21. Long kiss
For @blanania, who goes above and beyond what is necessary to make the fandom a more creative, wonderful place to be. This fic takes us back to the very core of Bixanna, which is often lost to pointless ship wars.
;Cupid’s Arrow
“Do you think their date is going well?”
Bickslow flicked his gaze past Lisanna to the open spread of blankets in the distance. Any minute now Elfman would walk Evergreen to the spread, where they would sit together in the company of blossoming wild flowers. Magnolia was especially beautiful in the spring time and, with Bickslow’s guidance and Lisanna’s planning, Elfman would utilise that beauty – the flowers, the crisp afternoon air, the lingering scent of morning rain – and win Evergreen’s heart for good.
Not that he needed the help.
“Evergreen just needs a little shove,” Bickslow said, hunkering down behind Lisanna to get a look at the empty space.
“How many weeks has it been now?” Lisanna mumbled, leaning against his side to peer around the tree where they hid, watching and waiting like clumsy cupids waiting to pierce Evergreen with the metaphorical arrows brandished at their waists. “Big brother hasn’t made any progress yet.”
“Six? Seven?” Bickslow chortled. “I lost count.”
Truth be told, Bickslow hadn’t been counting for a while now.
Lisanna pursed her lips. Bickslow found himself temporarily distracted by the swell of her inflated cheeks and the sheen of gloss she had yet to lick from her bottom lip. Balancing the palm of his hand against the trunk above her head, Bickslow leaned down to get a better look at the spread.
“Maybe they’re not coming,” Lisanna sighed. “I mean, maybe Evergreen decided to do something else. Elfman would never refuse her.”
“They’ll be here,” Bickslow said. “He gave his word as a man that he’d follow the plan.”
Bickslow glanced down at his partner in crime to find her staring up at him, blue eyes wide and glistening with the wonder of his confidence. “You think so?”
“Of course. Besides, I have my ways.” Bickslow gestured to where his babies, twirling around in the breeze, hovered in the treetops in the distance. They were watching Elfman approach the park.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Lisanna said. Her smile tightened his chest. He’d gotten so used to spending this time with her, to pursuing their mutual goal of helping Elfman and Evergreen find peace in their clumsy relationship, that he’d left himself vulnerable to Lisanna’s charming and kind-hearted disposition. He remembered the day she “died” clearly in the back of his mind, the flash of panic and upset it had caused in the guild. The confusion. At the time, Bickslow had reserved himself to the Raijinshuu and nothing else. He cared only about Laxus and about his close-knit group.
Now, Bickslow wore his heart on his sleeve. They’d spent all this time strengthening the love of their friends that he’d left himself vulnerable to emotions of his own. So absorbed in her brother’s affairs, Lisanna had yet to fully grasp the extent of his feelings. She didn’t seem to realise that he tagged along for her company now, not their plans. Evergreen didn’t really need his help. Things with her and Elfman were more than great. In fact, according to Freed and the books he’d loaned her, things were spectacular between the two.
So what was he waiting for? “Hey, Lis?”
“Yeah? What is it?” she tipped her head back to look at him, strands of hair tumbling back behind her ears.
He couldn’t take this any more. He had to know. He needed to know if his feelings were misplaced; if he needed to pull the arrow out of his back and wash away the taint of festering affection that revelled in the light of her eyes, the shape of her smile, and the glowing flush of her skin.
Lisanna eyed him suspiciously. “Why? What did you do?”
Bickslow laughed at that. “Just do it.”
She turned to sit with her back against the trunk of the tree, her eyes never leaving the face of his visor. Crouching down to her height, Bickslow lowered his hand from the thick trunk to her shoulder, where it seemed to possess every inch of her skin.
“Bickslow? Are you okay?”
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” she asked. “Of course I do.”
Lisanna’s mouth opened in surprise as he opened his visor and stared into her eyes, allowing every spark of magic, every pull of affection, to overcome him. She didn’t flinch away from the embrace of his eyes, nor did she dare to blink.
“Are you okay?” she asked, reaching out with one hand to brush a fingertip against his cheek.
“I’m fine.” His smile widened to expose teeth. “Great, in fact.”
“What’s gotten into you? Just this morning you were joking about leaping out and scaring Evergreen into Elfman’s arms and now you’re completely distracted.”
“I don’t really care much what Ever is doing right now. She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.”
“O-oh, I know that,” Lisanna said. “I mean, of course she can.”
“W-what? But I don’t mind if you–”
“I know. That’s why…just do it.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned back against the tree, drawing her knees to her chest as a sudden rustle of wind tangled its way through her hair. Bickslow took her face into his hands and leaned in to kiss her lips for the first time. Her eyes snapped open to meet his an Bickslow flinched at the weight of surprise in her gaze.
“Bickslow?” she whispered, her breath hot against his lips.
“I think,” he started, brushing his lips against hers once again, “they’re the ones who’ve been playing us.”
Lisanna hesitated a moment before closing her eyes and snaking her arms around his neck. She initiated their third kiss, kissing him with a gentle sort of passion that tingled in the deepest reaches of his soul. All his life he’d taken the souls of others, had control over their actions, their feelings. Now, it was his soul being stolen and manipulated by another. In that moment, he would do anything she asked him to.
Their kiss went on for a while, the quiet of the wind and the occasional hum of footsteps never once pulling them from their embrace.
“My, my,” an all too familiar voice said from behind them. “No wonder your attempts at stalking us have been so poor of late.”
Bickslow glanced back over his shoulder to find Evergreen, arm draped around the inside of Elfman’s elbow, glowering over them suspiciously.
Bickslow cleared his throat. “How was your date?”
Evergreen smiled and nudged the bridge of her glasses with the tip of her index finger. “Not as good as yours, apparently.”
