubbing a hand against his chest then, proud of himself. "He wanted me to go for somethin' a little different though."

"What do you mean?"

"He wanted me to go with white and black, you know? But that's boring. So obvious."

"So obvious," she repeated.

"Blue and white though? That's the color scheme for me!"

"You sound like a woman."

"But I look like a damn fine man." He pushed up his sallet then to blink at her. "You like my boots?"

"I like the whole thing. It's kinda, you know, like a rebirthing of sorts."

"Whaddya mean?"

"You used to be so, you know, dark. Evil. A silly type of dark, evil guy. But now you're just silly."

"Silly?"

"Fun," she corrected. "I mean, you're still very fearsome."

"Ferocious."

"Oh yeah," she agreed. "You're, like, pure now."

"Huh."

"My vicious white knight."

"I'mma brute."

"Sorta."

He flexed. "You think I look good though?"

"Mmmhmm. So sexy."

"Thanks." He put his visor down again. "Kept you and your interests in mind when I was doing it."

"What do you mean?"

He only shrugged. "You like blue, don't ya?"

"It's a pretty color, sure."

"It's my favorite! Dark blue."

"Reallly?"

Nodding, he said, "Just about the shade of your eyes."

Her blush made him grin. "Bickslow…"

"It's true." He swished around in his cape some more. "You up for going out tonight? I wanna show off my new look. I still need to go down to the guildhall, let every get a look at me. The white knight. Step aside Salamander, Black Steel Gajeel; the White Knight is gonna rule!"

"But not more than the Thunder God."

"Oh, no. Of course not. Laxus is king."

"Even in your fantasies?"

"Even then."

"Good to know."

More swishing. Then, "So how 'bout it? You wanna-"

"Actually," she said giving up on getting dressed only half way through. Standing there in her shorts and a bra, she said, "I had a better idea for right now."

"Lissy," he complained. "We can train later. I wanna-"

"No, Bick," she sighed. "I meant, I dunno, I just thought it could be fun."

"What could be fun?"

"You know," she said. "Learning how to get you out of your new getup."

"Why would we… Oh. Oh!" More swishing. Then he took off out of the bathroom. "Come on then, Lissy! Can I keep my sallet on though? When we… At least for awhile? I think that's how old school knights did it."

"Something tells me that's not even close to being true."

"I bet some of them did at least."

"Still a little fuzzy on your reasoning, but if you wanna, sure."

"So hot."

"You're so stupid."

When she joined him in the bedroom, the babies tried to follow her. Bickslow shut the door in their face though.

"Papa," they complained. "Lissy."

"We're busy," he said. "Go rest for awhile, babies. Then we'll go out and show off Papa's new look, huh? Maybe."

Lisanna only giggled as he took to posing then, showing off his clothes to her once more.

"Guess that visor was a good purchase, huh?"

"The best," he said, nodding his head. "I've been needin' a new look for awhile now."

"You're the only man I know that can pull off a cape."

"You think?"

"Uh-huh."

More swishing then. "I'mma get the guild mark on the back. In blue."

"Even hotter."

"You're the only one that appreciates me."

"Yeah," she sighed, going to grab his arm then, to stop him from spinning. When he stopped, he was a little wobbly, but grinned when she smiled up at him. "Same."

This was totally supposed to go differently. I was writing a whole different topic for this one-shot, or at least I meant to be, but somehow it turned into Bickslow getting a new visor. Oh well. Guess I'll just write the other one later.