Okay, so I know it's early, but I'm terrible at waiting to post chapters and stories. I can't help myself. So, I bring you yet another BixLu one-shot. This time, a Christmas themed one to celebrate the holidays (or not, if you don't).
Anyway, I love you all, and I hope you're all enjoying yourselves and staying safe and all that! Time to move on to the actual story though, so... Enjoy!
"I should really go and do it," Bickslow said to no one in particular as he turned to look at the blonde sitting at the bar on the opposite side of the guild.
"You've been saying that for the last two hours," Freed sighed.
Bickslow turned his head back to face the Runes mage with a slight frown. "I know, but I really should."
"Then go and do it," Laxus muttered as he lifted his glass to his lips, ignoring the frown from the Seith mage that was now aimed at him.
"I will."
"Okay then."
When Bickslow showed absolutely no signs of moving and going and doing what he'd only been wanting to do for weeks, if not months, Laxus couldn't help but shake his head with a smirk on his lips. He really did find it just a little entertaining, only because it was uncharacteristically like Bickslow to be nervous, and that was what he was.
But when it came to one Lucy Heartfilia… Bickslow tended to lose most of his confidence for the most part. For months, everyone had had to sit there and watch the two flirt with each other. The worst part was that Bickslow was surprisingly bad at actually flirting (almost as bad as Lucy, he'd also come to realise, but the two seemed to be oblivious to that). He was good at picking women up to get them in his bed, but when it came to Lucy, it was painful to watch and listen to.
Painful though entertaining, as Laxus liked to say to Bickslow on a near daily basis.
So as Bickslow just instead went back to only glancing over to the bar every now and then where the blonde sat, Laxus went back to having a quiet conversation with Freed – one that Bickslow was not paying attention to in the slightest, because he had other things on his mind.
Like Lucy.
For so long, all he'd wanted to do was go and ask her out, because he really, really liked her. The problem was that he just didn't know how to.
Bickslow knew he needed some sort of plan though. Though he'd never really been one for planning everything, rather just going with the flow of things, asking Lucy out was one thing where he didn't want to entirely improvise.
It was only when Bickslow noticed just how much mistletoe was hanging around the guild did he begin to actually (and finally) form a plan in his more than crazy head. Mira tended to go overboard with the decorations for every single holiday or event, and Christmas was no exception. In fact, Christmas was probably the time of the year where she went all out, and each year, mistletoe was strung from every single arch, doorway or door, or anything else that people could walk under. Tinsel, miniature Christmas trees on half of the tables plus the giant one on the stage that almost touched the ceiling, wreaths, gingerbread, shortbread and eggnog in abundance for the entirety of December…
Christmas was undoubtedly Mira's favourite time of the year, apart from Valentine's Day. She would do anything to get people together, and Bickslow knew that all too well. It was precisely why he tended to completely avoid getting caught under mistletoe (or do his best to, since she tended to be quite sneaky with her placement sometimes), because he really didn't want to have to kiss anyone.
But this year? This year, Bickslow was going to use the copious amounts of mistletoe to his advantage. Or really, he was just going to use some of it to his advantage. Surely no one would miss or notice one small bunch missing.
He looked around the guild for the closest arch or sneaky location, and seeing some hanging from a nail just above the stairs that led to the slightly raised walkways that surrounded the main floor of the guild, he discreetly let one of the wooden tikis fall to his hand before he gently placed it down on the table. The soul now residing within the plant only slowly floated down towards him, and when Laxus looked to the smirking Seith mage with an eyebrow arched curiously, only to find him carefully placing something on the inside pocket of his hooded leather jacket, having opted to lose the visor and usual armour over the holidays, Laxus could only stare at him suspiciously.
"What are you doing?" he asked slowly.
"Asking her out," Bickslow replied, and realising he was the only one at the table without any sort of drink, he reached for Freed's beside him and quickly finished it off for him. He didn't even care that it was just apple cider, despite how much he hated the stuff, because it was Christmas Eve and he was finally asking Lucy out.
Well, hopefully.
So only after quickly stopping by where Levy sat with Wendy and Carla, only to tear off a tiny piece of paper from the notebook Levy was writing in to scrawl a tiny message on it, and answer simply just what he was doing (only to get a 'finally' from the two girls and exceed), he was off towards the bar. Mistletoe in one pocket, note in the other, and a sudden burst of confidence running through him.
When Mira saw the Seith mage weaving his way through the merry guild and towards the bar, she couldn't help but stifle her giggle. There just happened to be a free seat right next to Lucy, and Mira would be damned if that's not where Bickslow was heading. She'd only been talking to the blonde all night about the blue-and-black haired man, just because the woman's crush on him was far too obvious.
But, the blonde was oblivious to the Seith mage that was getting closer to the bar, and Mira couldn't have that. She only just leant forward over the bar to get closer to Lucy, and whispering in her ear, she said, "Bickslow's coming."
Just as Lucy's head suddenly shot up from the book she'd been enthralled in all evening, a hand flew to her mouth just as a small shriek left her, and she had to fight to keep the wine she'd been drinking from going all over herself and the bar, not to mention her precious book. And so as Lucy turned the colour of the wine she'd been drinking in her embarrassment of almost spitting out her drink right in front of her crush, Mira could only walk down to the other end of the bar, giggling to herself as she kept her eyes on the two mages.
"H-Hi, Bickslow," she spluttered, her blush making no efforts to leave any time soon. She could only silently curse Bickslow for his choice of attire – the lack of visor was making it almost impossibly difficult to focus on anything but his eyes that she had only really seen a few times as it was.
"Hey," he replied with his wide grin, his elbow resting on the bar as he glanced down to the book in front of her. "What are you reading?"
She looked down to it herself as she turned it to look down at the dark blue cover. "Starry Night."
"Oh. I've read that one."
"You have?" she asked, an eyebrow arching only slightly. Bickslow reading a Christmas romance novel was something she had not expected, and she found herself doubting it.
"Not really," he admitted, his grin only getting softer as Lucy shook her head. "The only book I'll be reading cover to cover any time soon will be one that has your name on it."
Lucy only looked forward again when she was sure her entire face and ears were the same shade of red as the sweater she was wearing. She couldn't even remember ever telling Bickslow about her book, but he seemed to be her biggest fan at that point, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't make her feel incredibly giddy. The man seemed to have figured out just what to say to make her want to giggle like a schoolgirl and hide her face in a book or her hands, so all she could do then was take another slow sip from her wine glass as she kept her eyes forward. She figured it was safer to just say silent, considering any words she tried to get out then would just end up a jumbled mess and she'd make a fool of herself.
Bickslow didn't mind that though. In fact, it gave him the perfect opportunity to put his plan into action. So when Lucy wasn't looking, he reached into the inside pocket for the mistletoe, and then putting one of his babies' souls back into it, he let it slowly float up to be above them – high enough so she wouldn't have noticed it unless she actually looked up.
He cleared his throat quietly then just as he internally told himself not to stutter, and as Lucy slowly looked back to him, he couldn't keep the grin off his face. Partly because she really was adorable, and partly because he was really hoping he'd be able to kiss her and then ask her out. All of his babies were only silently cheering in his head, and they were definitely helping with the entire lack of confidence when it came to Lucy issue.
"So…" he began finally, doing his best to keep his voice study, because damn it, he was still a little nervous. "You know how there's that entire tradition with mistletoe…"
She slowly looked up just as Bickslow pointed up, and seeing the mistletoe floating in the air just a few feet above them, the corners of her lips pulled up into another nervous smile as she nodded slightly. "I know of it," she whispered.
"That's good…" Bickslow slowly sat forward on the edge of the stool, one foot on the ground and the other resting on the wooden frame for it. As he reached into another pocket for the small slip of paper from before, he slowly said, "So I've never really been one for traditions myself… But, some I wouldn't be opposed to following… So, you know… If you wanted to..."
Lucy could feel her heart racing in her chest, and she never would have thought Bickslow asking to kiss her would be so sweet. He'd always seemed like the kind of person to just take something he wanted, and sure, if he'd just walked up and kissed her, she wouldn't have had any problems with that because she'd only been waiting for it for far too long. But this? This was much nicer, she realised.
"I wouldn't mind," she said softly, the heat on her cheeks having taken up permanent residence.
And had Bickslow really needed to ask to actually kiss her? No, probably not, but he'd wanted to. He already knew she liked him, but it was really all just to make sure. With Lucy, he wanted to do things somewhat close to right, and as much as he'd have loved just walking up to her and kissing her (oh, for far too long, he'd wanted to do that), he'd known that it probably wouldn't have been the best idea.
Which was why he'd needed a plan in the first place. The fact he was just going about it in the opposite way was actually strangely a bonus.
So as Bickslow leant forward just that little bit more, he only quietly said, "I was hoping you'd say that." And then he was closing that last shred of distance between them as he lifted a hand to lightly rest against her cheek, and tilting his head, he softly pressed his lips to hers.
The sounds of Mira giggling just down the other end of the bar and someone shouting 'fucking finally!' were almost completely lost to Lucy. She almost forgot she was in the guild too, because as their lips slowly moved together, Lucy could really only wonder how it was possible for a kiss to be that good. Either she'd had more to drink than she thought and was nowhere near being sober, or Bickslow was an incredibly good kisser. She was more sure of it being the latter though.
It was only when Bickslow's other hand lightly trailed down her arm before gently pressing the small folded piece of paper into her palm did he finally find it in himself (with the help of the babies in his head reminding him that he was in the guild and it was supposed to just be a simple kiss) to gently pull back. Lucy was completely speechless though, and when the mistletoe that had been hanging above them slowly floated back down and into Bickslow's palm, she quickly realised that he'd infused it with one of the souls and it hadn't just been hanging over her the entire night.
As Bickslow silently turned to walk away from the bar without a single word and only a smirk, Lucy could only turn back to the front – completely missing the high-fives that Natsu and Gray gave the suddenly confused Seith mage as he headed towards the doors – as Mira came back to stand in front of her, and she really couldn't keep the smile from her face. Lucy had never had a kiss that completely had her at a loss for words and feeling just a little lightheaded. Until then, of course, and oh, would she love to feel that again.
So as Mira started to go on about how Lucy was no doubt going to have a very merry Christmas this year, Lucy only looked down to her lap as she unfolded the small piece of paper. 'Outside' was all it said, and it definitely had Lucy curious and excited to find out what was awaiting her. Realising she had no hope in hell of containing that excitement though, she quickly picked up her book, marking the page with the small note from Bickslow, and she put it back in her bag just as she got up from where she sat, pulling her coat from the back of the chair as she quickly headed for the doors.
She found Bickslow leaning back against the wall, his hands in his pockets and the hood of his jacket up, and looking down to the ground that was lightly becoming dusted with the slowly falling snow. "So… Why exactly did you want me to come outside? Where it's really, really cold," she asked as a nervous laugh escaped her.
"Because I wanted to ask you out," he answered in a single heartbeat. Kissing her in the guild was one thing, but asking her out when she's in the middle of it? Yeah, he didn't have enough confidence back for that.
"R-Right now?" He nodded as he pushed himself away from the wall and stepped closer to Lucy, her cheeks still that adorable shade of red along with the tip of her nose from being out in the cold. "But… But it's nearly ten, and it's Christmas Eve," she said quickly. "Nothing will be open anymore…"
"I know a place."
"What? A bar?"
The corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk as he slowly stepped back from the blonde. "Not a bar," he said softly. He wouldn't even think about taking Lucy to some disgusting bar for an impromptu first date. Pulling a hand from his jacket pocket, he held it out to the her, then, "Come on, Cosplayer. Wanna go on a date with me right now?"
When he puts it that way though, Lucy really couldn't resist. It was Christmas Eve, and she was in an incredibly good mood. A date in the middle of the night with the guy she just happens to really, really like was too hard to say no to. So with every single fibre of her being pushing her forward, she took Bickslow's hand and let him lead her off to wherever it was he wanted to take her.
And so later, she found herself sitting on the roof of the place she'd met Bickslow, and like they had for the last two hours, they talked and laughed, and Lucy was definitely glad she'd let Bickslow take her out that night. First it was to a small café that was always open late and sold the best hot chocolate in town (according to Bickslow, and Lucy had to agree), then it was a walk along the almost frozen canals and through the park, and then, to the toy store to see the town through Bickslow's eyes.
It was right on midnight though when Bickslow was suddenly reaching into his pocket again as the clock tower's chimes slowly rang out across the town, and Lucy couldn't help but laugh when he let it float up to hover above them once again.
"You know, there's only one bad thing about this Christmas tradition," he said slowly when he looked back down to Lucy.
"And what's that?" she asked, her lips pulling up into another smile.
He lifted one of his hands – the same one he'd been using to move the mistletoe to and from his pocket – and held it up to show Lucy. "I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to mistletoe," he laughed. All across the back of his hand and his wrist he had red marks that really did itch like hell, and even though it was annoying, it was totally worth it.
Lucy only shook her head as she reached up to pull the poisonous (to Bickslow, at least) plant from the air, and she leant forward slightly just to drop it over the edge of where she sat, letting it slowly fall to the ground far beneath them. She knew for a fact she wasn't allergic to it, considering she'd helped Mira decorate the hall that year, but that didn't matter.
So only sitting back up and turning to Bickslow, his hand back in one of his jacket pockets, she lifted one of her own hands (the one she hadn't just touched the mistletoe with, of course) to let her fingers lightly brush the side of his jaw, and she softly said, "Well, luckily for you, I don't think we need it anymore." And right before the last chime sounded, it was Lucy's turn to lean forward and kiss Bickslow, and she did so without a single doubt about whether or not she was going to enjoy her Christmas, because she already was, and she really could not wait for what else their night held.
And so it was exactly a year later on Christmas Eve when Bickslow was handing Lucy one of the many wrapped presents from under their tree and watching with bated breath as she began to tear the festive wrapping paper from the large box. It had only taken Bickslow a year to realise that he wanted to spend every Christmas thereafter with Lucy and make their own traditions, so when she finally got to the small velvet box that had been hidden inside the larger box filled with even more boxes, he asked her to do just that.
And of course, she said yes. A hundred times, actually, and that was only after she'd stopped squealing and crying.
But then when Lucy had looked up as soon as she'd somewhat calmed down, she hadn't been the least bit surprised to see more mistletoe hovering just above them in the middle of their living room. They didn't need it, but Bickslow still liked it, and as long as he didn't touch it, he'd make sure there would always be some in their house for the holiday season, just because it was the first of many silly holiday traditions to be theirs.