While We Our Vigil Keep

Hey there. Want to go shopping with me?

Butch wielded his controller in one hand and texted Leigh back with the other. For what?

I need some winter clothes and you have that ski trip next week, right?

Oh yeah, that thing he was really looking forward to. His snowboard had been leaning against the door of his closet since Brick told him about it last month. It was ready to go but he'd outgrown most of his gear. He set his controller aside to type properly. Sounds good. Where you at?

Pulling up to the hotel.

Thanks for the warning. Butch hurriedly threw on some clothes since he'd been gaming in his underwear, content to stay that way all day. Between football games, practices, and Leigh he didn't get many opportunities to relax. "Goin' to the mall, see you guys later!" he relayed to his brothers on his way out, receiving grunts of acknowledgement. He opted to ride the elevator down instead of taking the roof exit since the outside temperature had drastically lowered. "Sup," Butch greeted while claiming the passenger seat of Leigh's periwinkle coupe. He was almost too large for it.

"Hey," she replied just as casually. "I got this flyer for a shop that just opened. They should have sports gear for you and casual wear for me." He found that agreeable. The mall parking lot was totally packed, forcing them to head to a garage a few blocks north. Leigh shivered when they got out of the car. "This sucks! We're so far away and it's freezing!" Butch simply picked her up and took to the air, landing on the food court balcony. "Well that was easy," she laughed. "Thanks."

"No problem, babe," he returned.

Leigh looked thoughtful. "I can see how the flying thing would take a lot of inconveniences out of actual dating. You could see each other whenever you want, go wherever you want to go."

"Guess it's a good thing we're not dating 'cause someone won't let me see her whenever I want."

His comment earned a playful nudge. "Excuse me for having a busy life, mister. And don't even try telling me you're still thirsty after yesterday."

Butch placed an arm around her shoulders so he could maneuver them both through the crowd of shoppers; being big and buff gave him an advantage in that regard. "Parched, actually. You should come back to my place when we're done here."

She rolled her eyes, smiled, and said, "We'll see." That usually meant yes. "There's the store I think, Vail Side." They stopped to observe the window displays, but while Leigh scoped out the clothes on the mannequins Butch's gaze went straight to the background images. "Hey, is that Buttercup?" she asked. As if the Puff could be mistaken for anyone else. "She must've modeled for this company, how cool!" Buttercup wore a different outfit in each shot, showcasing the many styles and colors to choose from. Butch admired a particular poster in which she stood with one hand on her hip and the other holding a snowboard, wearing black low-rise pants, an unzipped black jacket, and a teal bra with a snowflake in the center. There was a matching beanie on her head and she gave the camera her signature smirk. "Her abs are goals, honestly," Leigh remarked. "How do you even get a body like that?"

"Yours is perfect, babe," Butch said, glancing away. All of a sudden he felt ashamed.

"Hah, thanks. I'm on the 'I never have time to eat' diet. Still…" She gave the mannequin another once-over. "That bra is super cute and I want it. Let's go." Butch bought the gear and accessories he needed and regrouped with Leigh, who had not made it out of the undergarments section after twenty minutes. "I want all these colors!" she lamented. "Which one should I get?"

"Pink," he suggested.

"But I like green…"

"Then go with that."

"Hmm. What about the teal one?"

Butch shook his head. "I don't like that color."

Leigh side-eyed him while returning the microfleece bra to the rack. "Why, because Buttercup wore it? Don't you have a thing for her?"

"'Course not," he refuted.

"Uh huh. If you think I haven't noticed that giant poster above your bed then you really are a dumb jock." There it was again, guilt gnawing at his insides. "It doesn't bother me since I can't see it when I'm on top. Besides, Buttercup is hot. Everyone knows that."

Yeah, everyone knew that, especially Butch because he got to watch her body move each day in P.E. Even without Chemical X she still ran faster, threw farther, and endured longer than any of their peers, pushing herself to the limit no matter what activity they partook in simply because she could. How did Buttercup get a body like that? Through a combination of selective genetics and rigorous hard work. Leigh would never achieve that physique regardless of how hard she trained because her DNA didn't permit it. But as Butch said, he liked her the way she was.

She came up to his room under the pretense of helping him put away his purchases. As soon as the door closed he got everything but her shirt off and held her against it, slender legs wrapping around his waist. Did Butch have a thing for Buttercup? Absolutely, but Leigh was sexy, smart, and good enough that he could suppress his true feelings, feelings that Brick and Joey said he wasn't allowed to have in the first place. Butch wasn't supposed to admire and respect Buttercup, and he knew it was wrong to fantasize about her while fucking Leigh. He floated above the floor while they savored the afterglow. "I'm ruined for sex forever," she said with a happy sigh. "I know I won't find someone better than you when I go off to college." Right, their arrangement was only temporary. If they got bored or kept at it until she graduated they'd still end up going different directions in life. It wasn't meant to last.

They made themselves presentable and went downstairs where Butch felt the intensity of Brick's judgmental stare on his bare back. Leigh kissed him at the threshold, bidding him goodbye until next time. Brick waited a beat before laying into him. "Didn't I ask you to keep the noise down when your girlfriend is over? It sounded like you were committing murder up there."

"Just slayin' that pussy, Bro," Butch retorted, "and she's not my girlfriend."

"What else do you call someone you regularly have relations with?"

"A fuck buddy, duh." He thought for a second. "If we really were loud I won't do her against the door next time." Brick made an expression of distaste as Boomer snickered quietly. Their brother was so innocent. "You need to get laid," Butch said before grabbing a soda and returning upstairs.

Brick scoffed. Getting laid wouldn't make his CAD homework any easier. Even if he decided to lose his virginity to someone while his brothers remained in the vicinity, which was never ever going to happen, he'd still have the decency to be quiet about it.

Getting the majority of the junior class to the ski resort had gone as smoothly as Brick expected. The teachers chaperoning lauded his efficiency when it came to wrangling a few hundred students. Room assignments, meal plans, and lift access had already been taken care of, so all the adults needed to do was make sure no one wandered off or disrespected the facility. After getting settled Brick claimed a sofa and buried his nose in a book. Butch, Boomer, and Buttercup hit the slopes right away, and Bubbles persuaded Blossom to partake in makeovers. Their small group decided the wool rug in front of the fireplace was the best place to do this, disrupting Brick's concentration with their gossip. He grunted in annoyance and threw an arm across his face.

"Want something done, Brick?"

He lifted his limb to find Bubbles smiling at him. "What?"

"Want a manicure, pedicure, or a facial? We have all the tools."

"I'm a guy. I don't do those things."

She waved off his misgivings. "Getting pampered isn't a threat to your masculinity or whatever. C'mon, let me at least clean up your nails. There's nothing worse than shaking hands with a guy with scraggly nails."

Brick examined them; they were a bit uneven. "Fine," he consented, moving from the sofa to the rug. Bubbles sat cross-legged opposite him and rubbed some oil on his cuticles. Her hands were soft so he didn't mind the contact. Nearby, Julie gave Susie a glamorous makeover, Robin painted her own toes, and Wes prepared to braid Blossom's hair. She usually wore it up in a ponytail or messy bun so Brick had never seen it down and loose, but it was almost long enough to cover her entire back. It looked sleek and shiny, not a single strand out of place, and was a few shades lighter than his but darker than Julie's bright orange curls.

As Bubbles worked on his nails the fellow redhead scooted over, scrutinizing his features. "You really have amazing facial structure, Brick," Julie said. "Don't you think so, Bubbles? Just look at this brow, this jawline, these cheekbones…"

"He does have nice features," she agreed.

"Some highlights and bronzer would make you look so fierce." Julie sighed wistfully. "And these lips, ugh. Full boy lips give me life." He had no idea how to respond to that. "You should let me tint them, I have the perfect shade. Pleeease?"

"Just say yes, Brick," Wes spoke over his shoulder. "They're artists and you're the canvas now."

"Exactly. What do you say?" With a groan he permitted the girl to do her thing.

Later that night as students returned from their activities to have dinner, Brick sat at a shadowed table in the far corner where hopefully no one would bother him. He made an exception for Blossom when she set her plate down. "Thanks," she said after a minute.

"For what?" Brick wondered.

"For being a good sport about the makeup. Julie has a huge crush on you."

"So I've heard." His eyes flicked over Blossom. "Your hair looks pretty like that." She smiled and brushed the pale aqua ribbon Wes had woven into her braid. "Whatever happened to that red bow you used to wear?"

She shrugged. "I outgrew it, I guess. And I kept my hair short for a while so I no longer needed it. What happened to your baseball hat?"

"Got too small," he answered simply.

"So you replaced it with trilbies and newsboy caps, hm? It seems like you wear a different one every day." Brick prided the fact that Blossom noticed his outfits. "Are you going skiing or snowboarding tomorrow?" she inquired.

"Neither. I don't do cold."

Blossom regarded him skeptically. "Then why did you come to a ski resort if you're not going to have fun?"

"I don't need to hang out with other people to enjoy myself," Brick replied.

"For someone who prefers solitude you've planned a lot of group activities this year."

"Just upholding my position."

She planted her chin in one hand to study him. "Why did you run for student council president, really?"

"Being in charge of others is something I do well," Brick explained. "I managed my brothers for ten years so I think I'm qualified to make decisions regarding entertainment for our class."

"I see," Blossom said, and really she saw a lot more than he revealed. "Go skating with me, then."

"As in on ice? No thank you."

"Come on, it's not difficult or very chilly." The way she stuck out her lower lip did him in. "Please?"

"Fine…" he agreed, heaving a great sigh. "But if I fall more than five times, I'm done."

Blossom smiled broadly, beatifically, sending color to his cheeks. "If you listen to my instructions, you won't fall at all."

Brick returned to the room he shared with his brothers; Boomer was editing some videos he'd taken while Butch brushed his teeth. "Did you two eat?" he asked, since he hadn't seen them in the restaurant.

"Uh huh. There's a bar 'n grill at the top of the mountain." Butch leaned in close. "Dude, are you wearin' makeup?"

"A little," he admitted.

"Why?"

Brick smirked. "Because I have amazing facial structure and I look fierce."

Butch considered his own appearance in the bathroom mirror. "Do I have amazin' facial structure?"

"A bunch of cheerleaders think so," Boomer supplied.

"Awesome. Wanna hit up the terrain park tomorrow?"

"Can't, I'm going skating with Bubbles." Brick felt somewhat better upon hearing this. At least he wouldn't be the only one making a fool of himself.

"You suck," Butch said, flopping onto his bed. "How can you choose a girl over your own bro?"

"Easy– she's cute and you just want to show off. And don't even come at me with that crap when you've blown us off for Leigh at least five times already."

Boomer had a point there, but when Butch had to make a decision between lounging around with his siblings or using Leigh to satisfy his increasing need for action, the choice was pretty damn obvious. Thankfully he could spend the whole weekend shredding powder. He didn't dwell on missing out on nookie until he took a lift to the terrain park where he saw Buttercup adjusting her boots. She wore headphones over her beanie, oblivious to the group of guys staring at her with varying emotions. Butch joined them, fascinated by the tight thermal top hugging every line of her sculpted physique. When she stood up to stretch he exuded an appreciative noise.

Joey scowled at him. "What was that about?"

"Uh, nothin'." Butch rubbed the back of his neck. "We gonna get out there or what?"

"Yeah, sure, I just wanted to watch Buttercup fall on her ass first." Only she didn't do that, sliding along a few rails and landing some jumps with ever-present finesse. After a couple hours of dicking around Joey sat in the snow to watch her make another flawless run, performing tricks their friends had spent all morning attempting to master. "She's such an attention whore. I wish she'd just leave already." He faced Butch. "You should do something."

"Like what?"

"Run into her, fuck up her shit. Make it seem like an accident."

Butch frowned. "Why do you wanna mess with her when she's not botherin' anyone?"

"She bothers me, and I want you to mess with her." Joey flashed his charming smile. "Challenge her to a race or something."

Butch waited until Buttercup returned via the rope tow, waving to get her attention. She removed her headphones and quirked an eyebrow. "Hey, your moves're pretty sweet. Can they handle some competition?"

Her eyes shifted between the two boys. "What do you want?" she asked, rightfully suspicious.

"Just to see if you've got more than that. How 'bout I lead and you follow?" Butch suggested.

Buttercup smirked. "Sure. Anything you can do, I can do better." She ignored the derisive snort from Joey and indicated for Butch to go ahead, tailing him down the slope. She mimicked his stances, slides, spins and grabs without fail. After running out of obstacles he came to an abrupt halt instead of angling toward the rope lift. Buttercup plowed into him, sending them both skidding down the hill, and when it finally evened out many feet later Butch found himself sprawled atop her.

He pushed himself up, cringing. "Okay, that was my bad…" He trailed off upon realizing that instead of being angry, Buttercup was laughing. He had never seen or heard her laugh before. The sound was soft and slightly raspy, and she looked genuinely happy. Her eyes glittered with mirth when they finally opened, giving her the semblance of a mischievous pixie. His heart skipped a beat.

"What'd you do that for, stupid? I was literally right behind you."

"I dunno, sorry."

"It's whatever." Buttercup's smile faded as Butch continued staring at her. She placed her hands on his chest to push him away yet hesitated upon feeling his rapid pulse. It wasn't like he exerted a lot of energy on their little game, right? "You okay?" she asked. He nodded once. "Then get off." Her voice lacked much conviction so she tried again. "Let me up." His shook his head, gazing at her with something akin to reverence or, dare she conceive the word, affection. "Dude, come on…"

Butch almost kissed her then. Those three words were like an invitation, her lips a mere three inches away. Her body felt so good beneath his, perfectly fitted like they were made for one another, pieces of a larger puzzle comprised of a plush bed, downy blankets and dim lighting, bare skin and sweat and breathless commands for him to do things that made her shudder and gasp, pull him closer, hold him tighter, moan his name just before she—

"Butch." The firm tone snapped him out of his reverie. Buttercup now glared at him. "Get the fuck off me." He sat back on his knees while she reached forward to unfasten her bindings, then she rose to her feet with her snowboard under one arm. She seemed a bit conflicted but said nothing else as she marched up the hill. A minute later Joey and Lloyd appeared.

"That crash was gnarly. You all right?" the latter inquired.

"Yeah," Butch assured. They hauled him upright where he adjusted his pants. He needed Leigh badly but she'd gone away from Townsville for the weekend. He could text her to find out where, fly to her, but his hand refused to reach for his phone. He didn't want her, he wanted the girl who must no longer despise him if he'd been able to make her laugh like that. He wanted to whisk Buttercup away to his empty room, rip those brand-new clothes right off, and leave her incapable of walking or thinking straight. "Fuck…" he grumbled, stepping off his board before lifting into the air.

"Hey, where're you going?" Joey called.

"To get somethin'. Watch my stuff." Butch shot across the treetops while his friends shared a confused glance.

Boomer and Brick stood at the edge of the skating rink watching their female counterparts make gliding across ice on metal blades seem as easy as walking. Robin was there too, occasionally grabbing onto one of them to spin in a circle. "C'mon, guys!" she beckoned. "Get in here already!" Bubbles came over and held out a hand for Boomer that he shakily accepted. Blossom took a less delicate approach, speeding toward Brick until turning sideways at the last second to spray him with ice. He winced as shavings landed on his cheek.

"Ready?" she beamed. "We'll start with the basic position. Bent knees, arms out to the sides, tight core. Don't arch your back." Brick strongly disliked feeling as if his feet would slide out from under him at any moment, but thanks to Blossom's teaching methods he didn't fall, and soon he could move around without clinging to anything. She let him get the hang of it while practicing her own spins and jumps.

Blossom was like a different person on the ice, totally in her element. Brick had never seen anyone enjoy something as much as she appeared to enjoy figure skating. Although Bubbles moved gracefully and daintily like one would expect of a ballerina, there was an inherent effortlessness to her sister's motions since she never second-guessed herself. Brick and Boomer applauded when she landed a double axel. "That looked great!" Robin praised as she returned from the far end.

Blossom wrinkled her nose. "That wasn't great. I needed more height." Robin and Bubbles both rolled their eyes. "Did you show them how to skate backwards yet?"

"Maybe if someone would stop falling we could work on swizzles and wiggles!" Boomer smiled sheepishly since he tended to take Bubbles down with him more often than not. "New plan, Robin. We'll hold him up together."

Blossom watched them go around the oval with a critical eye. Any time Boomer tried shifting his weight he fell, but at least they laughed it off. She waved them back over to a bench. "You keep falling because you don't have proper ankle support. Sit." She swiftly retied his skates.

Bubbles pouted. "That's my fault, I should've noticed. Now let's swizzle!" She helped Boomer along while Blossom tried coaxing Brick into copying the movement, but he refused on the grounds that it looked ridiculous.

"Come on, stop being a butthead." She demonstrated the O-shaped glide while he stood with his arms crossed. "Every beginner learns how to do this."

He raised an eyebrow. "Did you just call me a butthead?"

Blossom lifted her chin. "What are you going to do about it, hm? It's not like you can come get me."

Brick almost rose to the bait. She presented a rather enticing figure in her violet sweater dress and tall knitted socks that left a gap at the top of her thighs, and watching her strong legs carry her across the ice made him ponder things he definitely shouldn't be thinking about. How soft were her thighs? How warm was it between them? What did she look like in those socks and nothing else?

While Blossom taunted Brick into action, Bubbles continued her attempt to mold Boomer into a decent skater. However, after what had to be their twentieth time falling, she determined he just might not be cut out for it. He lay flat on his back in the middle of the rink. "I give up, Bubbles. I can't do this. I suck."

"It's okay, you tried your best," she said kindly, helping him stand. They waved goodbye to Robin and their siblings, returning to the shoe lockers.

"I really wanted it to be something we could do together again…" Boomer sighed. "I suck at every sport, honestly."

"What about video games?" she asked.

"That's not really a sport."

"E-sports are a thing now!" Bubbles asserted. "I even went to a few fighting game competitions while I was in Tokyo."

"They have those?"

"Uh huh. They get commentators and TV coverage and everything. Some players are like celebrities."

"Cool." He flexed his fingers. "Y'know, there's an arcade here. Wanna check it out?"

"Sure!" Bubbles looped her arm through his; she started doing that on their way to Choir and he didn't mind it one bit. There were only a handful of kids in the arcade so they basically had the run of the place. "What should we play? What're you really good at?" she questioned. Boomer thought for a moment and decided on air hockey, but first they needed to acquire some tokens. Bubbles tried not to boggle at the fat wad of cash in his wallet but curiosity got the better of her. "Do you always carry around that much money?" And where had it come from?

"Yep. Not like anyone's gonna steal it," he answered with a shrug.

"They could try…"

"And fail." His smile was somewhat crooked. "I mean, what can they do? I'm superhuman."

Bubbles nodded slowly. "Right… but wouldn't all that cash be better in a bank account or something?" Upon receiving her first paycheck from Heavenly Body she opened one at the Professor's behest and put it in savings. Since then she typically blew her money at the mall. "Do you even have a job, Boomer?"

He turned toward her in legitimate confusion. Blossom said she knew exactly what the Ruffs had been up to throughout the last decade. He assumed that if she knew her sisters did too, because why wouldn't they share information? Boomer countered her question with one of his own. "Don't you know what I did while I was gone?"

Bubbles realized the response he expected lay in that hard drive she had refused to look through, intuition telling her it contained plenty of gritty details that would soil the image of her crush. "No, I don't know," she said. "Whatever kind of stuff you were involved in… I'm sure you didn't want to do it, right? You were just going along with your brothers 'cause they're jerks."

Jerks that kept him alive, but yeah; Boomer had the most reservations about mercenary work. It was sort of bewildering that Bubbles had formed an opinion of him based solely on their interactions post-encounter at the boutique four months ago. She was completely ignorant of everything he'd done until then, and he didn't consider that a blessing because when she inevitably found out she probably wouldn't like him anymore. But now he couldn't help feeling as if he were lying to her about who he was.

Bubbles tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a sigh. "Can we just forget I asked that stupid question and play some games?"

It became apparent they shared the same impressive hand-eye coordination as an entire ten minutes of air hockey went by before either of them scored a goal, so they surrendered the table to some kids who had gathered around. They tried a racing game next which Boomer won, then Bubbles demolished him at a 2D fighter. "How?" he gaped. "How'd you kick my ass that easily? I want a rematch!" After three more consecutive losses he threw in the towel and they got some candy from a claw machine while he mulled over his defeat. "I don't get it. Butch is super great at that game, he even wins online tournaments, but I still beat him sometimes. If I only won against you once that means you could make him cry."

"I'd love to see that," Bubbles snickered. For now she'd settle for impressing Boomer. She cast her gaze around the room and spied some familiar artwork on a cabinet tucked into the corner, gasping as they wandered over. "No way, they have this?! I played this game whenever I wasn't doing karaoke in Akihabara!" She bounced on her toes while inserting a token.

Boomer eyed it with interest. "What is it?"

"It's a rhythm game where you try to hit these keys in time with the notes coming down the screen. You also have to spin this disc and press more buttons on this side, but I'm a lefty so that part's easy. I usually miss a bunch of notes but it's super fun!" Some song that sounded like the musical embodiment of a sugar rush began blaring out of the speakers. Boomer both watched and listened keenly until it ended two minutes later. "Yay, an A!" Bubbles cheered. "Hopefully I can get another one."

"How many songs do you play?" he asked.

"You choose three and if you pass them all with an A or better a challenge song comes up, but they're sooo difficult, like crazy fast. Each song has to have a higher BPM than the last one." And they began at a minimum of 130 so he could see how that would be daunting to players. Even with her superhuman reflexes the fingers on her right hand struggled to keep pace with the cascade of colorful notes, yet they made it easier for him to follow along. "Another A, barely…" Bubbles inhaled deeply to psyche herself up, saving her best track for last. Having an audience didn't bother her; Boomer's intense staring was actually adorable since she'd never seen him look so serious. The tip of her tongue stuck out one side of her mouth as she leaned forward for better concentration, nearly squeeing when her score appeared. "An S! Omigosh, I've never gotten that rank before!" She danced in a small circle before the challenge options appeared, her exuberance fading. "Oh, darn. I'm terrible at both of these."

Boomer stood right behind her, framing her with his larger arms. "Which one do you know best? I'll handle the melody if you can do the bassline."

She blushed at the proximity of his mouth to her ear. "I think this is cheating."

"Not like anyone's watching us," he refuted, "and you deserve a high score."

Bubbles eyed the two titles. Her selection clocked in at a staggering 300 beats per minute but required less erratic button-mashing. The holds tended to trip up players but Boomer handled them just fine. She grew more and more astounded as their score approached the maximum of 2000 which was only possible without missing a single note. Suddenly it ended, their S rank with 100% accuracy flashing on the screen. It was impossible to play more perfectly than that. "We… we did it…" she breathed in awe. "Oh my god, Boomer. The best anyone's ever done at this song in competition is eighty-nine percent."

He looked from her gobsmacked expression to the number and back again. "Neat."

Bubbles did squee then while throwing her arms around him, hugging him so tightly a vertebrae popped. "It's better than that, it's amazing! You're the most amazingly wonderful boy in the whole world!" Her excitement ebbed long enough for her to add the initials 'BBL' to the high score ranking. "There, now we're immortal."

"Awesome. Let's get food, I'm starving." Boomer's stomach growled to cement that claim. Bubbles gleefully swung their clasped hands as they walked to the restaurant.

The juniors of Townsville High were heading home Sunday evening, so everyone took full advantage of their time until then to play in the snow… everyone except Brick, that was, since his ice skating excursion had left him with a flushed countenance lasting all night and into the next morning. "Not lookin' so hot there, Bro," Butch commented on his way out of their room. "Want soup or somethin'?"

"Yes," he sniffled.

"Okay. I'll tell Boomer to get it since I got a black diamond to shred."

Brick wasn't going to complain about being waited on and read until a knock came at the door, making him frown since Boomer had a key. After another knock he wrenched it open, irritation giving way to surprise when he saw Blossom instead of his brother. "I heard you weren't feeling well. Boomer didn't want to wait around for your kitchen order so I offered to bring it up to you," she explained.

Brick stepped aside to let her in. He understood that his siblings hadn't seen real snow since Europe, but giving him soup when he felt under the weather was the absolute least they could do. Dicks. He took the tray from her. "Thanks."

Blossom looked guilty. "You said the cold doesn't agree with you. I'm the one who asked you to go skating with me and got you sick."

"I'll be fine, I can't actually get sick," he assured. "My internal temperature is too high for viruses to survive."

"Oh, really? Did the Professor tell you that?"

"A different doctor, when we were kids. I found that out before Butch and Boomer contracted West Nile fever while we were in Nairobi."

Blossom was stricken to hear this. Their enhanced immune systems kept most illness at bay so it must have been a potent, potentially mutated strain. "Kenya was where you rescued those children that had been abducted, right?"

"Mhm," Brick answered around his spoon.

"And then you reclaimed a cargo ship from pirates off the Somali coast later that year." She regarded him curiously. "Are those the kinds of jobs typical mercenaries get hired to do?"

"Not really, but we're not typical people."

That was something Blossom had been unable to puzzle out. She knew the how's of what they'd done but not why. To put it bluntly she said, "I don't understand why you chose to do objectively good things when it must pay better to be bad."

Brick only held her focus for a moment, looking at the tray. "You're being subjective, Blossom. You used to be a hero who fought for peace and justice. You only consider our activities 'good' if they align with your morals." He viewed her sidelong. "I chose those missions because I was tired of being called a villain. All the information you have on us was relayed by outsiders but we're the ones who provided it. They heard what we told them and saw what we showed them."

In other words the Ruffs controlled the manner in which people perceived them. Blossom already deduced that Brick tailored every aspect of his existence to present a specific image. Wherever he went he learned to blend in, acting enough like an ordinary person to be accepted but reminding everyone he was anything but. She wondered what aspects of his personality stayed hidden beneath the veneer, if any at all. Maybe he really was arrogant and abrasive to his core. "I'm sorry, I didn't come here to bother you. Your past doings aren't my business." Brick agreed wholeheartedly. The past should stay in the past; no point regretting things they couldn't change. "So if you do run hotter than the average person, doesn't that mean you should be comfortable in lower temperatures?"

He shook his head, draping an arm over the back of the chair. That slouchy posture resembled more of the punk kid she used to know. "In nature, everything is inevitably heading toward a state of thermal equilibrium. My body generates excessive heat so the environment absorbs it faster to make me equal with its ambient temperature."

"How interesting." It really was, but thermodynamics were not her strong suit. Blossom pushed off the wall. "If or when you feel better, consider sledding with some of us. The bunny slope is closed to skiers today."

Brick tutted at the invitation, then thought better of it when she left. He didn't get why he attracted the interest of so many people like a damn magnet. They kept trying to stick to him despite his barriers, though he recently began lowering them for select individuals. Wes and Susie were diligent workers with an enviable friendship, and he valued their opinions. Robin had never been anything less than pleasant toward him, plus she called him handsome a lot. Blossom was someone he no longer wanted to repel at all.

He appreciated her sharp wit, her tech savvy, and the way they didn't have to dumb themselves down around each other. The book he'd been trying to finish was one she mentioned in passing during the bake sale, the collected works of a medieval poet. He thought she was too pragmatic for poetry, flowery ruminations on things like love and the nature of the soul and connecting with Universal Powers That Be. Brick did not believe there was anything above him. He had a creator, a tangible being who designed him from the DNA up, but since opening his eyes to the world after near-death he had been in complete control of his life. Not Mojo, not Him, and certainly no invisible deities. The only thing that influenced his actions was cold, hard, infallible logic… or at least it used to be.

It was not logical to get dressed and go outside. Exposing himself to the elements was mildly detrimental to his health, but Brick did it anyway because Blossom requested his company and he didn't want to disappoint her. He was merely being personable. It had nothing to do with the way his chest warmed when she spotted him and waved, donning that shy smile he'd seen a few times before. He joined her and Robin at the top of the bunny slope. "Now that you're here we can have a race!" the brunette announced. "You and Blossom against me, Mike, Wes and Susie." She shouted for Mike to ditch Harry for a second and drag his sled over.

Brick stood with his hands in his pockets. "I'm not exactly sure—"

"Don't tell me you've never gone sledding before," Susie interjected. "How sheltered are you?!"

"I don't like snow!" he said defensively.

"Ridiculous…" she muttered. "Never gone to public school, never played Truth or Dare before, never had winter fun." They huffed at one another, then Susie softened. "Who doesn't like snow? It makes the world seem pure and beautiful."

Brick didn't feel like explaining his personal biochemistry again and plunked down on the wooden sled. "Can we just get this over with?"

"You should be in front," Blossom suggested. "Having more weight there will help us gain momentum faster." Brick scooted forward so she could sit behind him.

"I can hear you plotting!" Robin called.

"I'm not plotting anything, I'm using physics!" she retorted.

"Don't even think about using your ice breath," Wes added.

"I would never!" She received a dubious "uh huh" and mumbled, "Just because I did it that one time in sixth grade…" Mike counted down from three before they pushed off. Brick wasn't expecting Blossom to embrace him, her snug hold distracting him from the wind nipping at his nose. They crossed the finish line first, but Robin said they were doing the best out of five runs so back up the hill they trudged. She and Mike won the second race, then Wes and Susie won the third. Harry decided to make round four more interesting by telling other students to get in the way of their descent, and nobody won since they all crashed. "I have an idea," Blossom whispered as she and Brick waited for their friends to return. "I'll be in front this time." He knelt behind her with tentative hands on her waist. The three teams got situated, Mike did the countdown for the final time, and off they went. About halfway down the slope Blossom leaned forward to feign a sneeze, coating the underside of their sled with ice. They immediately picked up speed and reached the finish line several feet ahead of their competition, skidding to a stop.

Robin pointed a condemning finger at her best friend. "You dirty rotten cheater! I saw that!"

"What did I do?" Blossom innocently queried.

"You used your ice breath! I saw it, I saw it!"

Mike chuckled at the way she got squeaky when she was mad. "I didn't see any ice, Ro." Neither did Susie or Wes. Brick stayed silent, speculating that Blossom cheated so he would have a sledding victory under his belt.

"Well I did! She sneezed on the ground and there was a little 'whoosh' and the sparkles!" It was clear no one believed Robin so she petulantly folded her arms. As soon as Blossom turned her back she scooped up a snowball and threw it, but it drifted off course and hit the nape of Brick's neck instead. Robin gasped and covered her mouth, big blue eyes widening in horror as he faced her. Her voice trembled. "Brick, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I was aiming for Blossom…"

Slush somehow infiltrated four layers of clothing and dribbled down his spine. Everyone held their breath while waiting to see how Brick would react, if he was mad enough to lash out, but he wanted nothing more than to take a scalding shower. "It's fine," he finally spoke, and they all sighed in relief. "I'm going back to my room. Remember the buses leave at six tonight."

"Snowball fight!" someone suddenly bellowed. Several icy missiles came hurtling toward Brick as he presented an excellent target in the air. He summoned an equal number of molten orbs to liquefy them, then he wisely descended to the ground.

Wes gawked. "Didn't know you could do that. Talk about a fiery redhead."

"Do it again!" Brick raised a glowing hand to melt the snowball Mike chucked at him. "Haha, that's so cool!" He tossed another and another, Susie and Wes joining in as well. The three-on-one assault continued until they backed him against a tree. Blossom noticed his strength waning and told them to stop attacking him but they just pelted her too, eliciting a yelp. Brick whacked the tree with enough force to dislodge all the snow from the branches, burying the six of them up to their waists. They thought it was the greatest thing ever since they now had ample ammunition for the battle occurring behind them.

Blossom pulled Brick free. "Can you still fly?" she asked. He could only hover a few inches off the ground but that was enough to get back to the lodge where he shivered at the drastic temperature change. She helped him to the fireplace and covered him with a thick blanket while he sat before the flames. "I'll get you something warm to drink. What do you like?"

"Cider…" he rasped, then added, "please." Was it wrong for Blossom to think Brick was kind of cute in his weakened state? She returned from the restaurant to press a mug into his hands. "Thank you."

"Wow, two expressions of gratitude in one day. You must really be feeling under the weather." Brick didn't flinch or cringe when she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead for several silent seconds. "I don't understand why you put so much effort into planning this trip for our class knowing you'd be miserable. You don't need to suffer for anyone to like you."

"I don't care if anyone likes me," he shot back. He never stuck around long enough for it to matter. No attachments, no relationships. No weird emotions he had no clue how to deal with. No being attracted to brilliant girls with curves more interesting than a sinusoid. He was supposed to be above all that.

"Yes you do," Blossom gently refuted. "Everyone needs someone."

"I have brothers."

"Oh, right. Butch and Boomer went so far out of their way to help you feel better."

"Sometimes they're bad brothers."

She laughed. "And it was pretty mean of our friends to throw so many snowballs at you."

"…Our friends?" Brick repeated.

"Yes! They were my friends first, but since we're friends now they're yours as well." Blossom paused. "If you want them."

Friends. People who enjoyed his company. People he expended energy on having fun with. People whose happiness he cared about. Was that what it meant to be friends? Perhaps he could spend less time working for Max and more time figuring it out.