How I Met You

by apriiil

Bickslow lived a certain life, and with a certain lifestyle comes consequences. Of course, he never expected one of those consequences to quite literally show up at his front door and ruin his day.

4. Prince Charming

Lucy stifled a yawn as she pushed the door to Bickslow's house open. Even though she'd slept in her own home and in her own bed the night before, she'd gotten home later than usual after staying with Bickslow and Scarlett until late, so she hadn't had as much sleep as she'd have liked. But, she didn't mind in the slightest, and she'd told Bickslow she'd be there bright and early the next morning, and so that was exactly what she was doing.

He had given her a key the night before just as she was leaving, just so she could come and go as she pleases. It was really just for convenience, and he'd explained that, just like he'd explained that there was nothing weird about giving her a key to his house when there were already three other people who did. Sure, those three people had all lived there at some point, but that was irrelevant. Kind of. It all came down to Bickslow not always hearing someone at the door, depending on where he was in his house, and it would just be easier for everyone if Lucy could let herself in.

There was just nothing weird about it in the slightest.

What was weird though was that Bickslow's home was incredibly silent as she walked in. It was only a little past seven-thirty, but Lucy had half expected him to be up by then. As she made her way past the small sitting area with the lounge by the dining table at the front of the house, she dropped her bag onto the counter as she passed the kitchen. Everything was still where it had been when she'd left (or at least, most of it was). The dishes had been done, but there were still a few boxes or bags scattered around on various surfaces.

"Bickslow?" she called out in the silent room, and hearing not a single sound in response, Lucy headed towards the main lounge room at the back of the house, only to find it empty like the rest of it. She could see that he wasn't outside either, and as she walked back to the kitchen and living area, she instead turned and headed for the hall.

She knew that the furniture for what would become Scarlett's nursery upstairs wouldn't be delivered for a few more hours at least, so she didn't even think that he would be upstairs yet. So instead, she just went straight past the stairs and slowly went down the hall. She could see that the door to the bedroom at the end of the hall was open, and not hearing the shower or any water running from the bathroom just next to her, she slowly crept forward to peek into the room.

What she saw had an instant smile on her face and her heart warming her entire body and soul. Bickslow was in the middle of his bed, his back to the windows that took up the entire wall, sound asleep with Scarlett in front of him with an arm keeping her close. It was quite possibly the sweetest thing she'd seen in her entire life, and that was saying something. Lucy didn't entirely know what it was though, but just seeing Bickslow asleep with his daughter just as peacefully asleep in his arms had Lucy happier than she ever would have imagined. It was kind of beautiful, and she almost wished Bickslow could see what she saw.

But then… Then, Lucy remembered that she could do just that, and she had to contain her excitement as she quickly and quietly turned to rush back down the hall. Lucy had to bite her lip to keep from squealing or giggling out loud at the adorable sight as she ran down the hallway. A picture, Bickslow could see, and then it would be something he could always look back to and hopefully smile about. Lucy knew she would if she had something like that. But, it was precisely why she'd brought a camera with her again, because she wanted to show Bickslow the importance of documenting all of the precious memories to come.

Of course, when Lucy decided to just snap a photo of him the day before when he was only glaring at her while Scarlett was screaming in his arms, he didn't quite understand it, but that was okay. It was his first day as a parent (officially), and that's what Lucy liked about it. He'd been sleep deprived, thrown up on, and his daughter would just not shut up. Day one had been eventful, that was for sure.

But this was day two for Bickslow, and Lucy just had to make sure she got that, because it was a precious moment. Maybe once she'd gotten everything developed, she'd put them all in a scrapbook and give them to Bickslow as a gift to surprise him. Christmas was just a couple of months away after all.

So after getting her camera from her bag, Lucy quietly went back down the hall and into Bickslow's room. She tip-toed across the hardwood floors, and crouched down beside the bed. She only waited a moment before lifting the camera, just to make sure they were both still fast asleep, and pulling her lip bottom lip between her teeth just in an attempt to stop herself from giggling like she wanted to, she only slightly shifted to the side and lifted the camera up just to get the perfect angle for the shot.

Lucy was sure Bickslow would probably kill her if he found out about that one, but she didn't care. He'd find out eventually, but for now, she would keep that photo to herself until it was the perfect time to show him. So silently, Lucy turned once again, leaving the room and only just pulling the door closed behind her with a smile still on her face.

---

When Bickslow woke up just half an hour later to his daughter wriggling in his arms, he was actually only relieved. He hadn't even meant to fall asleep with her like that – only to hold her until she went back to sleep and then he'd put her back in the bassinet in front of the window with half the curtains drawn – but it had been four o'clock in the morning and he had been completely exhausted.

He'd been a little worried about falling asleep, only to roll over and suffocate her, or for her to somehow roll off and onto the hardwood floors, but to wake up and see she was fine had Bickslow's nerves calming.

Lifting the arm he had stretched out across one pillow, Bickslow slowly rubbed at his eyes and across his face as he slowly began to get his bearings. Mornings had never been his forte, but then again, neither had a lack of sleep. But, that was something he was kind of ready to get used to, not that he really had that much of a choice. He wanted to be a dad, and he was already certain that losing a little bit (or a lot) of sleep would be totally worth it in the long run.

Becoming more aware of the thankfully quiet bundle of joy that was squirming in the blanket she was wrapped up in, Bickslow opened his eyes again with a tired sigh just to look down at his daughter who was still nestled against his chest with an arm around her. "It's time to get up now, right?" he mumbled, only to get a blank stare from Scarlett before he sighed again. "Yep, time to get up."

Bickslow stole a glance at the alarm clock sitting on one of the nightstands as he slowly moved to the edge of the bed closest to his closet and bathroom, making sure he had Scarlett safely in his arms and against him still. He figured Lucy would be over soon, considering he'd promised her breakfast (along with lunch and dinner for whatever days she stayed, just because he liked cooking), so he realised he didn't have all that much time to get Scarlett changed and fed and back in her bassinet just so he could shower and get ready himself. The worst part was that he didn't even remember the last time he'd had a shower, and it was honestly disgusting himself. It definitely hadn't been the day before, because he'd been too busy to even take the time to do so. He was almost beginning to think the last time he'd had a shower was the night before he'd woken up to find a baby on his doorstep, and it made a shiver run down his spine.

All Bickslow knew was that he definitely needed to do that, and preferably before Lucy got there.

So after disgusting himself even more by changing Scarlett (and on his bathroom counter since the furniture for her nursery had yet to be delivered and assembled, and because there was no way in hell he was even risking getting his sheets covered in anything that could come out of such a tiny human) and getting her into some form of bodysuit that had way too many fucking buttons, Bickslow finally left the bathroom once again with Scarlett in his arms so he could get her fed before she started crying. It was a miracle she hadn't yet.

Except, when he finally made it out of the hall and back into his living room, he stopped when he saw a blonde sitting on the corner lounge in front of the bookcase by the door with a book in her lap. "Right. You're already here," he mumbled again. Of course she's fucking here. Babies, why didn't you tell me she was here?!

When he didn't hear their giggling in his head, and he didn't actually feel their presence in his house, he could only roll his eyes. Lucy was there, but the babies weren't. He just had no idea where they could have gone if they couldn't go and annoy Evergreen or irritate people at the guild.

Lucy smiled as she looked up from her (or technically, it was Bickslow's) book. "Sorry. I only got here a little while ago," she said softly. "Sleep well, I take it?"

"Uh… Eventually, I suppose." It was only when he really noticed the mischief in her eyes did he begin to realise just why he'd asked if he'd slept well. It wasn't because she'd known he'd barely slept at all the night before last, but it was because she'd probably walked into his room to find out that he was asleep. With Scarlett. Bickslow couldn't even begin to fathom what it had looked like, but he couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed about it for whatever reason. "Okay, since I'm going to assume that you walked in on me actually sleeping, I'm just going to say that it was like four in the morning and she wouldn't shut up unless I was holding her, and then I just fell asleep. I didn't actually mean to stay like that."

"It's okay," she laughed, placing the book down on the lounge beside her to stand up. "It was actually really cute and incredibly sweet."

"I highly doubt that."

"Doubt it all you want, Bickslow. I know what I saw, and it was definitely cute."

So, maybe he wasn't entirely doubting it, and he could kind of picture how it would be sweet, but he wasn't going to let Lucy have a reason to use it against him. Not yet, anyway. So instead, he just turned to go over to the lounge and past the dining table covered in bags and boxes still, and with a smirk he said, "You calling me cute, Cosplayer?"

Lucy shook her head as she held her hands out to gently take Scarlett from his arms. "Not when you look like that." Of course, she didn't mean Bickslow at all (not entirely, anyway), but she could have fun too.

"It's the no shaving thing, isn't it?" he asked as his lips pulled up into a grin. He hadn't showered, washed his hair, or even shaved in god knows how many days. He'd seen himself in the mirror – he knew what he looked like, and he definitely did not look even remotely close to cute (or even good) when he hadn't shaved, even if it really only had been a few days.

Sighing, he only began to step backwards as Lucy turned and headed towards the kitchen on the opposite side of the entrance way with her own smirk. "Well, if you could feed her, that would be awesome."

"That's what I was planning on doing," she said, lifting her eyes to look up to Bickslow from where she stood by the counter before he disappeared back down the hall.

He nodded. "Right, yeah… So, while you're doing that, I am just going to go have a shower, and make myself all cute again, just for you. I might even do my makeup!"

"You're an idiot."

"I am. Very much so," he laughed. "Let's hope I didn't pass that on to her though."

---

Bickslow came back down the hall after a little while, dressed in a black three-quarter sleeved shirt with a red band logo he was sure Lucy wouldn't even recognise and dark jeans, clean shaven (not for Lucy, but because he genuinely did hate the way he looked and hated the feel of it) and feeling just a little less disgusting than he had when he woke up.

"So, I believe I…" He trailed off when he actually came out of the hall and looked to the kitchen on the opposite side of the room, and he couldn't keep the laughter in when he saw the scowl on Lucy's face when she glanced up from where she stood over the sink with a cloth in her hand and was wiping it over the front of her shoulder. Bickslow knew he shouldn't be laughing, but he really couldn't help it. There was something entertaining about his daughter spitting up on Lucy, and he really didn't know what it was.

"Is this payback for laughing when she did it to you yesterday?" Lucy muttered.

"It might be," he chuckled as he strode over to where Scarlett was sitting in just another one of the many pieces of furniture and odd contraptions he'd bought the day before – some sort of rocker, apparently, that was easy to move from room to room. "Good job, kid," he said quietly just as he bent down to pick her up, holding her against his chest with a hand behind her head.

Lucy sighed when she dropped the cloth back into the sink and rinsed it out, and she looked back down to her half-soaked shirt. "I need to go home and change my shirt," she mumbled. "I'll probably be back in thirty or—"

"Wait," Bickslow cut her off as he leant against one counter behind her. "You could always just wear one of mine? I mean, it would save you going back to your place to get one, and I'll just wash yours here and you can change into it again before you leave."

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked slowly.

"Lucy, it's a shirt, not a marriage proposal."

She only gaped at the Seith mage as a warm blush crept onto her cheeks. "I-I know…" she stuttered. She didn't know why she was making a big deal over it. It was just a shirt. She'd worn Gray's shirts (hell, she probably wore them more than he did sometimes), as well as Natsu's and Laxus' on a few occasions. There was nothing weird about it in the slightest, unless she counted Bickslow comparing it to a marriage proposal. That was weird. Nodding, Lucy kept her head down slightly and mumbled, "You're right. So uh… A shirt to borrow would be great, actually. Please."

"No problem," he said with a smile. With Lucy following just behind him then, Bickslow turned once again and headed towards the hall. "Anyway." He cleared his throat just as he made it into his bedroom and then walked into the wardrobe joining his room and the bathroom. "I promised you breakfast, so… What do you want?"

"I'm not really fussed, to be honest. Whatever you want is fine," she answered, watching as Bickslow held Scarlett against his chest with one arm, and began to rifle through the hanging clothes in front of him and around him.

"Well… Is there anything you don't eat?"

"Not really."

He raised an eyebrow as glanced at her. "Nothing at all?" he asked.

"Well, I don't like particularly like apples, but I didn't see any in the fruit bowl so I didn't think it was that relevant," Lucy shrugged.

"Right… So how about an omelette or something? Will that be fine?"

"That sounds great," she said softly.

Bickslow nodded, and he pushed the drawer closed he'd been looking through with his elbow. "Awesome," he muttered as he headed back towards his bedroom. Holding the slightly off-white shirt with another group that he was sure Lucy wouldn't recognise on the front of it out to the blonde, he said, "This one should be okay. I haven't worn it for a while since it's a little small for me, so it's clean and all. And uh… You can just put your shirt in the laundry and I'll get to it later."

Lucy smiled up at Bickslow as she took the shirt from his hands. "Thanks, Bickslow." She only saw him nod again before he disappeared out through the other end of the closet and into the bathroom, and presumably the hall to give Lucy privacy to change.

So quickly, she pulled her own shirt off, only letting it drop to the floor for a brief moment as she reached for Bickslow's again and pulled it on over her head. There were no mirrors in that room, but she was sure she looked just a little ridiculous. And granted, it wasn't actually that big – the sleeves weren't all that long on her, stopping just above her elbows, and it wasn't going down to her knees like some of Laxus' shirts had – but she had to do something about how it was sitting. She reached behind herself to gather up the fabric at the bottom and back of the shirt, and she pulled it tight over her hips as she twisted the excess material in her hands, and then tied it in a knot.

Lucy gathered up her own shirt from where it was on the ground, and only tugging at the fabric of Bickslow's shirt in a few places to make it sit comfortably, she finally made her way back out into the living space after throwing her shirt into the hamper in the laundry.

Hearing Lucy come back into the room, Bickslow looked up from where he was crouched in front of Scarlett in her rocker again, and he couldn't really tear his eyes from her as she slowly – far too slowly, in his head – sauntered towards him.

She watched the blue eyebrows raise as she walked into the room, and seeing how his eyes stayed trained on her, she felt a blush creep onto her cheeks. Again. "What?" she asked quietly, wanting to know just what it was that had him looking at her like that.

Well… Apart from the fact that the shirt is apparently see-through and I can see that you're wearing a dark blue bra… "You just look a whole lot better in it that I ever did," he mumbled. And she did. Hell, he'd let her keep the fucking shirt just because he thought it looked good on her. But… In all the time he'd known Lucy, he'd quickly come to realise she looked good in absolutely anything.

That included his shirts, apparently.

"O-Oh… Well, I'm sure I don't since it's at least four sizes too big on me," she stammered, looking down at herself when Bickslow stood up, before she took his place in front of Scarlett as he went into the kitchen to start getting breakfast ready. "So…" she began, crossing her legs under her as she sat in front of the newborn and smiled at her. "Do you know when the nursery furniture will be getting delivered?"

"I think they said around nine for most of it," he answered from the fridge as he began pulling out ingredients. "And then the rest of it will be sometime this week, or early next week after Halloween. But speaking of Halloween…"

Her mouth twisted into a tight line just as his tone changed, and quickly, she said, "No." She knew where Bickslow was going with it, because every year she'd been in the guild, he'd asked her that same question. And given that Halloween was only four days away, she knew it was high time for Bickslow to ask her what she was going to be going as that year.

"Oh, come on," he whined. "You don't even know what I'm going to say."

"I do. You're going to ask if I'm going to the guild party as a cheerleader, and like every other time you've asked me, the answer is no."

"So what are you going as then?"

Her lips pulled up into a wicked smirk as she turned to Bickslow once again. "I would say you'll just have to wait and see, but you can't actually come to the guild party at all now because you have Scarlett and everyone thinks you're out with your team," she teased, watching as Bickslow's face slowly fell when he realised she was right. "So it looks like you just won't be finding out what I'm going as this year."

"And the fact that I can't even go this year is exactly why you should tell me what you're going as," he responded with his own smirk. "I won't actually see you, so I'll just have to let my imagination do the work this year. Either way, you're gonna be sexy as hell, so you should just tell me." He paused just long enough to see her face flush ever so slightly as she looked back down to Scarlett, and then he whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "Give me something to think about at night, Cosplayer."

"That's precisely why I am not going to be telling you what I will be going as," she insisted, doing her best not to shudder at what she pictured Bickslow imagining. Lucy couldn't understand what went through Bickslow's head at the best of times, but when it came to her Halloween outfit for that year… Yeah, that was one thing she wanted to keep out of his head. The fact that he could be imagining her in any number of skimpy costumes was just a little disturbing, though also expected. And to think the man was a father.

She shook her head when she looked back down to Scarlett, and she reached out quickly to poke her tiny nose before she said, "Your father is a very, very strange person, Scarlett. I will truly be amazed if he finds someone willing to put up with him or maybe even fall in love with him, and god forbid actually marry him."

"Ouch, Cosplayer. I have feelings, you know," he muttered, only to lift the knife from the board in front of him and point it in her direction. "And I'll have you know that someone is bound to find my boyish charm attractive… Eventually."

"There's nothing boyish, charming, or attractive about being a pervert, even if it is just a little entertaining at times."

"Ah, says the woman who was technically supposed to marry this pervert. Besides, you do realise half the guys in the guild are actually worse than me, right? You don't even wanna know some of the things I've heard Macao and Wakaba say about you in particular."

She grimaced as a slight shiver ran down her spine. She could deal with what Bickslow said, and what Loke said, and what a few others said… But she didn't think she could deal with Macao and Wakaba. The fact the two were married and had wives (and children!) honestly just frightened her just as much as the reminder that the guild was truly filled with people who had mouths far worse than Bickslow. He was surprisingly tame compared to some. Not a lot, but some.

But he did have a point. She was technically supposed to have married him. Of course, he only knew that because she'd told him, and she was almost beginning to regret it. The guy just couldn't drop it either, it seemed. "No offence Bickslow, but there is no way in hell I would ever marry you by choice."

"Not at all?" She shook her head, and then he asked, "What if asked you really nicely? Pretty please with cherries on top?"

"Strawberries are better than cherries. But no, never," she smirked.

He sighed as he looked back down to the chopping board and went back to dicing up a tomato. "So you're still set on not finding the entire single dad thing attractive?" he asked as the mischievous grin remained in place.

"I am, but…"

"Oh? There's a but now?"

Her eyes shifted down when she felt the heat flare up on her cheeks yet again – something she was finding happening more and more with Bickslow – and she shuffled uncomfortably where she sat. Lucy wasn't even sure why the thought had crossed her mind, and granted, it had been there since the previous day when she'd even brought it up when they were baby shopping, but she was silently cursing herself for adding that damn but.

Steeling herself and keeping her eyes on Bickslow's daughter in front of her, Lucy shrugged and she mumbled, "But if I ever was to date or be with anyone who did have a child, it would probably be you." She paused and cleared her throat before she continued a little louder, her perfectly shaped brows drawing together in the centre. "Not that I ever would, of course. But hypothetically. I mean, you're… Well, you're you, I suppose, and I know that you're not all about hitting on people and you actually are a decent and caring person, because if you weren't, you wouldn't have decided to raise your daughter."

"… Hypothetically."

"Hypothetically," she mumbled again as she nodded. "But nothing would ever happen between us like that, and you know that. I just… I wanted to say that if I did ever find it… attractive… Then it would be because of you."

Bickslow blinked at her. Sure, things never could happen between them, and he was well aware of that – between Laxus and then the two of them just never being able to have those sorts of feelings for each other – but he couldn't help but wonder just why she was saying it. He'd only meant it as a joke when he'd asked, just like he'd been joking when he'd asked if she was one of those people who did find the entire single father thing just a little attractive (for whatever reason – he didn't understand it).

She shrugged when her gaze flicked to the side and she saw Bickslow looking at her, the knife just held in his hand and above the board. "But, you know… I'm sure you'll find someone to actually settle down with when Scarlett's a little older, and when you even want, that is. Someone really is bound to like that boyish charm of yours… Not that I would ever call it that," she mumbled.

He was suddenly pulled from his daze and a wide grin split his mouth once again when he looked back down to the board and began dicing up ingredients again. "So what would you call it then?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe… Bickslow charm," she mused, a quiet laugh escaping her when she realised how absurd it sounded.

"Bickslow charm, huh?"

Lucy shrugged as she looked back to Bickslow again with a smile dancing over her lips. "Like I said, you're one of a kind, so I really don't think you could ever be compared to anything or anyone, or even any of the usual traits," she explained. "Bickslow charm… It would really just be all that makes you who you are."

"So… Immature, arrogant, obnoxious, egotistical, stubborn, player…"

"… Smart, caring, selfless—"

"I'm not selfless," he interrupted.

Lucy smiled as she shook her head. "You are, because you're putting your daughter before you, and you will be for the rest of your life, because that's what it means to be a parent." She slowly pushed herself up from the ground as Bickslow only stared at her with a frown. Standing before him in the kitchen, she lifted a hand just to gently press her finger against the centre of his chest, and she said, "I've known you for a while Bickslow, and even though there are plenty of things I don't know about you, you're still – strangely – one of my closest friends. And what I do know about you is that you are a good person, and you have far more good qualities about you than you do bad ones."

Lucy meant that too, and if someone had told her when she'd first met Bickslow that he really would, surprisingly, become one of her closest friends, then she quite literally would have told them to get the fuck out. Sure, the majority of their conversations over the years had been Bickslow hitting on her (though never really meaning it) and telling her the vilest and most repulsive jokes he could come up with. But occasionally, and especially in the last year alone, they'd had some actual conversations. They were rare, but they'd happened.

On most days though, she still really did hate the jokes and all of that, but she put up with it just because she liked Bickslow. Not in a way that she would ever really consider dating him or anything like that, but as one of her friends. And as one of his friends, Lucy felt like she knew him surprisingly well, even if there really were probably a million things she didn't know about the mostly elusive Seith mage.

What she really did know about him though was that he truly was a good person. And yeah, he had his moments where his ego got a bit out of hand and he turned into an arrogant jerk, but all of those negative traits weren't really what made Bickslow who he was. They were there, and to an extent, they did shape him, but they weren't what was important. It was everything else.

Coming from the kind of family he had, Lucy knew for certain he was a whole lot smarter than he actually looked. He was caring, kind, more selfless than selfish, surprisingly and genuinely charming when he wanted to be, energetic, playful, and then a million other things as well. Even if most people didn't quite understand how he had so much fun with absolutely everything, the point was that he did. He had the ability to make any situation entertaining for himself, and if he put himself up to it, he could for others too. The amount of times he'd cheered her up with his stupid jokes when she'd been depressed in the guild about losing the reward on another job or just having one of those days had been far too many, and definitely more than she'd ever told Bickslow.

He was the guild's prankster and pervert, but that was who he was, and that's what made it his charm. Lucy would be lying if she said she didn't like it just a little bit, just because it was Bickslow and unique.

"But you know I never used to be a good person," he murmured, his frown still etched over his mouth. "You know that better than a lot of people."

"You're not that person anymore though, and I know that. Just like I know that you're exactly who you want to be and no one can ever change that. You said so yourself," she said softly. "And… I know I've said a million times that I really would love for you to stop with the stupid jokes and calling me Cosplayer and everything else, really…"

The corner of his mouth lifted up into a small smirk as he said, "You know that's never gonna happen."

She sighed quietly. "I do know that, and as much as you annoy me and make me question my choice in friends a lot of the time, I put up with it all because I like you – as a friend, of course – and I know that it's who you are and what you do," she continued. Then, as her eyes shifted to the side slightly, she mumbled, "Plus I do kind of like your own brand of charm, if I were to be completely honest. Just because it's what makes you who you are. And… I'm probably never going to say this again, but I am glad you're my friend."

Bickslow looked down to the blonde for just another moment before a wide grin split his lips, and he stepped back from the counter just to open his arms. "Come on, Cosplayer. Bring it in. You know I give the best hugs in the entire guild."

Lucy only rolled her eyes before she stepped forward in defeat, only for Bickslow's strong arms to instantly encircle her and pull her in tightly against a chest as a squeal of surprise left her. Okay, so she might have only hugged Bickslow once or twice before, but she did have to admit, he quite possibly was the best hugger in the entire guild – that she knew of. That didn't stop her from wishing it wasn't happening though.

"Bix, you mind letting me go now?" she mumbled with the side of her face pressed against the top of his chest.

"Nuh-uh," he chuckled, his chin resting against the top of her head. "Not until you tell me you love me."

"Not gonna happen."

"Don't worry. I already know you do, and I love you too, Cosplayer," he laughed again, and he was sure he only got an eye roll as a response from the blonde. Of course, he didn't actually love her in that kind of way, but he did love her. As a friend, and only as a friend. She was as much a part of his family as his team and Gajeel (and technically Levy) were, because they were all the ones he was closest to. Just because he really only tried to make her laugh, he still did care about her, and it wasn't all about pissing her off.

She was one of his closest friends, just like he was to her, and he loved all of his friends. The only difference was that he didn't strictly tell anyone else he loved them – Gajeel and Laxus he pranked or drove them to the edge of wanting to murder him, Evergreen he pissed off then made up for by being an awesome brother and best friend, and Freed he just… Well, Freed he just gave him his peace and quiet when he wanted it and left him alone. Lucy though, he'd told on a few occasions he loved her. Just as a joke, and never ever when Laxus was around.

But with everything Lucy had already done in the last couple of days alone, and with what she'd just said, Bickslow needed to say it, because he did love her. More so because of what she was doing for him and his daughter. Bickslow was going to be eternally grateful for that. Not even giving himself much of a chance to think about it though, he ducked his head to quickly kiss the top of her head, and he said, "Thank you though. For everything, and for what you said. I kind of needed to hear that."

"That's what friends are for," she said softly with a small smile he couldn't see. "But if you don't let go of me soon, I'm going to have to hurt you…"

"You seem to forget I'm like twice your size."

She lifted her head as best she could to shoot Bickslow a dark look that only seemed to make him laugh even more. "And you seem to forget that I've still kicked your butt more than once," she retorted.

Bickslow suddenly blanched when he remembered that the blonde he still had his arms tightly wrapped around – a fact he was quickly realising was just a little weird – was feisty with a fierce kick. One that hurt. A lot. He knew that all too well. Suddenly, he was only grinning apologetically as he stepped back and lifted his hands in surrender. "I never forgot. Trust me."

"Sure you didn't," she giggled, slowly turning and walking back from the counter as Bickslow went back to getting everything ready, only glancing in her direction every now and then as she talked and made faces at Scarlett.

Even though Bickslow knew he shouldn't be, Bickslow was beginning to wish that he could spend more mornings like that. Don't get him wrong though, because he really did enjoy his solitude and it was precisely why he only talked to a handful of people. It was just that he was really enjoying the company Lucy had given him over the last few days when he'd been dealing with everything – finding out he was a father and having to turn his life upside down to actually become one.

Bickslow genuinely liked actually spending time with Lucy, even if it was only because he needed help and she was willing to offer it. He didn't really care all that much that he was still having to behave – for the most part – around her, because it was almost far too easy to just talk to her and not make it all about hitting on her or trying to make her laugh or want to hit him.

And even when Bickslow knew he would never really be without someone there, because he'd have Scarlett with him and he'd never be alone in his house again, he still liked Lucy's company.

---

"You know what?" Lucy asked as she followed Bickslow to the sink with her dishes in her hands. "I think I'm going to have to start coming over here for breakfast every day."

Of course, she only really meant it as a joke, but there was a part of her that would love to have Bickslow cook for her every morning, or just all the time in general. She had most of her meals at the guild, because that was where she spent the majority of her days, and it wasn't really like Mira and Kinana weren't amazing, because they were. It was just that Bickslow was surprisingly good in the kitchen. Far better than she was, at least.

Lucy didn't even care that she was sure she'd made some noises that she shouldn't have when eating a goddamn breakfast omelette; it had just been that good. Of course, Bickslow could only find the whole thing entertaining, because he'd never had someone react to his cooking quite like Lucy had. Then again, he'd only ever cooked for his team and even then it hadn't been very often because Freed was the one who had usually done all of it. The Runes mage was the one with the talent for the culinary art; Bickslow just happened to enjoy it.

But if Lucy enjoyed it so much she'd want to come over every day? Yeah, Bickslow would have no problems with that whatsoever, even if he knew that she didn't really mean it. "I wouldn't stop you if you really wanted to," he chuckled as he rinsed his plate, then took Lucy's from her to clean it off quickly.

"Well, how about for the next two weeks, until your team gets back because I'm sure you'll be fine with everything by then anyway," Lucy began slowly. "I still come back every day, and you make breakfast every morning I'm here. I mean, if you want to, of course."

"I don't mind doing it."

Lucy nodded. "Okay, but… You can't cook the same thing more than once. And that goes for everything else, like lunch and dinner and whatnot. You know, assuming I'm here and not in the guild to make sure everyone doesn't think I'm dead or something." She could only ever go a few days without showing up before her team in particular started thinking about sending out search parties. She had no plans of going to the guild that afternoon, but maybe tomorrow. Just for a little while to see if her team had caused the guild to blow up again or something.

"Deal." He didn't need to think about it at all. He could easily go the next two weeks with no repeated dishes. Well, it would be just a little difficult because he usually stuck to the same kind of foods and meals, but he could do it, and he'd have fun with it.

The only thing he wouldn't have fun with, however, was knowing that it would only be for two weeks. Sure, Bickslow could see himself being a lot more confident when it came to looking after his daughter by the end of those two weeks because of all that Lucy would have helped him learn (with the aid of a million parenting books that were still sitting in some of the bags around his living room), but he could also see himself not wanting Lucy to leave, because even then, he didn't really want her to. And it was just a little strange if he thought about it, because he knew she wouldn't really be leaving – she'd still be his friend and she'd still be there in the guild. She just wouldn't be there… With him.

That, Bickslow didn't even want to think about it. He didn't want to think about how he wanted Lucy to stay so he could spend time with her because it was weird, even by his standards.

But if things would be going back to normal in two weeks, then that would be fine. Bickslow knew he'd be fine, because if anything, he'd be too busy and tried to even worry about the possibility of even missing Lucy's company. Until things went back to normal though, he could enjoy those two weeks, and the challenge she'd given him. "But does that include what we had yesterday, or do those not count yet?" he asked as he dried his hands on a towel.

Lucy hummed in thought for a moment before she answered, "Yesterday counts, so you can't make what he had yesterday."

"Easy."

"If you so say," she smirked. "Now… Have you decided on a colour for her nursery?" she asked, changing the subject quickly. Along with all of the things they'd bought the day before, Bickslow had needed to buy paint for Scarlett's nursery. Of course, he hadn't been able to decide on a colour at the time, so there were currently more than half a dozen tins of paint in various colours – a few purple, one pink, one yellow, and a very dark grey. That one Lucy didn't quite understand, but she wasn't going to question it.

Bickslow nodded. "I like the dark purple." All of the furniture that would be going in there was white anyway, so he could get away with dark walls. It didn't help that he just really happened to like the colour purple.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yup."

Lucy nodded then, and she looked over to Scarlett who has resting peacefully – if she wasn't already asleep – in her rocker after having Lucy entertain her while Bickslow cooked breakfast. "So should we go and do that now?" She looked back to Bickslow who was pulling at the blue roll of tape he'd taken from one bag on the table, then said, "Since Scarlett will hopefully be asleep for a few hours, we'll be able to get at least some of it painted now, and then the rest later today depending on how long it takes us, and then it will have time to dry before we do the next coat."

"Sounds good," Bickslow said with a shrug just as he dropped the tape back into the bag before putting one of the babies' souls into the bag itself, having noticed them coming back as they were eating breakfast. He still had no idea where they'd been, and he didn't think he'd ever know. All they'd said was that they'd had fun, and that, Bickslow didn't doubt.

With one soul in the bag with the tape, rollers and brushes, another two in the tins of paint and then another in the paper from that morning that he would never ever read, Bickslow went over to where Lucy was standing in front of Scarlett in the living and bent down to gently scoop her up into his arms just to put the last of his babies' souls into the rocker itself. Lucy's mouth twisted slightly when they all lifted up from the ground or the surfaces they were on and hovered just above the ground, and she looked back to Bickslow who was only grinning back at her.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked.

"It was," he chuckled lightly. "Why carry things when they can do it themselves?" What could he say? He was surprisingly lazy.

He didn't give Lucy a chance to even roll her eyes (though he reasoned she probably did, he just didn't see it) before he turned on his heels to head towards the hall and the stairs right next to them. With the babies in their new bodies and Lucy only watching curiously as the odd things slowly followed Bickslow up the stairs, Lucy soon followed when she was sure she wasn't going to get hit in the head by a floating paint tin.

Coming up the stairs, Bickslow went straight down the end of the short hall, passing his old room, then Evergreen's room, and the bathroom. His old room wasn't going to work as Scarlett's nursery, just because it still had some of his furniture in it. He'd bought a new bedroom suite when he'd moved downstairs into the master bedroom, and he just hadn't been bothered to get rid of the rest of his stuff like his old bed and drawers. Evergreen's room was at the front and above the kitchen technically, and she had always complained about the noise from downstairs travelling through the floors, so that obviously wasn't an option either. So that left Freed's room, but that worked out because Freed's old room was the biggest bedroom upstairs, and being at the back of the house, it was quieter being directly above his own room. The window on the back wall was almost wall height, and it had a much nicer view of the small yard and the park behind his house, rather than that of the street and the houses opposite. It also just happened to be the cleanest room in the entire house. The only problem with Freed's room was that it had green walls, and Bickslow really didn't want green walls in his daughter's nursery. If she happened to grow up and want green walls, then she could have green walls then – they'd just repaint it. Until she did grow up and could make her own choices for the colour of her walls, it would be up to him.

His house, his purple walls.

Opening the door to Freed's room, he let all of the things they'd need to actually paint the room go into the room, and the rocker slowly lowered itself to the ground in front of a small reading area in an alcove at the end of the hall – an area Freed had commandeered, given it was next to his room – before he gently placed Scarlett back in it. Bickslow was sure it was a terrible idea to have her in the actual room while they painted, but part of him also believed leaving her downstairs where they wouldn't really be able to hear her was just as bad an idea. Hopefully, the hall would be okay. At least that way he'd hear her if she cried and he'd be able to check in on her from time to time.

"So whose room was this?" Lucy asked as she went in right after Bickslow.

"Freed's."

Lucy walked over to the window to look down to the small yard at the back of the house. From the second floor, she could just see into the small park at the back of the house. That'll be good for Scarlett when she's older, she thought with a smile, and she turned back to Bickslow with her arms folded. "Have you dusted the walls at all?"

Bickslow nodded as he pried the top of the paint can off from where he was crouching down in the centre of the room. "I did all of that around two o'clock this morning, actually," he answered. Dusted, washed, fucking vacuumed. He'd done it all just because he hadn't been able to sleep and Scarlett had been taking her sweet time falling asleep. Picking up the roll of blue tape from in front of him, he held it out to Lucy and said, "Hey, can you start putting this around the skirting boards?"

As Lucy began to do that, starting by the door, Bickslow reached for the newspaper to begin taking sheets and lay them on the floor against the walls to avoid getting dark purple paint splatters over the floorboards. It was only when he got up and turned around though to begin on the opposite side of the door – that was behind him as he faced the windows – did he stop and almost freeze in place. Bickslow was sure he should move, or at least tear his eyes way from what he was staring at, but he really couldn't.

Not when Lucy was leaning forward as she knelt on the ground, and definitely not when she was leaning forward so her ass was basically up in the air. Bickslow almost didn't want to look away, because damn it, the woman had a nice ass. Bickslow was sure she had a nice everything, but her ass? Yeah, he could stare at that all fucking day, no matter what she was wearing. Bickslow almost wondered just why Laxus had wanted to break up with her, just because he couldn't understand how anyone would ever want to give up that.

"Bickslow, quit staring at my ass."

He blinked as her annoyed voice brought him from his thoughts of what he'd do with her, assuming he could do anything to begin with, and he finally tore his gaze from the tight denim fabric that stretched over her behind, past the sliver of silky flesh between the waistband of her light jeans and the shirt was tied in a knot at the back of her waist… and up to the pointed glare she was suddenly shooting over her shoulder.

Whoops. He could only do his best to ignore the babies giggling in his head again over being caught (again) before he cleared his throat and quickly went over to the opposite side of the slightly open door and began laying the sheets of paper on the floor. "I-I wasn't staring at your ass," he lied. Obviously. He rarely got caught actually checking someone out, but then again, he was usually in the guild and wearing his visor when he did so, so people could never tell where he was looking. Lucy specifically could never tell where he was looking, because he'd be lying again he if he said he didn't spend half of his time in the guild looking at her. He couldn't help it though.

"Yeah? So what were you staring at?"

"Uh…" Your back? My shirt on your back? Your… Damn it. I just had to get caught staring at her ass. "Okay, fine," he began slowly, only glancing past the door that was ajar as he shrugged. "I was staring at your ass, but in my defence, you have a really nice ass, and it's kind of hard not to stare at it."

Lucy pursed her lips as she slowly moved along the wall on her knees to run the tape along the edges. "Remember my conditions, Bickslow?"

Ah, right… Those… "No hitting on you unless it's in good taste. I remember," he mumbled.

"No hitting on me at all," she corrected. Good taste didn't exist with Bickslow, and what he'd said was definitely not in good taste, even if it was strangely flattering. She really shouldn't find it flattering in the slightest, but she did.

"Right. But… How did you even know I was looking anyway?"

She shrugged as she glanced back over her shoulder as she reached the opposite corner to Bickslow, and the corner of her mouth lifted up into a small smirk as she said, "Because you always are." Despite being blonde, Lucy was far from stupid. She'd figured out Bickslow tended to look at her assets rather than her face a lot of the time – especially when she was walking away – a long time ago. Was it a little weird? Definitely. But Lucy knew it was just as weird that she didn't actually tell him she knew, just like it was weird that she did kind of enjoy it.

At least someone was looking at her.

"You have no proof," Bickslow said quickly.

"You aren't denying it."

"I… Might just happen to look in your general direction occasionally…" The words only barely made it past his lips as he made a point of keeping his head down, just because he was sure he was actually blushing. Blushing. The fact that Lucy seemed to have noticed it had him on edge just a little bit. He'd been so sure she'd never noticed. Clearing his throat just in an attempt to dislodge the damn lump in it, he continued just as slowly and just loud enough for her to hear clearly, "And I might just happen to notice that you… That you're uh… Quite attractive." Oh dear god… What are these damn words coming out of my fucking mouth? "Very much so, actually… And uh… I might just happen to look a little longer than I should…"

Lucy couldn't contain her quiet laughter for very long as her face became just as flushed as Bickslow's. "I think this is quite possibly the funniest thing I'm going to hear all day," she giggled as she slowly continued to mask the walls with the blue tape. The words coming from Bickslow's mouth… They were amazing to say the least, just because they sounded so wrong.

It wasn't so much what he was saying though; it was the way he was saying it because that was not how Bickslow spoke. At all. She knew what it was about too. It was because he was trying to behave, but just hearing him, Lucy almost wanted him to have an outburst again.

"Shut up," he grumbled as he shot a quick look over his own shoulder before dropping another sheet of paper. "But how the fuck do you know anyway?"

Lucy shrugged as she looked to the side when they were on the same wall again. "You tend to notice when someone looks at you a certain way," she said quietly. Then, as she taped the last part of the last wall, she quickly mumbled, "Like the way you look at me… Even though I guess it's not with the most honourable of intentions..."

Like wha—never mind. Bickslow didn't even want to ask that question of himself, because he didn't even want to think about looking at her a certain way, whatever the hell that meant. As the babies began to giggle in his head yet again, Bickslow cleared his throat as he dropped the rest of the paper back in the middle of the room where he had one of the souls in a paint stirrer and he bent down just to pick up one of the paintbrushes.

"So uh… How about you start on that wall," Bickslow pointed to the wall with the door back into the hall as he held out the brush to Lucy. Picking up the short-handled roller, he cleared his throat again and said, "And I'll start this wall." It would put them on opposite sides of the room, with their backs facing each other, leaving no opportunities for him to look at her ass and for her to catch him doing so. Again.

So quietly, they went to their designated walls and started painting them in the dark shade of purple they each held in trays (well, Lucy was holding hers in one hand and dabbing the paintbrush in it when she needed to; Bickslow had one of his souls in his, letting it hover at the perfect height for him to roll some more paint onto it whenever necessary). They worked in silence mostly, only talking about random things every now and then to ease the silence as they worked. Lucy used the brush to do the edges against the doorframe and the skirting boards and the corners, and Bickslow used a roller to get most of the wall itself covered.

It was only when Bickslow came back upstairs after going downstairs to sign for the nursery furniture when it got delivered did Bickslow finally notice that the walls Lucy had been doing were still half green. Not just a little bit green, but everything above Bickslow's head was still the same shade of green that Freed had on the walls. He couldn't help but laugh at it too, because he was only just noticing just how short she was. Of course, the walls he'd been doing weren't much better – the only difference was that he'd just yet to do the very tops, but he'd been planning on going back with the brush to get those once he had the rest of the walls mostly covered, and that point, he did.

Apart from the wall Lucy had been doing when she'd moved from the brush to a roller, because she couldn't reach.

"You're really short," he chuckled as he stood just behind her with his arms folded, watching as she stood on her tiptoes to try and roll the paint up just a little bit higher.

"Shut up," she huffed. "Not everyone is as tall as you or Laxus."

Bickslow shrugged. "Fair point. Want some help though?"

"Please," she sighed as she turned from the wall and held the paint-covered roller out to him, only to see the mischievous grin on his lips instead. He shook his head just as the five totems flew into the room from the hall and lined up just by Lucy's feet, and she looked down in shock before back up to Bickslow. "No. I'm not standing on them."

"Why not? They'll get you up higher so you can reach the top of the wall and actually finish around the door," Bickslow explained.

Lucy gently dropped the roller to the tray by her feet and folded her own arms across her chest. "Because I don't want to lose my balance and fall."

"You wouldn't fall. They wouldn't let you do that." He looked down to the babies who were still in their line formation, waiting for the blonde to step up onto them, and he said, "Ain't that right, babies?"

"Right! Right!" they chirped.

"See? You'll be fine."

Lucy looked back down to the floating totems with a frown etched on her face. It wasn't that she had a fear of heights or anything, because she'd flown over Magnolia with a damn cat holding her. It was just that standing on things that were small enough to sit in the palms of her hands was just a little unnerving.

But… She'd only be a foot or two off the ground, so even if she did happen to lose her balance and fall backwards or anything, she wouldn't have very far to go before she hit the ground, and hopefully, it wouldn't hurt that much. At least she hoped it wouldn't. But if she did fall, she could blame Bickslow if she got hurt, because if he'd just bought the damn rollers with the longer handles or he had a ladder, she wouldn't have only painted half of the wall. Better yet, if she'd just done what she couldn't reach (even though she knew that not even he could reach the very top of the walls, but he was obviously much more at ease standing on even just one of the babies to paint that), she wouldn't have to use them as a platform.

With a sigh, she dropped her arms and looked back up to Bickslow, then said, "Fine. But if I fall, I'm blaming you, not them."

He laughed quietly as he rolled his eyes. "You're not gonna fall," he insisted. "If it makes you feel better, I will even stand behind you to catch you if you do."

"You better," she muttered.

Bickslow watched in amusement as Lucy cautiously stepped up onto his babies and she steadied herself with one hand on the doorframe as she adjusted her footing, making sure she was comfortable on the makeshift platform and just a little confident she wouldn't fall. She really didn't want to have Bickslow have to stop her from falling, especially when she wasn't going to be very far from the ground as it was.

Bickslow let her have a few moments to get used to her new height – something she found quite odd, given that her head was now just a tiny bit higher than the top of the door and she could actually look down at Bickslow, and that was saying something considering the man was almost the same height as Laxus – before he picked up the blue tape again and handed it to her, just so she could actually put it around the rest of the doorframe before she started painting again.

It was only when Lucy was finally finishing painting around the door and Bickslow was turning to pick up the roller from another tray in the centre of the room to hand it to her so she could start on the top section of the wall she hadn't been able to reach did he begin to tune in to the incessant and frankly terrifying giggling and plotting of his babies in his head, and his eyes narrowed as he listened to them all to try and figure out what was going on.

"How good do you think Cosplayer's balance is?" Pappa asked.

Bickslow's eyes went wide as he looked back over his shoulder. "Babies, no. Don't you dare." He was suddenly certain things were not going to end well.

"The better question is, do you think Bickslow will actually catch her?" Puppu added.

Pippi's laugh rang out over the rest of them. "Of course he will. She's his cosplayer."

"If I have to catch her, you're all—" Bickslow couldn't even get out that he would ground them before his own thought was drowned out by their ever growing laughter. And then, just as they apparently decided to rotate themselves all at once to have Lucy lose her footing on them, Bickslow was quickly behind the blonde just as she was about to fall flat on her ass on the hardwood floor and caught her while letting the wooden dolls his babies were in fall to the floor.

When Lucy realised that she was about to actually fall – regardless of the fact it was only a foot and a half – from the babies, her eyes went wide and she couldn't help but drop the paintbrush in her hand, letting it fall to the paper covered floor directly beneath her. She was sure she let out some sort of squeal when she realised that she was slipping as the babies turned backwards, but she didn't even really care. She was either going to land flat on her ass or on her back, because there just hadn't been enough time for her to just try and step or jump down from them.

But then she didn't hit the floor. Instead she hit what she had quickly realised was Bickslow's chest as his arms almost instantly encircled her. Except, in the split second it took to realise that Bickslow had caught her, like he said he would if she were to fall, she also realised that he wasn't bringing her back upright or keeping her upright like she thought he would. Because they were going backwards. Together.

And then Bickslow landed on his back with a thud on the floor with his arms still around Lucy. It was surprising, honestly, because Bickslow rarely lost his balance. But when Lucy had been falling at a very odd angle… He just hadn't been able to right himself from getting behind her just so he could catch her. The only upside was that he hadn't landed on any trays with dark purple paint in them or anything else of the sort. Next to them, but not on them.

Lucy blinked as she slowly came to realise just how they'd ended up, and a heat amassed on her face when she looked out the corner of her eyes just to see Bickslow's face right next to and level with her own, staring up at the ceiling above them and blinking slowly. His arms were still around her waist, she noticed, practically keeping her pinned to him with her back to his chest and sprawled out on top of him, with her legs falling over and between his own and her arms falling to either side of her.

It wasn't exactly a position she wanted to be in, that was for sure. But… She figured it was a whole lot better than her being on the floor. At least Bickslow was a little softer – and a hell of a lot warmer – than the floor, and he was a lot more built than she obviously was so it probably didn't hurt him in the slightest. But she wasn't going to think about how it was strangely comfortable.

Not at all.

She cleared her throat just as she turned her head slightly to the side to face Bickslow. "So… I fell," she stated.

The corner of his mouth lifted up into a smirk. "And I still caught you."

"But then you fell... And I kind of fell on top of you… Because of your babies..."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he mumbled sheepishly. "That wasn't me. That was them being… I don't know. Stupid. Testing my reflexes or something because they can."

"So they purposely made me fall, just so you would catch me?"

Bickslow shrugged from beneath Lucy. "I told them not to do it if it's any consolation."

Lucy looked back up to the ceiling as she let out a quiet laugh – one that Bickslow felt when he failed to notice where his arms still were. "Not really," she said softly as she gently tilted her head to rest on the floor over Bickslow's shoulder, her eyes focusing on the mostly painted wall behind them. "But… Maybe we should get up and finish painting."

Oh. Right. We were painting. "That sounds like a good idea."

But then… Neither moved. Or more specifically, Bickslow didn't move, and he had still yet to realise he was still holding her, and Lucy didn't exactly like that, because now it was just getting a little weird. "Uh… Bix? You mind uh… Letting go of me so I can actually get off you?"

"Huh?" Bickslow only turned his head to blink at her as his brows drew together in his confusion, and then he suddenly lifted his head to look down to where his arms were wrapped around her waist with his hands on either side. Almost instantly though upon realising that he was the sole reason she was still on top of him, he let go of her, his arms going to the side and leaving her free to roll to the side and onto the ground with another laugh.

"Didn't want to let go, huh?" Poppo giggled in his head as they both picked themselves up from the ground. Separately. He'd only forced them all out of their bodies, which meant they were still able to annoy the hell out of him, and that was something he was quickly growing frustrated with that day. It was like they were trying to make things weirder than they already were.

"Shut up," he silently grumbled.

"But you kept your cosplayer safe from the ground," Puppu argued.

"You protected her like the valiant knight you are!" Pippi added.

Their non-stop laughter only grew louder in his head again as a scowl set on his face. Bickslow was honestly glad that only he was hearing the absurdities coming from the babies, and Lucy was none the wiser to it. He was sure she'd be out the door faster than he could apologise on behalf of them if she'd heard even half of it.

Doing his best to ignore the chaos in his head as he usually did, he turned his attention back to Lucy who was once again by the wall she'd been working on before. She was just standing there with her arms folded and looking up to space right above the door she hadn't had a chance to finish with the brush before the babies had decided to test her balance. They were back to not having any way to get the tops of the walls done, and Bickslow was back to not actually wanting to do it for her. It wasn't exactly like he could reach that high either and he definitely wouldn't be able to paint right above the door unless he was standing on the babies (just so he could see what he was doing – he could actually reach it), but he didn't trust them right then, and he sure as hell didn't think Lucy did.

But after watching Lucy stand on her tiptoes for the millionth time just to try and reach the small gaps at the side and very top of the door (failing dismally, of course, because she was short), Bickslow came up with a plan. Granted, it wasn't exactly the smartest plan, but it was a plan nonetheless, and it would prove to be just a little entertaining.

Stepping forward quickly and silently as Lucy kept her eyes trained on the patches of green that had yet to be covered in their first coat of purple paint with one hand on her hip, Bickslow crouched down just enough to pick her up from the ground with his arms wrapping around her the tops of her thighs. Lucy let out a squeak of surprise when she felt herself being lifted from the ground, and in an attempt to grab onto something for stability, she dropped the paintbrush in her hand again as she scrambled to reach for something to grab. Apparently Bickslow's shoulders and tops of his arms were the best option for that.

Turning her head to look down behind her, she saw the playful look on his face as he craned his head back just to look back up at her. "B-Bickslow!" she almost shrieked. "What the hell are you doing? Put me down!"

He shook his head. "Nope. Paint." He gestured to the wall with a tip of his head as he put two of the babies' souls into the brush and one of the trays filled with paint, and they both slowly rose up to be on either side of Lucy. At the look of absolute horror on her face, Bickslow said, "I won't let you fall, because I could probably stand here all day like this, so I won't drop you. But at least this way, you can reach the top of the wall. So… Paint."

"I question what goes through your head sometimes."

Bickslow grinned. "So do I."

And so they painted like that for a while after she gave in to the crazy idea, with Lucy being held up above the ground by Bickslow and a permanently red face, and his forehead gently resting against her back just so he wasn't having to keep his head back and so he could avoid the strain on his neck. It was bad enough standing there and holding Lucy up was actually beginning to hurt his back the longer he stood there, just because of the way he was standing.

After what was probably only a few long minutes where Lucy finished up painting just around the doorframe, Bickslow gently lowered her to her feet. "Alright. New plan," he said as Lucy turned back around to raise an eyebrow at him. Lowering himself to the ground much to her confusion, Bickslow sat back on his heels with his knees on the ground. "Shoulders instead." He didn't know why he hadn't thought of that in the first place (aside from thinking to buy rollers with longer handles or a ladder, or even just a stepping stool, but that was irrelevant then), because it would be much easier that way. He really could stand (or kneel) like that all day if she was on his shoulders.

"Are you serious?" she asked, still slightly confused by the new plan.

Bickslow nodded. "Very. Now come on. It will be easier like this."

Of course, realising that Bickslow really was very serious, Lucy hesitantly walked around Bickslow. She placed her palm over Bickslow's as he held it out to her to support herself, and doing the best she could, she hooked one leg over his shoulder, and then the other. Just as her hands instantly sought out something to hold on to stop herself from falling backwards, Bickslow reached up to steady her with his hands going to the back of her waist.

Bickslow did his best to tilt his head back to look up to her, despite her small hands pulling rather hard on his hair. "You know, contrary to popular belief, I'm not a fan of hair pulling," he muttered as he slowly straightened up, remaining on his knees just because if he stood, she'd hit her head and he didn't want that.

"You… Huh?" Lucy blinked as she looked down, and it was only when she noticed the flash of pain across his face when she involuntarily tightened her grip on his hair when he slowly sat up did she understand. Quickly, she realised how tightly her fingers were threaded through the thick strands of sapphire hair, and she left out a nervous laugh as she dropped her hands to sit over her thighs. "Sorry. I didn't realise."

"Don't worry about it," Bickslow said. "Now, is this better?"

Lucy nodded as she wrapped her hand around the handle for the paint roller as it hovered up to her level with the tray. She leant forward so Bickslow's head was pressing against her abdomen and reached out to begin rolling the dark paint onto the still half green wall, and said, "I'm fine like this as long as you are." The height was fine, and as his hands only moved to rest against the top of her thighs over his shoulders, she realised it was probably the safest option of them all. Bickslow realised he'd have to sit on the babies at some point, but that was still fine.

… Apart from having a ladder. A ladder really would have been great, but Bickslow would have to do. Not that she really minded, of course. Strangely.

"Well, I'm fine with it," Bickslow replied as he looked up just to watch her – of course, he couldn't quite stop himself from lifting his eyes just that little bit more to actually look up to Lucy. Or more importantly, how she was just leaning over his head.

"That's good then." He saw the smile on her lips when she briefly looked back down, and he reflexively grinned back. "But…" she continued then as she placed the roller back in the tray to get more paint on it. "I do just have one question."

"And that is?"

"If you can have the babies' souls in these, why aren't you getting them to paint the parts we can't reach?"

Bickslow's brows drew together as he watched her idly roll the dark purple paint on the wall, and then he looked to the paint tray hovering just beside in front of him. He had to admit, he'd completely forgotten about doing that. It was a brilliant idea to say the least, and it would have saved a whole lot of awkwardness. He'd used the babies to do countless chores, enough so that they really did become a part of his daily life.

Sure, they really could have painted the room for them. Paper would still have to be put on the ground, and the door and window would still have to be taped around the edges so the frames and skirting boards and such wouldn't get covered in paint, but they still could have done it. It probably would have been done in half the time that it was taking them, too. It would have been more convenient.

But Bickslow had forgotten. Honest to god, it had completely slipped his mind, but part of him didn't even care. Sometimes it was more fun to do things himself, even if he wasn't really doing anything right then. He was still having fun though, because even when he was sure his babies were out to make his life a living hell and make things awkward when it came to Lucy being there to help with Scarlett, he was still having fun.

He wasn't exactly going to tell Lucy that the entire reason he'd forgotten what his magic could do was because of her. If anything, he didn't really want to think about how it had even happened, because already – and especially on that day alone – he'd found himself with some very different and unexplainable thoughts in his head. All because of Lucy or about Lucy.

No, he definitely wasn't going to tell her that. Looking back up with his head pressed against her stomach and a sheepish grin on his face, he chuckled, "I might have forgotten, to be honest. But this is more fun anyway, right?"

Lucy sighed as another soft smile sat on her lips. Was it fun? Yeah, kinda. And like she always did, she'd ignore the weirdness and try to embrace the fun side of things like Bickslow always did. "Definitely more fun."

---

Lucy walked into the dark lounge room with her bag over her shoulder, ready to leave for the night. Their afternoon had been eventful, having finished doing the first coat of paint in the nursery with Lucy sitting on Bickslow's shoulders to do the rest of it. Bickslow had started putting together the nursery furniture in Evergreen's room, just so it would all be upstairs and they'd only have to move it across the hall, and Lucy had found out why he had the name Scout stuck in his head. Turns out his favourite book – and the one he had been reading for the millionth time – was To Kill a Mockingbird, which was also one of Lucy's all-time favourites.

By that point of the night though, it was time to head home. Scarlett had been put to bed and she would hopefully stay that way for the next few hours, and like Bickslow's daughter was doing, Lucy wanted to go home and get some proper rest before she came back in the morning. Walking into the room, she found Bickslow sitting on the middle of the lounge with one knee up and his other foot tucked beneath him, and apparently deciding on a movie to watch for the night.

Bickslow looked up when he saw her shadow dance across the floor from the lights in his living area. "Leaving?" he asked, seeing her fiddle with her bag over her shoulder. She nodded, and Bickslow looked back down to folder sitting over his knee with all of his movies in it, just to hide his frown, if anything.

"It's getting kind of late, and there's not really anything I can help you with tonight so…"

Did he want her to leave? Not really. It was barely past eight o'clock, so it really wasn't that late. But she had a point that there wasn't anything else they could do. All Bickslow had left to do was finish painting the nursery, get the rest of the furniture assembled, and then move it in to the room once everything was dry and get it all decorated. All of that he could technically do on his own. As he thought about Lucy leaving for the night, he couldn't help but think about how things would go back to normal for them once his team got back. It was still two weeks away, but two weeks was a long time…

In two weeks, Bickslow knew he wouldn't really need Lucy anymore. In just three days, Bickslow had realised that having a baby wasn't anywhere near as difficult as he'd thought when he'd found her on his doorstep. Bickslow knew that it wasn't always going to be easy though. It was only easy then because she slept so much, but once she got older, it would be a little different. But it still wouldn't be difficult, and he wouldn't need someone babysitting him. As Scarlett would grow, he would grow, and he'd learn and he'd be able to do it all on his own, because he'd need to do it on his own.

He didn't want to have to rely on everyone. He didn't want to have to need other people to help him raise his daughter. He wanted to be able to do it on his own, and look at her when she was older and think, 'Wow, I did a good job.' He wanted her to become someone amazing, and he wanted it to be because of what he'd done. Through all the hard times he knew would come, and through all the stress, and so many fucking tears (he realised they'd probably mostly be his, rather than his daughter's), he wanted to look at his daughter, see the amazing woman he knew she would become, and know it was because of him. He wanted it all to be worth it, even though he already knew it would be.

The only problem with all of that was that he wanted to need Lucy. He wanted her to stay, and not just for a little while longer that night, but beyond those two weeks until his team got back. He enjoyed having her around far too much, and he was almost willing to pretend to be more useless than he was just so she would have a reason to stay; so she would think he still needed her help.

Bickslow knew he couldn't do that though. He had to get her to stay because it was what she wanted to do. He needed her to actually enjoy spending time with him as much as he did with her, and Bickslow knew that tricking her into doing so would be the worst thing to do. But… Bickslow wasn't exactly going to outwardly say that he loved her being there. Not again, anyway, considering he'd already told her that he loved talking to her just the day before. He just didn't want her knowing how much he enjoyed her being there, and it was partly because he just didn't quite understand where it had all come from in the first place.

But even right then, Bickslow didn't really want her to leave. He just didn't know if she would stay if he invited her to. Clearing his throat quietly as he continued to silently search for a movie to keep him occupied, he decided to just get it over with. What was the worst that could happen anyway? She'd go home. "Well… You could always stay?" he mumbled, phrasing it as a question rather than a statement. He didn't want to actually ask her to stay, even for just a few more hours. "I mean, if you wanted to. I was just going to watch a movie anyway, so I know you wouldn't really have a reason to stay… But if you wanted to, you could."

"W-Well, I… I don't exactly have anything else to do, so…" Lucy stammered, and mentally, she was hitting herself in the head. Repeatedly. She hadn't meant to make it sound like staying would only be because she had nothing better to do. In truth, she wouldn't mind staying and doing so because she was Bickslow's friend, and friends spent time together.

Bickslow shrugged. "Just an offer. You can take it or leave it. Doesn't really matter. You can leave if you really want to."

"No, I…" Lucy sighed as a frown etched on her face, and she let out a quiet sigh as she moved forward into the room. She wanted to stay. Gently placing her bag down by the lounge, she sat herself down right next to Bickslow, and she tucked her feet up under her. She barely paid any attention to how her knees were lightly resting on Bickslow's leg, that's how close she was sitting. "What are you going to watch?" she asked quietly as she looked down to folder.

Bickslow couldn't keep the smile off his face as he shrugged. "Not sure," he replied. He wasn't all that fussed, to be honest. He just wanted something to keep him occupied because he didn't want to sleep until the next time Scarlett got up. "You can decide, if you want."

"Nope. I don't really mind, so we can watch whatever you want."

"Suit yourself."

So Bickslow went back to aimlessly looking for a movie to watch. He'd watched everything he owned about a hundred times, just because there were plenty of nights where he hadn't been able to fall asleep. He could only toss and turn for so long before he'd given up and retreated to the lounge room to watch something to keep him occupied, and it was part of the reason Bickslow had never been good with mornings. Sometimes he'd fall asleep halfway through it though, only to wake up on the lounge later in the morning, and sometimes someone would come join him, and they'd stay up all night together laughing at the idiots in his favourite horror movies.

Bickslow really did love his horror movies though. Just as much as he loved his stupid romantic comedies and chick flicks that Evergreen had adored so much (he'd watched far too many of them when Evergreen had stayed up with him sometimes, and they had definitely become a guilty pleasure). If you were to ask him if he cried from watching The Notebook though, he'd flat-out deny it. Always and forever. Evergreen would take that secret with her to the grave, and Bickslow would do his best to make sure of it.

Finally finding a movie, going with one of his favourites, as usual, Bickslow sat back down on the lounge next to Lucy and he crossed his legs beneath him. He didn't even care that Lucy was kind of leaning on him – or his leg, technically. Considering she'd spent the better part of an hour sitting on his shoulders just that morning, he had no reason to care how close she was.

Plus… He kind of liked it. He wasn't entirely sure why though, and he was sure as hell not going to question it.

It was only when the super long and boring backstory to his chosen movie started playing (it was the only bad thing about the movie in his opinion) did he feel a set of eyes on him, and he didn't entirely know why. He looked out of the corner of his eyes to the blonde right beside him and his brow became furrowed when he made out the expression on Lucy's face. She seemed deep in thought almost, and honestly, it was a little scary.

"You're staring," he muttered, blinking slowly as he ignored movie playing on the lacrima screen. "Why are you staring?"

"I'm just…" Lucy pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she tried to think of an excuse. Was she staring? Yeah, she was. But in her defence, she had plenty of reasons to stare. From the uniquely shaped eyes with the one of a kind irises (well, they were distinct to his family and his family only, so she'd learned), to the mark across his forehead and nose that she still had no idea if it was an actual birthmark or something to do with his magic, or if it was a tattoo. Considering he kept his face covered with his visor most of the time, Lucy couldn't not stare, because he just had that kind of face. Lucy actually kind of liked looking at him, as strange as it was. "I only just noticed that I haven't seen you wear your visor at all in the last three days," she said softly eventually.

Oh… Right. "I can wear it if you want me to. I just don't particularly li—"

"No, it's fine," Lucy interrupted. "I know you don't need to wear it, because I've seen you without it on in the guild plenty of times. I just think this is the longest I've seen you go without it."

"Well, I don't worry about it with people I trust, because people I trust know exactly what my magic does and what I can do. And I trust you, so I just didn't see the point in wearing it." He shrugged as he felt her eyes still on him and glanced to the side again. "Plus, I kept forgetting about it before since I kind of had other things on my mind."

Lucy smiled. "Yeah, I can understand that." She could only imagine what had been running through Bickslow's head over the last three days, and she could see Bickslow's forgetting about something she knew he didn't really need. Or at least, he didn't need all the time.

It wasn't like she had any problems with it though. She'd found it was easier to talk to him without it anyway, just because she liked being able to see someone when she was talking to them.

Still, it was hard not to look at Bickslow, and that, Lucy didn't understand. She'd be lying if she said he wasn't just a little attractive in his own way. Sure, he was a little eccentric – in a way that only he could pull off – but he was still kind of cute. And yes, if Bickslow had to have a word to describe him, Lucy would definitely use cute, or adorable; something along those lines. The eyes that were always brimming with mischief and the smile that made her want to melt into the floor on the odd occasion. He was cute. Or at least Lucy thought so, but she wouldn't tell him that. Not ever.

So when Bickslow stopped looking to her from the corner of his eye, Lucy went back to staring. She just couldn't help herself. In the dim room though, with the only light coming from the lamp in the corner at the end of the lounge and from the lacrima screen, Lucy wasn't sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her, or if Bickslow had freckles. Only a few, if they were there at all, and apparently very light. How had she never noticed that he had fucking freckles? If anything, she just thought it was another reason he was cute.

But it was as she looked to what she thought had been a darker one on the side of his nose did she question just how much she didn't know about Bickslow, and how she was only just now noticing a few tiny little details. "Did you have your nose pierced?" she asked incredulously. She knew it wasn't a freckle or any other type of mark, but she'd never seen the man with anything even close to a piercing in his nose.

"I did," Bickslow answered. "Got it done when I got my tongue done, but I took it out a couple of years ago."

"Wait, what?" Lucy sat back suddenly as her brows drew together quickly. "You had your tongue pierced?!" To be honest, she wasn't actually that shocked. She'd quickly realised that he'd been in the habit of sticking his tongue out when he talked or grinned for a long time, so it wasn't all that surprising to Lucy that he'd had a piece of metal in it at some point.

Bickslow quickly turned to look at her in his own confusion. "You didn't know?"

"W-Well, no. Why would I know that?"

"Because my tongue is still pierced, Cosplayer," he chuckled. The movie in the background was long forgotten as he tried not to laugh too hard at the dumbfounded expression on the blonde's face. He'd had it done since he was eighteen (considering he left home right before he turned eighteen), and there hadn't been a single day where he hadn't had it in. And with the amount of times he'd had his tongue hanging from his mouth while he'd been annoying the hell out of Lucy, he had no idea how she'd missed it. "How could you not know that?"

Lucy only blinked at the man as she tried to think of all the times she'd seen his stupid tongue – and honestly, it had been far too many times, and she didn't even want to think about it. But in the years she'd known him, she'd never once known he'd had it pierced. She just didn't understand. "I… I don't know?" she said quickly. As she said it, Bickslow only flashed a quick grin before he stuck his tongue out and held it between his teeth, half of his guild mark visible, and right against his teeth, the ball at the top of the black metal bar than ran through it. "Oh my god. You really do have your tongue pierced."

Lucy didn't understand how she'd missed it in all that time. Granted, it was black like his guild mark, so she figured that was part of the reason she hadn't noticed it.

"I do," Bickslow laughed as Lucy leant back against the back of the lounge, eyes still wide and focused on him. "You learn something new every day."

"Understatement…" she muttered. "But what am I going to learn about you now? Let me guess. The mark on your face is actually a tattoo?" She wouldn't be all that surprised now if it actually was.

Bickslow shook his head. "It's a mark I've had since I was a kid. I'm not stupid enough to get a tattoo on my face. But I do have three."

"You have three tattoos."

He held out his left arm and pushed the sleeve of his shirt up to just above his elbow. Lucy looked down to the dark red silhouette of what looked to be a bird of some sort on the inside of his forearm, right below his elbow – except if anything, it reminded her of the guild mark – and to the scroll at the very bottom of it with the words 'Family is Strength' in a cursive script. "I got this one a few months ago," Bickslow said. "There's an entire story about how my family's name originally used to be Sparrow forever ago, so that's what it's technically supposed to be. But since the guild has always been more of a family than my actual family, I wanted something that would show that, so it's supposed to be a mix between a sparrow and the Fairy Tail mark." He rolled his sleeve back down and dropped both of his hands to his lap as he shrugged, then continued, "As for the quote… Well, you've been in the guild long enough, so I'm assuming you can figure that one out."

Lucy nodded. She understood the quote perfectly, because it almost summed up what it meant to be a member of Fairy Tail. It was the bonds they all shared that made them stronger. They fought for each other, and as long as they were a family, they could do anything. They got their strength from each other.

And to see that Bickslow had been able to acknowledge who he was and his actual family with it as well was something that Lucy loved. Lucy knew he was still on good terms with his family, despite him leaving when he was younger. He'd explained the night before that his parents had gotten over it and forgiven him for it after a while, because they still had their youngest son to take over the company for them once he was of age, and even when he'd been nearly seven years younger than Bickslow (making him fractionally older than Bickslow since he was frozen in time for seven years, much to his annoyance), he'd always been far more interested in the family business than Bickslow ever had been.

"I like that one," she said softly. "But what are the other two then?"

"Uh… I can't show you those."

"Aw, why not?"

"Because you really don't want to see them," Bickslow insisted, though he couldn't help but let the corner of his mouth lift up into a slight smirk. Showing her the one on his arm was one thing, but Bickslow was certain she wouldn't want to know he had red lips tattooed on the side of his ass (his first tattoo at the mere age of eighteen, a few weeks after his birthday, and done at the same time he'd gotten his tongue and nose pierced), and then had 'BLOW ME' tattooed above his crotch (and that one had only been done because he'd gotten far too drunk on his twentieth birthday and Laxus had bet he wouldn't do it, so he'd woken up to a pounding headache, a tattoo right above his dick, and 10,000 Jewels. Even to that day, Bickslow was convinced it was worth it, even if the tattoo had cost more than what Laxus had bet). And sure, plenty of people had seen those two particular tattoos, or even just one of them, and there were plenty of people in the guild who knew what he had.

But Bickslow was truly sure Lucy wouldn't appreciate those. If anything, it wasn't because Bickslow didn't really want her to know about them. It was more of a case he was scared about what would happen to him if Laxus found out she'd seen them. Plus, not to mention that Lucy would probably be mortified.

Lucy laughed as she gently shoved his shoulder, only before dropping her head to rest on it. "Oh, come on," she whined. "Yes I do."

Bickslow shook his head. "Trust me, you really don't."

"Fine," Lucy sighed dejectedly. She was still curious as to what they were, but she'd drop it… For now. She was convinced someone in the guild would know, so maybe she'd just have to find out from someone else what his mystery tattoos were from. Surely they couldn't be that bad, right? Tilting her head slightly just to look back up to Bickslow, she quietly asked, "But why exactly did you decide to get the tattoos and piercings anyway? Was it just because you liked them?" It wasn't an issue of whether or not they suited him, because Lucy realised those kinds of things did. She was just curious.

"Kind of." The movie actually beginning to play in front of them was still lost to Bickslow as he turned to look down briefly to the blonde leaning on his shoulder – something he still didn't mind in the slightest. "I kind of went through a rebellious stage right after I left, I guess. Since I joined Fairy Tail not too long after that, I kind of went a bit overboard since I went from what was basically one extreme to the other."

"Aren't you still a bit rebellious though?" she giggled.

"A little, but I joined the guild right before I turned eighteen, so I was really bad back then," he replied, right before he cleared his throat and looked down to his hands sitting over his crossed legs. He hadn't expected to be telling Lucy what was practically his entire life story, but hey, what else were they going to talk about? It wasn't like he had an issue with it anyway. Apart from his family and his roots, he was an open book. "So uh… Since dating or any kind of relationship was so obviously out of the question while I was still in that world, I tended to experiment a bit when I was younger. Basically why I got my tongue pierced, actually."

Lucy lifted her head slightly to look up to Bickslow again. What does having his tongue pierced have to do with ex—Oh… She blinked in surprise as she sat up having remembered all of the times Cana had slurred about wanting to get her tongue pierced, just for the reaction it would get. "Wait… So you're…?"

Bickslow rolled his eyes. He knew he should have seen that one coming, because it always did. "No, I'm not gay," he muttered.

"Then—"

"I'm not anything, okay?" he answered before she could even ask. He hated labels with a passion, and when it came to those kinds of labels, he hated them even more. He'd just never been one to conform to something and be put into categories. "I just am what I am, and I like who I like. No one ever said I was strictly into girls… Though, if you must know, I do have a very, very strong preference for them. Besides, I have a kid remember, so…"

Lucy had quickly realised Bickslow was far more comfortable talking about his sexuality than she was listening to him talk about it, but she'd also quickly realised she might have offended him which she really hadn't meant to do. "Sorry, I just…" she mumbled as she joined her hands over her lap, her face as red as his eyes, no doubt. "You know, you only ever hear about guys liking it when girls having their tongue pierced, because… Well, I'm assuming you know."

Bickslow snorted. "I've found women like it a whole lot more." It wasn't exactly like he'd been with that many guys either, since he'd just been young and far more reckless than he was then. It had been fun and he'd wanted to experiment with everything, just because he could. But of course, with the handful of guys he'd been with over the years, he definitely knew they really did tend to like the whole having a piece of metal in his tongue thing.

But he'd been with a whole lot more women (the only time he was with a guy those days was if he was drunk enough, bored, had been insulted by the opposite sex far too many times in a short time frame, or just happened to meet a guy that made him think, 'Holy hell, he's hot. Can I fuck him?' It really wasn't very often though), and the vast majority tended to love the fact he had his tongue pierced, and tended to be way more responsive to it. But then again, Bickslow had never been able to figure out of if it was because of him, or for that tiny bar in the middle of his tongue, or if it was just because women were always more vocal when it came to that kind of thing (not that he ever complained). Although, it had made Bickslow wonder if he should take his piercing out just for a little while to see what it really was. He never did though.

Lucy's face could only get miraculously hotter as she slowly dropped her head to lean on his shoulder again. She hadn't once expected the conversation to go that way, but it had. In the space of ten minutes, she'd learned more about him than she had ever thought. Granted, some of those things hadn't totally been all that surprising. Actually, if anything, none of it was surprising.

She could see Bickslow's rebellious stage hitting as soon as he was free, because in the world they'd come from, that kind of thing wasn't tolerated at all. Or at least, it wasn't where her family was concerned. Of course, once she thought about it though, Bickslow having been with guys at some point in his life was definitely something she could see, because like he'd said, he'd never once said he was strictly into girls. She'd always just assumed he was straight based on the stories she'd heard and how much he seemed to flirt with her, but Lucy was quickly realising she shouldn't assume anything about Bickslow at all. So far, all he'd done was blow every assumption completely out of the water and surprise Lucy with who he actually was beneath everything he seemed to hide himself behind for the most part.

But Lucy realised that she shouldn't have quickly jumped to the conclusion that he was in fact gay. After all, he'd only said experiment. And besides, if he had a baby, then he really did have to be into girls too. At least a little bit, anyway (or a lot, apparently).

"I wouldn't know," she sighed as she turned her eyes back to the lacrima screen and the movie playing on it.

Bickslow glanced back down to her as he felt her shift ever so slightly, apparently making herself comfortable on him. "Know what?" he asked.

"What it's like to be with someone who has a tongue piercing," she mumbled quietly. It was true though. She'd never even met a guy who had his tongue pierced until Bickslow (and it really was fitting that he did, she realised), and she hadn't been with any girls, and definitely not with ones with piercings. She didn't know if it was all that it was cracked up to be, but she was suddenly feeling very curious.

"Well…" His lips pulled up into a lecherous grin as he slowly said, "You know I'd be more than willing to fill you in when it comes to that." And oh, would he. Always. "But, you know… You dated my best friend so I kinda can't."

Lucy sighed again as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. Not that I'd ever sleep with you anyway."

"A guy can still have his fantasies."

"You're an idiot."

"But you still love me."

"It's debatable sometimes," Lucy mumbled as she rolled her eyes for what she thought was the millionth time that day alone. Sure, the guy was an idiot, but he was still one of her closest friends, and even if she wouldn't say it, she still did love him. Most of the time.

But… As Bickslow stopped laughing and went back to trying to focus on the screen (he wasn't entirely sure why it wasn't working so well that night), Lucy had a very, very stupid idea forming in her head. She may not ever sleep with him – or want to, for that matter – but she was still strangely curious about how much of a difference having a tongue piercing would make. Surely if they were to kiss, she'd notice it, right? Of course, it still wouldn't be felt like how it was obviously intended to be felt (something that had her face still feeling searing hot thanks to Bickslow's comment), but still…

She sat up suddenly when Bickslow looked back to her thanks to the sudden movement, and an eyebrow arched slightly when he saw the flushed expression on her face despite looking down to her lap. "Well… I mean…" Lucy began slowly as she kept her eyes down. "You could uh… You could kiss me…?"

The problem was that Lucy was suddenly really wanting to kiss Bickslow. She didn't think it would be that strange – she'd kissed people before, and some of those people had been her friends (hell, she'd kissed Levy and Cana in the guild when she'd gotten drunk at one of the guild's infamous parties). It wouldn't be all that odd for Lucy to kiss Bickslow, right? It was just to sate her curiosity, after all.

Bickslow had to do his best not to choke on the air he'd been breathing though. Where the hell was that coming from? Did Lucy really just say that he could kiss her? Bickslow was almost convinced he hadn't actually heard her correctly. "What?!"

---

Welp. It was getting a little long, and I just really wanted to end it there... Hehehe.

So, in regards to how Bickslow is written in this story... Yeah, I'm aware I went a little overboard, but I still think it works (to an extent). I just really couldn't help myself when the ideas just kept multiplying and it became a case of, 'Yes, I must do this! He must have that!' etc.

Anyway. This chapter was a little earlier than expected, but I don't know when I'll get the next one up. You know me, I have far too many stories I'm working on at any given time so I'm not always going to be able to work on a certain one.

Any errors or mistakes, I apologise for as usual. I always get them fixed once I catch the ones I miss.

I hope you liked this chapter though, and until next time.

- April