Brick angrily scrubbed the milk out of his favorite red hoodie, mumbling curses under his breath. Him had come in right after he had taken a bite of his cereal and slammed his stupid red claw down on Brick's shoulder, causing him to choke and cough out the food in surprise. Finally giving up on trying to get his clothes clean, Brick threw the used paper towels at the red man's face. Him barely blinked as he daintily picked up the napkins and tossed them aside.
"I assuuuuuume you know why I'm here, dear boy?" There it was- that stupid, high-pitched, grating voice. Brick was not in the mood this morning. Butch had kept him up the night before with his constant bitching, and Boomer had been absolutely no help. All Brick wanted was to sit and eat a nice, quiet bowl of cereal. He should have known better than to expect that sort of luxury.
"Nope," Brick replied tersely. Him sat down on the other side of Mojo's dining table and folded his claws lightly in front of him.
"Weeeeell, last night I was watching the loveliest little fight between you and dear Butch. When it hit a lull I got up to refill my popcorn, only to find that while I was away you worked up the nerve to ask darling little Blossom on a date. So you can see why I'm upset, can't you? You did something interesting and I wasn't there to see it." Him's voice grew dark and deep at the end of his speech, causing Brick to sit up straighter and set the spoon he was using down on the table. His red eyes met Him's directly as he responded.
"That's not my problem," Brick said. The glorified lobster sighed theatrically and threw himself back.
"Ooooh, believe me, I know. It seems that if I want to truly enjoy this I'll have to become a bit more involved. Which brings me back to your little date. There's sooooo much we need to do, and so little time to do it!"
"Hold up," Brick cut in. "What the hell do ya mean by 'becoming involved'?"
Him ignored the question and continued to speak as though he hadn't heard it. "I went through your closet already, and it was horrible. You would think that having a father with such a wonderful fashion sense like I, some of that would have rubbed off on you. But noooooo, all you ever wear are t-shirts and flannel. I was soooo disappointed."
"Well, we can't all pull off the thigh-high boots like you, pops," Brick said while fighting back a small smirk. Him simply pinched the bridge of his nose in disappointment.
"This isn't a laughing matter," Him snapped in his 'angry voice.' Then, shaking his head and putting on a false smile, he returned to his usual tone once more. "There's sooooo much that has to be done, and I don't think we'll be able to find the time to go shopping."
"What are you talking about? It's not 'til tonight. That's hours from now."
Him sighed once more. "Sometimes I wish I had daughters. A girl would much better appreciate what I'm doing right now. Then again," he said as he sent Brick a wicked smile, "if this goes well, I might just get the daughter I've aaaaaalways wanted." Brick sputtered and choked once more on the cereal he had just so happened to take a bite of at that very moment. Taking advantage of his son's inability to talk, Him continued to speak.
"Sooooo, we have to find an outfit, get supplies, buy flowers, find a place, get your haircut-"
"No," Brick snapped, still coughing. "I just got it cut and I ain't doin' it again."
"That was a month ago," Him said patronizingly. "Now we really do need to get going, or else we'll be too late." The demon-lobster stood and walked over to Brick, setting a claw on his shoulder. "It haaaas to be perfect. You can't mess this up tonight. I really do need a girl in this family to talk to, or else I'll go insane."
"Right, 'cause you're normal as fuck right now," Brick mumbled under his breath as he stood to follow his 'father' out of the room.
Blossom messed with her hair nervously as she looked in the bathroom mirror. There, it was set perfectly. Loose, wind-swept waves of ginger hair swept down her back. It was perfectly messy. Undone. Natural.
It had taken her over an hour to do.
She and Buttercup had been locked in their shared bathroom since the middle of the afternoon. The brunette had joined her for 'moral support', meaning she had spent the entire time lounging on the closed toilet seat and staring at her phone. Bubbles had refused to join them when Blossom wouldn't tell her who the date was with. Every few minutes the blonde found a reason to walk by the bathroom and turn her nose up at the sisters inside.
Blossom continued to fuss over herself, smoothing out her shirt, running her fingers through her hair, fixing an invisible smudge on her face. Buttercup rolled her eyes at the sight. "It's not that serious, Bloss," the green-eyed sister said. "Haven't you been out with him like a million times?"
"It's not the same," Blossom snapped back. "Those weren't dates, you know that. This is."
"Whatever. When are you leaving?"
"Around 6, I guess. I don't really know where we're going, or how long it will take. All he said was to meet him in our usual place."
"Well, if there's food involved, bring me back the leftovers, 'kay?" Buttercup stood and stretched, then sidled past Blossom out of the bathroom.
Blossom let out a deep breath and gripped the counter in front of her. Why was she so nervous? She and Brick had been hanging out for over a month. How was this any different?
The alarm on her phone went off in the other room. It was time to go. Blossom took one last look at herself in the mirror, turning to examine every inch of herself as possible. She didn't know what they were doing that night, so she had just dressed casually and hoped for the best. Knowing Brick, it wasn't likely to be anything fancy. Finally, Blossom left the bathroom and gathered up her phone, slipping her debit card inside the phone's case just as a precaution - if it came down to Brick stealing or her paying, she would much rather take the legal way out.
She slipped down the stairs and had almost made it out the door when she heard her name being called. With an agitated sigh, she turned towards the source of the noise. The Professor was happily trotting towards her, and set his hand on her shoulder once he was close enough.
"Oh, Blossom, wait just a moment. Bubbles told me that you're seeing a boy tonight," the Professor said with his usual smiling voice. Over his shoulder Blossom could see her blue-eyed sister smugly waving at her. Maybe not telling Bubbles wasn't such a good thing after all. The Professor continued speaking as Blossom glared at her blonde sister.
"Anyways, I was just thinking that I would like to meet him. I am your father, after all. So do you think he could come over for dinner tomorrow?"
"Wait, what?"
"Well, you see, as your father it is my responsibility to meet any boy you may be seeing and give my consent to the relationship." The Professor frowned and furrowed his brow. "If that's a problem, then maybe you shouldn't be going out tonight."
"Oh, um, no, Professor. That's not a problem." The Professor's smile returned.
"Good, then tell him we're all looking forward to tomorrow night!"
Blossom nodded and walked stiffly out the door. It slammed shut behind her. What had she just agreed to? If Brick showed up to dinner tomorrow she would be in so much trouble. Her worried thoughts carried her across town and kept her company until she landed on top of her and Brick's usual rooftop. He was already there, pacing back and forth across the stone surface of the building. When she landed he stopped and faced her, giving her half of a nervous smile. Before she realized it, a handful of bright red carnations were shoved in her face.
"I, uh, just...ya know...they were...girls think flowers are pretty, right? Aw, fuck, what am I doing? Sorry, it was just...stupid...whatever. You don't have to take them," Brick stammered nervously as his cheeks began to redden. His eyes refused to meet hers. Blossom laughed lightly and tried - and failed - to hold back a smile at his ramblings as she reached out and took the flowers.
"No, these are nice. I like them. Thanks. So...you clean up pretty nicely." Indeed, he had. His hair had somehow been tamed, his clothes unwrinkled and stain-free, and there was an overall sense of cleanliness about him that hadn't been there before. She had to admit, she liked it. She liked it a lot.
"Shut up," he told her, though a small smile graced his face at her compliment. "We gotta go or the food's gonna get cold, and I ain't heating anything up for you."
"Oh? And just where are we going," she asked. The smirk came out in full and Brick grabbed for her hand.
"C'mon, I'll show you."
They had ended up in the twilit park at the same concrete chess table they had occupied a few days before. This time, however, it was covered in a classic red-and-white gingham table cloth and held two covered plates, a couple of water -filled glasses, and a small softly glowing candle. Blossom found the overall effect to be quite splendid, especially when the plates were uncovered to reveal a beautifully messy pile of spaghetti for each of them. How he had known that it was her favorite food was beyond her - she didn't remember ever mentioning it to him - but she decided it was better to just accept the free food and not raise any questions.
Blossom discovered that Brick had spent much of the day assembling the dinner, and had even cooked the food himself. According to him there had been a special sale on spaghetti sauce that he couldn't pass up - steal one, get one free.
They spent most of their time talking, with the conversation occasionally being punctuated by the slurp of a noodle or the scraping of a fork on the plate. Most of their dialogue was just normal playful banter, until eventually Blossom worked up the nerve to tell Brick about what her father had said to her before she left the house.
"Hold up, you mean your dad, the Professor, wants to invite me to your house for dinner," Brick asked for the third time while roaring with laughter. Blossom shook her head and allowed herself to smile at Brick's reaction.
"I told you, he doesn't know that it's you," she said. "He probably thinks your just some dumb kid I met somewhere."
"Oh, man, I can't wait to see the look on his face."
"Wait, so you're actually going to come over tomorrow?"
"You're damn right I am. I'm not gonna pass up an offer for free food. Besides, it's gonna piss your family off. I can't wait to see it. It's a shame Buttercup already knows, her reaction would have been the best."
They were both laughing now. "So does Mojo know yet," she asked him while taking a drink of water from her glass.
"Nah, haven't bothered to tell him. It would probably kill him. Him knows, though."
"Really?! And he hasn't tried to torture us yet?"
"Alright, this is gonna sound kinda weird - he's totally cool with it. Likes it, even. Says we need a girl in the family, or some shit like that," he told her
"Dang, I wouldn't have expected that."
Their conversation lapsed back into meaningless small talk for another few minutes before Brick cleared his throat and said, "You know what, pinky? I like you."
Blossom smiled. "Thanks, but I kind of figured that out already," she said with a small giggle.
"I know that. Just thought you needed to hear it."
They had both finished eating by that point, and Brick stood up and held out his hand. Blossom looked at it, then up at him questioningly. He rolled his eyes and told her, "We've been over this before. You're supposed to take my hand and get up."
"I know that, I was just wondering where we were going."
"Just walking."
"What about all of this," she asked, gesturing at the table in front of her.
"Leave it. Somebody else will clean it up."
"Brick-"
"Pinky, let's go. We always left a mess behind when we used to fight each other. Why should it be any different now?"
He had a point, though Blossom wasn't sure why it made sense to her. She had been spending way too much time with him lately. With a roll of her eyes she finally took his hand and stood up - something stirred slightly in her chest when she place her hand in his. Together, they began to stroll down the winding concrete paths of the park, talking and occasionally pushing or laughing at each other. Time flew past without either of them realizing it, and with a jolt Blossom saw that the moon was suddenly high in the sky above them. She told Brick she had to go, and they turned back the way they had come. They paused briefly at the table that had been abandoned by them earlier so Blossom could collect her little bouquet of flowers. When she turned to take off, though, Brick stopped her.
"I had fun tonight, little red," he told her.
"Me, too," she responded with a heartfelt smile. "But you know that's not my name."
"Sorry. Old habits die hard." They were inching closer, and Brick's voice had dropped to nothing more than a gravelly whisper. Blossom could feel small goosebumps forming on her arms, and warmth began to rush to her face.
"It's okay. It's better than...um...you know-"
"Are you gonna shut up so I can kiss you, or are you going to ruin this for me?"
"I guess I'll shut up," she whispered back.
"Damn right you will," he told her before closing the last of the space between them.
Blossom and Buttercup had been whispering in the corner of the living room since the moment the former had come home. Bubbles would occasionally send them hurt glares because they were leaving her out, but most of her looks went unnoticed by the two sisters as Blossom filled Buttercup in on everything that had happened that night. The ginger was unable to keep the large smile off her face for more than a few seconds, while the brunette was constantly rolling her eyes. Eventually, Buttercup asked whether or not Brick was going to come over the next day; Bubbles had told her what the Professor had said to Blossom before she left. With another smile, Blossom told the other that Brick had insisted on showing up.
"So he's actually coming over tomorrow," Buttercup asked Blossom once more.
"Apparently so," the pink-eyed sister replied. Buttercup clapped her hands together and laughed as she pictured the scene.
"Damn, that's gonna be great. I can't wait to see what the Professor's gonna do."
"You know, that's funny. Brick said the same thing when I told him," Blossom replied.
"So it's really real. You're actually dating a fucking Rowdyruff." Buttercup shook her head in disbelief.
"Language. And, yeah, I think I am. Haven't we been over this before?"
"Yeah, but...don't take this the wrong way...what the hell? How did this happen?"
"I've already told you that more than once, Buttercup," Blossom replied with a huff.
"I know, I know. Just...damn. That's kinda badass. He's a villain."
Blossom chuckled and shook her head, not bothering to reprimand her sister for cursing. Her attention was called away from the conversation as her phone chimed from the coffee table. She reached out to pick it up and found a new message from the red-eyed boy himself.
Hey, what time am I supposed to be there tomorrow?
Blossom opened the keyboard and responded with: Around 6, I think
A few moments passed, and a new message saying Can't wait popped up onto the screen. Blossom smiled down at her phone before setting it back down and turning towards her raven-haired sister once more.
Brick hadn't been able to sleep at all that night, and the next day passed in an exhausted blur. Before he knew it, 5 o'clock had come and gone, and it was time for him to head over to the Utonium household. Briefly he checked his reflection in a bathroom mirror on his way to the front door. He looked shaggy and unkempt - just the way he liked it. With a smile he ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even more. Perfect. Just what every father wanted showing up on their doorstep.
He dropped his hat onto his head as he walked down the hall and out the door, not bothering to say goodbye to his brothers. They both thought he was insane for doing this anyways. Butch and Boomer had been laughing at him all day, and commenting on how only a fucking idiot would just walk into the Powerpuff's house. Call him stupid, then. He was on his way over.
The flight there was quick and easy. Knocking on the front door, though, was much harder. Brick knew he looked dumb, just standing there in front of the house, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to knock. He took a few calming breaths; what the hell was he getting so nervous about? It wasn't like he could make a good first impression or anything. He already knew Blossom's family didn't like him - there was too much bad blood between them already. So why was he getting so nervous?
He shook off the feeling. Fuck it, he didn't care what they thought. All that mattered was that he show up for Blossom. Besides, this should be fun. He assembled his face into its usual cocky expression and raised his fist to the door. After a minute of insistent knocking the door swung open to reveal Blossom, who gave him a nervous half-smile. "Hey, I was starting to think you weren't going to come," she told him. He laughed lightly and invited himself in.
"Wouldn't miss this for the world. Nice place," Brick said as he looked around the living room. It was just him and Blossom at the moment.
"Thanks. You really don't have to do this, you know," she told him as his eyes finally settled on her.
"Babe, you know that I do," he said, and shot her a smirk. He could see her face flush slightly as her eyes ducked away from his.
"Don't call me that," she mumbled. He let out a snort of laughter, and stepped forward to wrap an arm around her waist and set his forehead against hers.
"Why not? It's better than Pinky, isn't it? Besides, you know you like it."
Blossom was spared of replying by the entrance of the Professor, who swept into the room wearing a pink apron over his lab coat and carrying a steaming casserole dish.
"Blossom, dinner's about ready. When will...your..." The Professor's mouth dropped, and the casserole dish tipped over dangerously in his hands.
"Wait, is he here, is he here?" Bubbles shot into the room behind the Professor, but stopped short at the sight of her sister standing so close to Brick. Blossom pulled away from him and looked down at the ground. Brick, however, put on the biggest, most arrogant smirk he could muster and stepped forward with his hand outstretched to the Professor.
"Hey, I'm Brick. Brick Jojo. But you probably already figured that out."
Sorry it took me a little longer to update this time. There was this one awful moment where I was about 1,000 words into the chapter, when my computer froze and reloaded before I had saved a single word of it. Needless to say, I was a little bit upset. A few days later I had written about half of this, but I wasn't sure how to end it. Then, when I finally figured out what I wanted to do, I logged on to find that Mrs. RoseGold had updated "Lycan", and I couldn't do anything until I had caught up with that. I ended up re-reading most of it, just 'cause it's that freaking good. Let me tell you, that girl can write.
Also, sorry about any and all typos in this chapter. It's after three in the morning right now, and somehow it's becoming kind of hard for me to tell the difference between 'there, their, and they're'. For some reason, I work better in the dark - or at least I think I do. Most of what I write happens at night, and I almost always have to go back in the morning and edit out mistakes that I swear were not there (their? they're? thare?) the night before. If you're reading this before that happens, I'm so sorry.
Anyways, updates might be a little bit slower over this month. I want to spend a little more time with Overcoming Obstruction, and I have a couple other things that I'm working on as well. There's quite a bit that I want to get done before school starts up again.
As always, thank you all so much for all the feedback and support that I've gotten. It really means a lot to me. Until next time!
-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-
