'How was Paris?' Was it everything you dreamed of ever since you were a little girl?' Butch asked mockingly.

'Great, I'm sure you would have loved it. I bet Butchie wants nothing more than to share a croissant with the love of his life while paddling away on the Seine in a boat for two.' she flashed the ruff a sweet smile while reaching for the pot of fresh cheese near him.

'You can't turn this against me, Flossy. I'm not the one who chose the sissiest place on the planet to visit.

'No ,instead you just went on a cocaine hunt, like the brute that you are.'

'Can't judge it till you've tried it, sweetheart. Just so you know, you sniff it, you don't eat it. In case you ever get tempted.' he winked, exemplifying the sniffing motion to her.

'You're too kind. I highly doubt I'll ever be tempted.' Blossom winked back.

'When you two are done flirting, you should get some of that wood from the garden and get a fire started.' Brick interjected, pouring himself a glass of fresh milk.

'Jealous much, Brick? I'm sorry I'm the only one who can truly entertain your woman, you sad, sorry, depressing fuck.' he lounged back in his chair.

'Whatever makes you feel better about yourself, brother. ' he replied flatly, taking a sip.

'Boomer, aren't you hungry?' the redhead cocked his head at his younger brother who hadn't touched any of the food yet.

'I'm alright.'

He was hard to read, it reminded Blossom of the Boomer she had talked to back in Townsville: Flat, barely responsive.

'No, tell me.' Brick inquired, raising his brow.

'It's the usual thing.The same problem.' he humored Brick with an answer. He did it with such tedium though, that Blossom could barely believe he was the same teen who she had shared those sunny afternoons with.

'We've talked about this, Boomer.' Brick seemed weary as he reprimanded the younger ruff.

'I know, I know. But you asked.' the blonde said dismissively.

Blossom's eyes roamed from one to another, trying to make sense of the situation.

'Would it help if we stayed for two weeks somewhere you like? We could go that long without raising suspicion. But it needs to be somewhat remote.'

'I think it might help.' he cheered up a little bit.

'I honestly don't know what your fucking problem is, Boomer. This is THE LIFE.' Butch exclaimed, biting into a piece of home made sausage.

Boomer merely bowed his head in response, avoiding his brother's gaze.

Butch noticed how confused Blossom was by this exchange, so he took it upon himself to shed some light on the situation.

'He gets like that sometimes. You know...depresso. He's tired of moving around, wants to settle down somewhere and adopt 20 dogs or some stupid shit like that.'

'Oh, I see.' Blossom replied, watching the blonde getting redder under his brothers' scrutiny.

'Only we can't. Can't afford being traced. We never stay too long somewhere and we avoid attracting attention on us. Well, except for the stunts we did in Townsville.'

'Because we were already known there. We weren't such an exotic sight there. Precedent existed.' Brick added matter-of-factly.

'But that can't happen anywhere else. Whispers and rumors about are fine, yes. But having the whole world at our heels is...inconvenient. Keeps you on edge at all times. And I enjoy my peace.' he continued, pouring himself another glass.

'It's how you can keep your lifestyle going.' Blossom concluded, finding confirmation in his eyes.

'Bingo!' Butch pointed finger guns at her.

An uncomfortable pause ensued, and eventually Blossom dared to speak:

'You might not like to hear it, but if you chose to use your powers less, or even live like normal people this wouldn't be a problem.'

Butch's laugh roared in the kitchen:

'Very funny, Flossy, I gotta give it to you. Way better sense of humor than KillJoy over here.' he pointed towards Brick. 'Hilarious, I almost choked on that sausage.'

'Boomer.' Brick's cool voice reverberated through the air.

'Where do you want to go tomorrow? Entirely up to you, respecting my conditions of course.'

'Somewhere warm.' he responded, shuddering as he rubbed his hands together. 'Next to the sea or the ocean... 'Small Pacific island? We could settle on one of the smaller uninhabited ones and get supplies from a main island.'

'Any housing?' Brick inquired.

'I could use the local trees make one of those huts..'

'No.' Brick interrupted.

'Why not?' he didn't make any effort to hide the dissapointment in his voice.

'I'm not shitting on the beach for two weeks, Boomer. And I'm not flying to the mainland every time I have to shit or take a shower.'

'How often do you have to shit, exactly?' Butch turned towards him, fake concern in his voice.

'I'm not a constipated crackhead, so probably more than you.' Brick shot him down.

'At least the bare minimum comfort, please, Boomer. Showers, beds,indoor toilet, electricity. Don't forget we have Blossom with us now.'

'I haven't seen her complaining, Brick. You're the only one here winging about shithouses.' Butch taunted him, raising her eyebrows at Blossom.

'Toilets would be nice. And showers.' Blossom quickly chimed in, dreading the prospect of two weeks of wilderness.

'Bunch of pansies. I'm with you, Blondie. Let's make those huts. I wanna watch these princesses squeal.'

Boomer ignored him and once again addressed Brick:

'We could try one of those tiny private islands owned by rich people. They usually just have one super fancy house per island.'

'We can't silence the guards for two weeks. Correction: we could, but it would be very troublesome.'

'Silence the guards for two weeks? Why just silence them when we can permanently silence them?' Butch seemed genuinely surprised to not see it presented as an option.

'We won't kill or hurt humans from now on.' Brick said simply, as if stating an axiom.

Butch and Boomer both gave him curious looks, unsure if they heard him correctly.

'Did you just say 'We won't kill humans from now'? Cause I'm not sure if I heard that right.'

'Yes, you heard that right, Butch. No humans will be hurt in my presence.'

The room had gotten so still you could even hear the melting rooftop icicles dripping into the snow outside.

'What's this about, Brick? What happened? Doesn't sound like something you'd say.'

Boomer was quiet, taking furtive glances at Blossom.

Butch motioned his head at her:

'This is your doing, isn't it, Flossy?'

She gulped and looked at Brick, waiting for his reaction.

'I don't owe you any explanation, Butch. Before you press on, do you need me to remind you of what I have done for you?'

Butch turned his head to the side and began shaking it , a strange half- smile creeping on his face.

'Fine. No human killing from now on.' he eventually said, in a strained, faux-cheerful tone. 'In your presence.'

'You know, Butch.' Brick leaned in towards the green ruff, pining him down with an icy glare. 'When you're like us, there isn't much you can't do in this world through intimidation and manipulation. You should try honing those skills. It'll do you good.'

'Oh, and it's working alright for you? Cause I sure see a lot of backfire going on.' he motioned towards Blossom.

'Careful, Butch. Treading on thin ice there.' Brick sneered at his brother, his jaw tightening.

'Whoa, whoa. Relax, bro. I'm just curious, that's all.'

The atmosphere was visibly tense, Butch eyeing Blossom up and down menacingly.

'If glares could kill, I would already be dead and buried. He's definitely not letting this go.'

'Maybe we could scout the islands for a decent summer home that isn't protected? Boomer pitched in, successfully ignoring the charged atmosphere.

'Highly unlikely we find one, but we should look. Worst case scenario - we rent so we make sure we aren't disturbed. But I always prefer not burning through our money.'

'Cool!' Boomer exclaimed, having regained some of his energy.

'Can you two get the firewood like I asked? I'll be back tonight, I've got some urgent stuff to take care of.' Brick said, seemingly troubled.

'Oh, we're getting the wood, alright.' Butch replied, a sly smile appearing on his face.

'I hope you have enough sense in you not to do anything stupid, Butch.'

Brick massaged at his temples, closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Blossom wondered if this apparent headache was a direct result of the conversation they had just had.

'I need to go now. See you later.' he left in a flash of red, leaving his brothers and a confused Blossom at the kitchen table.

'Well, well, well, Flossy...' Butch grinned sadistically, trying to get a rise out of her.

'Well, shit.'

I hoped you liked this ruff centric chapter! Butch is so damn fun to write! Might be, I daresay...my favourite character: O.O

️Brick and Blossom prepairing their pitchforks in the background️*