Prompt: Bixuvia, Amuse Me - Dragonshost
Ducklings
Juvia wasn't used to seeing Bickslow curled up in bed and doing his best impression of a mountain of pillows and blankets, even if he'd been that way for almost the last month. Considering the guy was usually bouncing off the freakin' walls or hanging from some rafter and just constantly joking around, Juvia couldn't help but be concerned when he was quiet or still. It just wasn't him, as far as she was concerned.
Yet for the last month, that was how he'd been. He'd rolled himself up in bed sheets and closed himself off from the rest of the world, all because he suddenly believed that the only way to keep his remaining babies safe was to hug their little wooden bodies tightly to him. The war with Zeref and Alvarez had had its casualties, and unfortunately for Bickslow, one of the babies had been included in that. He hadn't even know his souls could be destroyed until Pappa had been, and naturally, Bickslow missed the lil' guy. Juvia had never known much about the souls, either, so she hadn't been able to help but ask why Bickslow had been the way he was. He'd told her that it was like losing a best friend, one he'd known for almost his entire life.
Still, as much as Juvia did understand that he was mourning his lost soul, and that part of him really did believe that keeping himself and the other four babies away from everything was the best way to keep them all safe, she really didn't like seeing Bickslow that way. And still, even though there was a part of her that was telling her to just leave Bickslow to do what he thought was best, she wanted to help.
It was Bickslow who had told her that laughter was the best medicine in the whole wide world, after all, and Juvia was going to take it upon herself to make the guy laugh.
So walking into Bickslow's bedroom that afternoon, she simply quietly stepped over to the bed where the Seith mage was curled up under the duvet and sat down on the edge. The human-shaped lump under the blanket shifted, and then she heard the mumbled question: "Is that you, Juvs?"
Juvia nodded (not to anyone in particular), and peeked inside the large cardboard box she held on her lap. "Yes," she answered softly before asking her own question. "Is Bickslow going to emerge from his bed today?"
"No." There were bad people outside his bed. There was no way in hell he was leaving. Besides, it was warm in there.
"I see…" Juvia whispered. It was the response she'd expected, but also the one she'd wanted. And so with that, Juvia was moving to kneel on the ground, just beside the bed, and then reaching into the cardboard box now next to her to carefully lift out what was contained within it. Then slowly, she gripped the edge of the blanket that Bickslow hadn't completely wrapped himself in, and placed the fluffy, yellow animal she'd been holding down on the bed.
Bickslow became aware of the quiet squeaking when he had something odd nudge his cheek, and he couldn't help but flinch when something soft brushed against his face and the squeaking noise only grew louder. "What the–" He sat upright in an instant and pushed the covered back as quickly as he could. The babies he'd been holding hostage flew straight out the door, and Bickslow was left staring down at the chirping, squeaking, and whistling ducklings that were apparently exploring his bed.
He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he leant forward on his elbows and scooped up one of the fluffy little creatures into his hands. "Ducklings?!"
"Juvia saw them on her way home and thought they were cute," Juvia explained as she rose to sit on the bed once again. "Juvia also thought they would cheer Bickslow up…"
And Bickslow didn't really need to tell Juvia if the ducklings had worked or not, because before long, he was left lying in the middle of his bed with a brace of ducklings sitting and climbing all over him. Juvia had known that he had a soft-spot for fluffy animals, and even if the ducklings would seriously never be able to be the equivalent of any of Bickslow's lost souls, she knew that he loved them.
All Juvia really cared about, though, was that she'd managed to find a way to get Bickslow out of bed.