11
"Come on, man, you've had us stuck inside for ages; let us go out and have some fun already."
"After last time? I think not."
"What is your deal with that chick anyway? Last time I checked, you wanted her outta the picture."
"Things have changed. I wouldn't expect you to be able to understand."
"The hell? You come over here and say that!"
"Idiot. Just calm down and hold tight. They're none of your concern anymore."
"Tch, you're whipped, dude. I don't know what the hell's going on with you."
"Of course not. You never really did. Unfortunately, she doesn't either… For the moment."
xxx
Blossom tried to continue eating her breakfast in a calm and reasonably normal manner, but it was getting difficult having two Buttercups sitting at the table with her. Noticing the rather strained look she had, the Bubbles-Buttercup made an apologetic face.
"I'd turn it off if I could…" she mumbled. Blossom gave an awkward laugh and tried to handwave the situation entirely. Buttercup on the other hand, continued to look just plain disturbed by having her doppelganger sitting eating porridge (which Buttercup herself would never touch even if she was paid to) and wearing a skirt, of all things. Suddenly, there was that little skin ripple, and Bubbles was back again.
"Oh ick. It still feels so weird when that happens." She gave a little shudder and went back to eating.
"I guess I should skip school on Monday, huh? I guess it would kind of freak everyone out if I kept changing into different people all day." Buttercup gave a little snort.
"More like you're worried that everyone will figure out the crush you have on the leader of the marching band when you keep turning into him all day." Bubbles flushed fiercely and made a weak swipe at her sister.
"I am not. And I don't have a crush on him! I just think that he's nice, alright?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just pretend you don't have a sister who can read your emotions." She took a large bite out of her toast and chewed it victoriously. Blossom rolled her eyes at the exchange.
"I think you probably should stay home today. But you might be alright by Monday if you try practicing trying to control it." Bubbles looked crestfallen.
"Stay home today?" she whined. "But there's a skirt in the sale at Mimi's that I've wanted for ages and this could be my last chance to get it!" Blossom ignored her, finished her cup of tea and stood up to put her bowl and cup away, although for some reason she was feeling sluggish. She had been since she'd gotten up. She noticed Buttercup watching her from across the kitchen and tried to perk herself up a bit, although she knew that it was a fairly useless endeavour.
"I need to go pick some things up from downtown; Bubbles, you are not coming; do either of you need anything?" She shot a look at Bubbles telling her that a skirt, no matter how nice it might be, was not a necessity. Buttercup crammed the last of her toast into her mouth and stood up.
"I'm gonna come with you. There's something I wanna have a look at." She headed off to brush her teeth without waiting for a reply and Blossom frowned. Something in her tone of voice had seemed off. Casting a guilty look in Bubbles' direction, she concentrated, trying to pick up on her sister's voice. Once she'd tuned out Bubbles' inner whining about not getting her skirt (was it really so important?) she gradually filtered in Buttercup. Annoyingly, she wasn't picking up any actual phrases, just disjointed words here and there.
She thinks exactly like Butch does… Blossom thought, wondering vaguely if she should be worried about that. However, Buttercup's thoughts didn't have the insane, jagged quality of Butch's; it seemed more as though she simply thought more in terms of images or feelings rather than words. Blossom frowned to herself, wondering if there was any way that she could train herself to read those kinds of thoughts as well.
"Bloss? Hey, you alright?"
"Huh?" She snapped out of her reverie to find Buttercup in front of her, already wearing her jacket.
"You seemed kinda out of it. Are you sure you're alright for going out today?" Blossom laughed awkwardly.
"I'm fine, really. Just got a little lost in thought, that's all. Give me a minute to brush my teeth and we'll go."
xxx
Buttercup was quiet until they reached the city centre, and Blossom was still unable to pick out exactly what was on her mind. So far, she'd worked out that she was worried about something, but that was really it.
"Hey Bloss," she said finally. Blossom turned her head to look at her, but found her sister staring resolutely at the ground.
"What is it? Is something wrong?"
"Well… I don't know. I was gonna ask you."
"What do you mean?" Buttercup shrugged helplessly.
"I mean what's going on with you and Brick?" Blossom's breath hitched for a second.
"Nothing. I don't- I mean, I have nothing to do with him besides being in the same classes." She started walking faster, but Buttercup, naturally, kept up with her easily.
"Okay, so now that you're lying to me, I definitely know something's up. Everyone's talking about the roses he gave you in class and you were walking with him between classes yesterday and you both sat next to each other in geography and French."
"He sat next to me. It was not a mutual arrangement."
"You didn't exactly complain about it much though, did you?" Buttercup stopped for a second, sighing and running her hands through her hair.
"Look, normally I'd just leave you alone, but I can't this time. Seriously, every time you're around, all I'm getting is all this messed up stuff that I know I shouldn't be feeling. Or you." Blossom blinked, wondering what Buttercup meant and then wondering if she really wanted to know. There was a brief consolation in that while Buttercup was excellent at reading body language, she had never been quite as gifted in doing the same thing with feelings, even her own. Even though she now had the biggest insight into emotion, it was still quite possible that she wasn't able to interpret it fully. Blossom really hoped that this was the case in this instance.
"Buttercup, there's nothing going on, I promise. Brick is just doing his usual and trying to get under my skin; it's nothing major." Buttercup didn't look entirely convinced.
"I dunno Bloss, it doesn't feel like you're just annoyed with him. And those roses…" Blossom tried to shrug it off.
"He's acting a little differently than normal, so I sometimes get a little flustered before I figure out how to deal with him. Really, that's all." This answer seemed to satisfy her sister, since Blossom would never willingly admit to being flustered by anything unexpected unless it was the absolute truth. Of course, it wasn't the whole truth in this instance, but it was enough to get Buttercup off her back. And it seemed to have worked; Buttercup never mentioned it again for the rest of the time they were out.
xxx
"So, Bubbles, are we gonna have to help carry home the usual truckload of stuff on Tuesday?" Buttercup asked teasingly as they finished their dinner. Bubbles pouted.
"It's not like that!" she said, a slight hint of a whine in her voice. Buttercup just laughed, winding her up even further. Blossom, on the other hand, was slightly confused.
"Tuesday?" she asked, frowning. "What's so special about Tuesday?"
"Well, duh, it's Valentine's Day." Blossom's eyes widened, and then she let her head fall onto the stack of newspapers that were sitting on the table waiting to be taken for recycling.
"Oh god…" she groaned. This was terrible. Well, terrible was an understatement, but whatever. The point was, it was going to be Valentine's Day, in school, and Brick was going to be there.
"Are… you okay Blossom?" She raised her head sharply, swayed a tiny bit from the sudden head rush and smiled weakly at Bubbles, who was staring at her with wide blue… or not.
"Bubbles, you did it again." Bubbles smiled apologetically with Blossom's face
"I know, I think it happens when I think about a person for longer, so I was worried about you and then poof! I was you." Blossom nodded. It made sense, although that wasn't about to stop her feeling mildly uncomfortable about it. Besides, she didn't look right in Bubbles' clothes.
Buttercup, who had been looking at Blossom thoughtfully, finally spoke up.
"You're worried about it," she said, and it was not a question. "You think he's going to do something." There was a ripple and Bubbles was back again.
"Who's going to do something?" she asked, in full-on gossip mode. "Does Blossom have a secret admirer? Who is he?" Blossom grimaced.
"It's nothing like that Bubbles. It's nothing at all, really." She sighed, kneaded her forehead and stood up.
"I'm going to take these down to the recycling bins. I'll be back later." Before either of her sisters could say anything, she grabbed the newspapers and strode out of the kitchen.
xxx
There was a slight chill in the air, but all in all, it was a fairly pleasant evening. Blossom took a deep breath and enjoyed the breeze blowing over her skin. Due to the fact that it was getting on for eight o'clock, the supermarket car park where the recycling bins were located was deserted. It suited Blossom fine though. She had dawdled on the way there, deciding to take the half hour walk instead of the five minute flight. Now, after tipping the newspaper into the appropriate bin, she leant back against the cold metal and stared up at a sky that was, to her pleasant surprise, largely clear.
"This is ridiculous," she muttered to herself, not entirely sure what exactly it was that she was referring to. Was it Brick's stupid campaign to win or over? The looming annoyance of Valentine's Day? Maybe it was just her own tendency to think about these things far too much. Either way, she sighed deeply, feeling rather fed up of everything.
"You're out late." She yelped and leapt away from the bin, whirling to find him sitting nonchalantly on top of it, staring skywards. Wondering how on earth he had managed to get up there without her noticing, she backed away quickly. He flicked his eyes down to look at her.
"No need for that; I'm not here to cause trouble." She glared at him suspiciously, but he simply directed his gaze back up, folding his arms up behind his head and lying back so that she could only just see him.
"Were you following me?" she asked, not sure if she really wanted to be talking to him or not.
"Nah, I wasn't actually; I was just out for a walk." He laughed quietly. "I'm not a stalker." Blossom made a disbelieving noise, but said nothing. There was no point; Brick could be maddeningly ambiguous in what he said, and asking him more questions would get her nowhere.
"It's a nice night," he was saying, his tone light and conversational. "Don't you think so?"
"I suppose." Even over something so trivial, she was not about to admit to having the same viewpoint as him. Unfortunately, he was more perceptive than that.
"Ha, guess we are more similar than you like to admit." She scoffed, despite herself.
"Don't tell me you're going for that 'two sides of the same coin' line."
"Nah, it's not like that. That's Butch and BC's deal. Us? Not so much. We're more like puzzle pieces." The fact that his tone didn't have that joking edge she'd come to dislike so much made her feel rather shaken. It actually sounded like he meant that.
"Well, have fun," she said curtly, feeling that she needed to end this conversation as quickly as possible. "I'm going home." He propped himself up on one elbow.
"I could walk you, if you want." She raised an eyebrow at him, before turning on her heel and walking away.
"So, that's a 'no'?" he called after her, sounding amused. "Well, I'll see you at school on Monday anyway, if not before. That contest is still on." She gritted her teeth to stop herself from replying, but her silence didn't seem to deter him in the slightest. She could still hear him laughing even as she left the car park.