A long silence. And then:
"Red." Blossom mumbled. "Your eyes are red. How can that be?"
"Your eyes are pink; I don't really think you should be asking that kind of question." The very handsome guy next to Blossom snickered; his orange hair, a shade darker than hers, was currently pulled back into a low pony tail. A red cap sat backwards on his head, just a shade lighter than his crimson eyes.
"Can you blame me for staring, sweetheart? I mean, that tight-ass uniform just looked so right on you." Husky voice. Apparently replying to Buttercup's observation.
Bubbles intervened and grabbed Buttercup's readying fist. "Okay, pancakes are done!"
Buttercup mumbled and jumped over the couch, heading towards the food. "You're lucky I'm hungry." Her transition from couch to kitchen didn't stop the middle triplet from giving her 'admirer' the finger.
"U-uhm," Bubbles connected her pointer fingers and looked down. "If you guys want some, I made plenty." A side step revealed a very large stack of pancakes.
The green eyed man rubbed his stomach. "Don't mind if I do." His companions followed suit. "I'm Butch, by the way. But you –" He turned towards Buttercup. "You can call me anything you want, babe."
"Alright. I dub thee 'assface' then." Buttercup retorted, waiting for Bubbles to hand her a plate of pancakes. Butch's smile fell.
"I'm Brick." The voice seemed right in Blossom's ear. When did he get so close? "That's Boomer." Brick pointed towards the blond male, still leaning on the counter. "We're brothers. Triplets to be exact."
"Oh wow, that's so cool!" Bubbles bounced excitedly, seemingly a little more comfortable with the strangers. "We're triplets too!" Boomer, the blond male, smiled at the small girl. His eyes watched carefully as the pigtailed girl continued to bounce – because whenever she bounced, so did other things.
The girls were very . . . blessed in certain departments.
"Food, woman!" Buttercup demanded, breaking her sister's 'happy dance'. Boomer seemed displeased at the sudden lack of bouncing.
"Oh!" Small giggle. "Here, BC. Let me just add the finishing touches!" Bubbles looked through the pantry and fridge and returned with two plates of pancakes, smothered in chocolate chips and whip cream.
"Are you sure this is breakfast for dinner and not dessert?" Blossom raised a brow, taking a seat next to her green eyed sister
The three boys scattered around the kitchen island while Bubbles took her time answering. "Well . . . I figured since it's a new place and all . . . why not treat ourselves, you know?" She handed another plate stacked with whip cream and chocolate to Blossom.
The pink eyed girl picked at her food. Oh, there's the pancakes. Hiding underneath all the whip cream.
Bubbles made the same for the three boys, waiting until everyone was seated and eating before she fixed her own plate.
"Awh mef gaw." Butch's mouth was stuff with food. "Fith id amzib!"
"Swallow." A sharp glare from Brick.
A quuick pound on the chest as he attempted to swallow his food. "Ahem. Oh my God, this is amazing. Where did you – c'mon stop looking at me like that, Boom – where did you learn to cook like this, you little angel?!"
Boomer shot his raven haired brother a dirty look. "Ill-mannered." He mumbled. The blond had a surprisingly smooth voice.
Bubbles giggled slightly. "Thank you, so uhm, I was just wondering . . . where is everyone else?" She took a small bite of her meal. "There seemed to be quite a lot of people in the arena and this place seems like a ghost town!"
Buttercup nodded in agreement then paused. "Is . . . is it just me or is the floor vibrating?"
Boomer smiled and Butch chuckled. "There's a party downstairs."
The blond turned to Bubbles. "There's always a party after a good simulation training."
Brick rolled his eyes. "Basically, there's a party every Friday. As I'm sure Dr. Clara informed you, we have free reign on the weekends with the exception of a few things."
"You wanna go?" Butch wiggled his eyebrows at Buttercup.
The girls all glanced between each other before shaking their head. "Nah, we're not really 'party people'. In fact, we're not really 'people people'." Buttercup shrugged. "We'd rather just chill up here, you know?"
Bubbles and Blossom nodded. "Yeah, I mean thanks but . . . we're really used to it being just us." The blonde took another dainty bite.
Butch's brows furrowed. "You guys didn't happen to be shut off from the world, did you?"
SMACK
"Ow! What was that for, boss?!" The raven haired boy was left rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm sorry for my dumbass of a brother and his insensitive remarks." Brick straightened out the cap resting on his head. "He has no filter."
The girls warily smiled. "That's okay. He's not far off anyway." The boys paused and looked towards Blossom. "We weren't shut off, per say, but we didn't go out much. If at all." A small sigh. "I'm sure you guys understand, but having powers – while it can be a great advantage at times – can be a great disadvantage due to the reaction of the public."
"In short," The raven haired sister cut off Blossom. "It's none of your business, but we weren't well-liked, thanks." She finished her plate and made her way back towards the couch, with the game still set up.
"We're sorry for our sister." Bubbles looked down shyly. "She's not very friendly but she usually has good intentions."
Blossom snorted. "Usually. She's right though. Not that it is any of your business, but it's probably best if you didn't know. Nothing interesting, really."
Brick's turn to snort. "Nothing interesting? Three super powered girls – all very attractive might I add – and their backstory isn't something they consider interesting?" The other brothers chuckled. "While I'm sure that's not exactly true, I'm not going to hound you on it."
The two sisters blushed and averted their gaze. "Er, I'll help you clean up, Bubbles." Blossom got up and moved to put her dishes in the sink.
"No way!" Bubbles denied cheerily. "We get to use our powers without holding back so I'm totally taking advantage of this!" A quick flash of light blue and everything was spotless once more.
The blond male sighed. "She's amazing."
Blossom cleared her throat. "I left my book in my room, excuse me while I go get it." Bubbles responded with a cheerful wave and Buttercup grunted in response – too fixated on the game to care about much else. Blossom turned and made her way down the long, out-stretched hallway to her room.
"So." Blossom jumped in the air, the deep voice startling her.
"Oh, uhm, hello, er, Brick." She carefully floated down onto the ground, watching Brick. "I didn't hear you." Brick casually lifted himself into the air to answer the unasked question. "Oh, that must be why. Tell me, do you and your brothers all possess the same abilities?"
Brick thought for a moment and shrugged. "I mean, all the basic stuff we have in common but there are some things that we can do that makes us different from one another." He raised his palm and fire emerged gradually. "I'm guessing that your –" Blossom cut him off by raising her own palm, already layered in a thin coating of ice, and pressing their hands together – putting out his fire and melting her ice. " – special ability is ice." He finished, their palms still touching.
Blossom was mesmerized. Never had she known a human who could create fire from the palm of his hand. Someone who could offset her cold, unwanted touch. Someone who didn't seem to mind that she was practically a walking snow storm. Sure, Blossom and her sisters could set themselves on 'fire' but it wasn't a real fire, it simply just emanated heat, not something that could actually burn. That and it wasn't the real color of fire. Her body would create pink, Buttercup created green, and Bubbles created blue. And of course, who could forget the Flaming Fiery Feline the girls had discovered they could do. But they had been six, and they could only ever do it when they were together.
But this man in front of her – this red eyed person, an actual person, was like a walking torch. He could clearly keep her warm if he so wished. If she wished.
Blossom's face began to warm. Not that she'd want him to keep her warm, they of course just met. It was just a passing thought. Yes. A passing thought.
"Blossom?"
She blinked. "Hm?"
"Are you okay? Your face is red."
"O-oh! Yes, I'm f-fine, thank you. I really need to get that book. I'm sure the girls will want to stay in the living room for quite some time and I would really hate to leave them for too long." Pink eyes wouldn't meet red. Blossom tucked an orange lock behind her ear as she turned to head to her room.
"I was actually going to do the same. My brothers didn't feel like partying tonight. Something else had caught their eye." Brick chuckled, casting Blossom a side glance.
In the pit of her gut, Blossom had a strong suspicion that he wasn't talking about the food or the games.
"I really am sorry for what my brother said earlier. He doesn't have a filter. He's unbearably blunt." A huff.
Blossom giggled. "It's really okay. I'm sorry for my sister. She's . . . unbearably blunt as well." Blossom had reached her room. "Erm, excuse me a moment."
Brick sent a brief nod and walked two doors down from her across the hall, resting his hand on the number pad. "Right back at you." Both redheads had quickly stepped into their rooms to retrieve their novels, meeting back out in the hallway.
Blossom's curious pink eyes glanced towards the book Brick held as they walked back towards the kitchen and living room area. "That's a very good book. I've read a dozen or so times." Brick's brow rose. "What?"
"Your book choice."
She glanced down. "What about it?"
Brick snorted. "Don't get me wrong, we obviously have the same taste in books, I just couldn't stand that novel for whatever reason."
"Oh," Blossom chuckled. "Yes, we do have the same taste." She held her book next to his. "Same author, hm. I think I could understand your dislike for this novel. She's a rather confusing author, if you don't mind me saying. Her lack of quotations is . . . how should I put it . . ."
"Annoying." Brick finished. "Yes, it is. Her flashbacks within flashbacks and flash-forwards within flashbacks are utterly confusing and downright atrocious."
"My, my, someone is very passionate about their disliking for this book." Blossom wiggled her book. "And yet he persists on continuing reading other novels published by her."
"I may not like her, but I'll be damned if I let that stop me from gaining any variety." Brick defended, casting a small smirk at his new companion.
"Yes, I'm sure. I wonder what else we'll have in common." She mumbled, unknowingly getting closer to Brick.
"You mean besides the weird eye color and our apparent love of books?" Brick snickered. "That speaks volumes if you ask me."
A small smile. "Mhm, I wonder how our sibling would fare, seeing as how both your green eyed brother and my green eyed sister have already show-cased some common unpleasant mannerisms as well as-"
"What the actual fuck!"
Blossom flinched and Brick rolled his eyes.
"A crude mouth."