Here's a little holiday gift, hope it cheers you up!
-NARRATOR'S POV-
Boomer loved Christmas.
Well, he normally loved Christmas.
Christmas was, to him, a truly magical time. Neither he nor his brothers really knew about Christmas when they were little; most of their childhood was spent either in limbo with Him or stuck inside Mojo's lab. Yeah, sometimes when watching TV around December they'd see the ads or skip through the movies or hear the music that Brick found annoying so he'd always shut it off, but none of the brothers could really get into the holiday. They were too far away from its magic to feel anything about it.
Until finally, they weren't.
At eleven, the boys were at last enrolled in public school. It was Townsville Middle School, a school located much deeper in the heart of Townsville. It was closer to Mojo's lair than Red Oak Middle School — the middle school the Powerpuff Girls had gone to— and much larger too, which meant that the brothers eventually found other friend groups to be a part of and began spending less time together. A healthy thing, Mojo argued. It would be good for the boys to get to know themselves and build an identity that did not revolve around each other. Brick didn't ever make that many new friends, since he rarely found other people interesting in the first place. Butch did end up making a lot of friends, and getting into trouble with them. As for Boomer however…
Well, he still hadn't really known how to make friends by himself at that age. He always had his brothers there, and they always told him what to do. Boomer spent most of his time with himself too that first year. It was lonesome, but it helped him. Mojo was right, and Boomer was eventually able to develop a sense of self away from his brothers. He got to learn things and explore what he might never have bothered with before out of fear that Brick or Butch would mock him.
And one of those things was Christmas.
With that special holiday just days away, Boomer couldn't help but think about that first Christmas nine years ago, however that's a story for another time, but he knew he had to get it out of his mind. It depressed him too much to think about Christmas this year because this year was different. This year, there was a disease that was taking Townsville by storm. Ordinarily, Boomer wouldn't be concerned about getting sick, the Chemical X prevented most illnesses anyway, but this was new and unknown. It had sprung up out of nowhere and the Professor gave both the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys strict quarantine orders.
"We don't know how this virus works yet," the Professor (and Mojo for that matter) warned them. "Perhaps it won't affect you at all, but perhaps it will. And if it mutates with your Chemical X, the virus will be even more disastrous than it already is. Unstoppable even."
And so the 'Puffs were contained in their house, as were the 'Ruffs in their own home. Everyone in Townsville stayed inside, for the most part. Not even the villains were willing to take advantage of the situation to make trouble - risk just wasn't worth it. Of course Him was enjoying it all, a "special Christmas gift sent just for him" he called it. But even Him eventually got bored of the nothing that was happening so he decided to go elsewhere for the holidays. Once again, it was just Boomer, Brick, and Butch. Locked up away from the world where that special Christmas magic couldn't get to them.
Not even Santa Claus could cheer me up at this point, Boomer sighed.
Boomer sat in his room, bored. He didn't know what to do. Brick was working on something in his room and Butch was still asleep. He wondered if they even knew how he was feeling…
Despite all the gloom, Boomer had spent the past few months trying to keep the holiday spirits alive. Halloween still happened, and the three brothers decorated their home so that it would be as frightening and as disturbing as possible (they've by then built up a reputation for having the scariest, creepiest house). It was fun, up until Halloween night. Nobody came for their haunted house, nobody came trick-or-treating. Brick lost interest in the festivities after Halloween.
Boomer and Butch didn't let moody Brick stop them from celebrating Thanksgiving in November. Butch loved Thanksgiving - mainly for the food. Usually they went to the Powerpuff House to eat because it was more fun to go there, play football, start drama with them and eat their food. This year they didn't go, obviously. Boomer tried his best to recreate the Puff's Thanksgiving dinner but it wasn't the same with just the three of them. There was no drama, no no football, just food. It didn't taste the same, and it hadn't felt the same. After a rather quiet Thanksgiving, Butch gave up on the holidays as well.
Now Boomer was starting to get some Christmas blues, despite his best efforts to deter them. He had hung up the decorations, wrapped up the gifts he ordered online, put up a tiny tree, played the music - everything. Everything he could do, he did. By himself. He was still by himself and the loneliness of it all was finally catching up to him. It wasn't just not having his brothers around.
It was also not having Bubbles nearby.
Hey, maybe that's what I'll do.
So he grabbed his phone and sent a text message to Bubbles to see if she'd be available for a video call. He missed seeing her face and hearing her voice. Plus, Bubbles always seemed to know how to put Boomer in a good mood.
…
Five minutes, no response. Boomer sent another message.
…
Still no response. He decided to wait a little longer. He'll get a drink meanwhile.
Boomer slipped the phone back into his pocket and made his way towards the kitchen. On his way, he could hear the low breathing of Butch, still sleeping, and the clicking of Brick's keyboard coming from their respective rooms. He floated to the pantry to get a glass out of the cupboard and went to fill it with water, trying hard not to focus on the dead quiet of his phone.
Boomer drank his water and finally gave in. He pulled out his phone and clicked the side button - nothing.
No new messages.
He sighed, placed his phone on the table and returned to his room, leaving his phone behind.
Just as well.
It'd be hard seeing her and not being able to hold her...
*In Brick's Room*
Brick was typing away, because talking over the phone or over video was too risky. He can't allow Boomer to eavesdrop on his conversation with Blossom.
BLOSS: I have finished checking Boomer's present. 100% safe and clean for your brother to pick up. ^.^
BRICK: awesome. ill send Butch over now
BLOSS: Awesome. I'll send Butch over now.*
BRICK: (◔_◔)
BRICK: Perfect grammar isn't necessary over text.
BLOSS: We're not having this argument again. It's nearly Christmas, will Butch be here on time?
BRICK: Consider him dere.
BLOSS: -_- Cute.
BRICK: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Brick didn't get a reply after that.
He chuckled to himself and quietly floated over to Butch's room. Has he been asleep all day?
Lazy oaf.
"Psst!" Brick whispered over to Butch.
"Mmm."
"Psst!"
*silence*
Annoyed, Brick grabbed one of the fallen pillows off the floor beside the bed and smacked Butch upside the head with it.
"Ah!" Butch woke up with a start and, having jumped too far to the left from the scare, fell off the side of his bed top-first, his legs still very entwined in between the blanket.
"Shh!" Brick said, not helping his brother up. "Did you forget about today?"
Butch, still out of it, simply grunted in reply.
"Butch," Brick shook him by the shoulders. "Wake up, you have to go pick the gift for Boomer, remember?"
Brick whispered as quietly as he could to his brother so that Boomer wouldn't hear. During that brief pause before Butch could say anything, Brick sharpened his hearing, in case Boomer might be listening in.
Brick heard the gentle hum of the fridge from his kitchen, and the muffled voices of what sounded like the cast of Tasty on YouTube. Something about making a 20-pound hot dog.
Interesting. Should be distracted enough...
Butch blinked a few times and slowly but surely, he started to remember the plan for Boomer's surprise gift.
A gift to get rid of those Christmas blues.
"Right, right, Bubbles's gift," Butch muttered back, rubbing the sand from his eyes still.
"Shh, don't talk too loud. Boomer's still awake."
Butch gave him a thumbs-up and stumbled out of the twisting blankets, still obviously very sleepy.
Brick looked confused at his brother's abnormally sleepy behavior and stopped him to ask him why was he so tired.
"Buttercup and I stayed up last night talking," Butch started to explain while he started looking for clean clothes somewhere in the mess of his room. "We watched a movie together which was weird - watching the movie on video chat, not the movie itself - and when we got tired of it we just started playing video games together until, like, 3 AM. After that we talked for a bit until Butters fell asleep with her camera still on," Butch smirked at the memory of his sleepy girlfriend trying to keep her eyes open. "Such a dork, falling asleep while we're talking. It was kinda adorable actually because she sleep-fights and mumbles in her sleep. I watched her for a while, thinking she might wake up and start talking to me again but she never did."
Brick rolled his eyes, but chuckled at his brother's antics. Blossom is more of an insomniac than her sisters, so Brick hasn't ever had the experience of watching her fall asleep mid-video chat. He imagined it would be pretty cute too.
"Anyway, I didn't go to sleep 'til like, almost 6 in the morning."
"Alright well the girls are waiting for you and," Brick shushed his brother. They heard fumbling around in Boomer's room. It was heavy and slow, like thumping. Brick thought it best to resume whispering:
"You go get the gift. I'll stay and make the cookies."
Butch nodded. "Ooh, make some Santa face ones!" He said with bright eyes.
"Sure, whatever, just go!"
Butch opened the window frame and made a force field bubble to protect himself. Never before has this particular power become so useful. Butch jumped inside it and floated away.
Brick went to go start on those cookies. First though, he had to check on Boomer...
*back with Boomer*
Boomer mindlessly scrolled through the suggested holiday videos on YouTube, ignoring the commotion happening in Butch's room.
Sounded like they were arguing about something, but Boomer didn't want to get involved so he'd just tune them out. They were quiet now, Butch probably went back to sleep.
Boomer closed the video app on his phone and checked his social media. Same as it was twenty minutes ago. Then he checked his email - also empty. Checked his messages, nothing.
Which he felt was a little harsh, to be honest. It's been an hour since he tried contacting Bubbles and she was usually quick to answer.
Could she be okay?
What if something happened to her?
Oh no.
What if something DID happen to her?
Boomer thought about calling Blossom to see if Bubbles was okay when he heard a knock on his door.
"Hey Booms, it's me. You decent?"
That was Brick-talk for Can I come in? "Yeah."
Brick stepped in to see a slumped up Boomer on the corner of his bed, phone in hand and blankets all around him. Brick held back a sigh; it felt weird seeing his happy-go-lucky brother so…
Depressed.
"How you doing, Booms?"
Boomer shrugged, and his gaze fell back onto his phone.
"Boomer," Brick moved closer to him. "Butch and I have never been as into Christmas as you."
"I know."
"And I know this...isolation has been hard on you."
"..."
Brick sat next to his brother. "But you know, we're still here if you need or talk or anything."
"I know."
"Do you want to talk?"
Boomer shook his head, muttered a small 'thanks' at the offer.
Brick ran his hand through his hair, but continued: "Hey, maybe you should get some sleep too."
"How come?"
Brick stood up. "Well, judging by how you look, you haven't been sleeping enough."
Boomer shifted in his seat. He hadn't been sleeping enough, but he didn't think it was noticeable.
"It's going to be okay man," Brick reassured his brother, enticing him to nap. "Christmas might not have come the way you expected it, but I bet you'll feel a lot better after a nap."
Boomer couldn't find a reason not to, and he was tired, so he shut off his phone and laid out on his bed. Brick cleared some of the trash that had littered his brother's room and stepped out, closing the door behind him.
It didn't take long for Boomer to slip into slumber. Once Brick was sure his brother was sleeping, he floated down to the kitchen and got to work on the Christmas cookies.
When Boomer woke up hours later (he really did need some sleep), the world outside his window was dark. He didn't know when he let the season blues get to him, but his face in the reflection of the near-black window revealed to him just how down he was. The first thing he did after waking was reach for his phone. He clicked on the side button to check the time, 9PM.
No New Messages.
Should I call Blossom?
Boomer lifted the sheets off him and opened his door to get out of his room. The moment he opened the door, a bright light fell upon him that made him quickly shut his eyes.
Before he could open them again, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, hugging tightly, but it was a soft touch. Instinctively, Boomer hugged back and he thought he recognized the touch and scent of the person hugging him. But it can't be…
"Oh Boomie," he heard her say. "I've missed you so much."
"Bubbles?"
Boomer opened his eyes wide. The living room felt transformed; somehow the decorations shone brighter. The tree seemed bigger, and there seemed to be more presents underneath.
No wait, there were more presents!
"Merry Christmas Booms," Butch smiled, throwing his arm around Buttercup. Brick and Blossom emerged from the kitchen with trays of fun, festive, Christmas cookies.
"Cookies are ready!" Blossom announced, her chest swelled up in pride. She may not be a baker, but she certainly knew her way around a piping tube.
"So's the chocolate!" Brick called out after her. The warm smells of the sugar cookies and creamy hot chocolate.
"Oh, my god" Boomer said, still in shock. "Guys, what's going on?"
Bubbles took his hand in hers and brought him closer to everyone else. "It's Christmas time, no one should be alone."
"But, what about the virus?"
Blossom stepped closer. "Well, the three of us are clean and so are the three of you. Butch transported us here with his force field bubble so that we would be from the outside."
"Plus we wore masks!" Bubbles cheered. "We were extra safe."
"The point is," Buttercup chimed in. "You guys are clean, we were clean, and the six of us were tired of this quarantine."
"Alone, that is…" Blossom added.
"Boomie, it's Christmas, and for Christmas," Bubbles gazed into his eyes. "We want to quarantine with you."
Suddenly, all the holiday blues that had been plaguing Boomer were gone. The magic of Christmas was able to reach them after all.
"Thank you," was all he could say. Then for the first time in months, he hugged the love of his life and held her in her arms.
"Merry Christmas everyone," Boomer said.
The brothers looked at their youngest. After so many years of Boomer being the Santa to them, it was good to finally pay him back.
"Merry Christmas Boomer," Brick and Butch replied.
And a merry, safe, Christmas it was indeed.
r&r :)