I always entertained the notion that the girls would take up martial arts at some point, and so I got to thinking about what styles would suit which. Capoeira for Bubbles, since it's a more graceful one and I think a slightly more dance-like style would work for her, Aikido for Blossom, since it's defensive and offensive at the same time, and it's all about balance and control, and Pradal Serey for Buttercup, since it is usually focused purely on winning bouts, and concentrates on punches, kicks and elbow and knee strikes.
In other news, I really liked writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
12
There was something decidedly off about this situation Blossom decided. Normally, she spent Sundays wishing Buttercup would be quiet for five minutes instead of stomping restlessly around the house. This Sunday, however, she found that she was the restless one, and that Buttercup was sitting meditating quietly on her bed, eyes closed and big chunky headphones firmly over her ears.
This is just strange, she thought to herself, shaking her head and making to continue along the hall to her room, but Buttercup had apparently sensed her presence and opened one green eye to look at her.
"Can I help you?" she asked, slightly too loudly because of the music that, Blossom was sure, was blaring at far too high a volume in her ears. She pulled the headphones down around her neck and looked at her sister expectantly. Blossom shrugged, leaning against the doorframe.
"Just wondered what you were doing, that's all." Now it was Buttercup's turn to shrug.
"Master says I should meditate a couple of times a week; says my balance is off or something like that." Blossom nodded. Buttercup attended a Pradal Serey kickboxing dojo on Wednesdays after school, as Blossom had insisted that they should all take up some form of martial art, but she had often complained that her instructor tended to berate her on her lack of inner focus.
"Can't say it's exciting, but I guess if it loosens me up at practice then it's worth something to do it." Blossom suppressed a laugh at how mature her sister sounded all of a sudden.
"Well, I'll leave you to it then," she said. Buttercup waved vaguely in her direction and pulled her headphones back over her ears, letting her eyes drop closed again. Back at a loose end, Blossom wandered slowly along the corridor to her bedroom. She'd finished all of her homework for Monday, she'd practiced her violin, run through a few aikido kata in the back garden and helped Bubbles make up a batch of cookies. Now, she found that she had no idea what to do with herself. Was she usually this bored on a Sunday?
Wandering into her room, she cast a glance over the small stack of new paperbacks that she'd picked up yesterday. Although she'd reacted with distaste to Brick's comments on Friday in school, she could not deny that she was a die-hard romance fan. Sighing, she turned away from the books; reading didn't seem all that appealing right now. As she stood, still unsure of what to do, she was suddenly gripped with the sensation of being truly uncomfortable in her own skin. It bubbled up from somewhere in her chest and she was all at once frustrated enough to want to scream. Throwing herself backwards onto her bed with a thump, she grabbed one of the red velvet cushions propped up against the pillows and held it against her face, screaming into it. Letting it flop to one side when she was done, she stared up at the ceiling, breathing heavily and feeling only marginally better.
"Okay, so you need some help." She squeaked and bolted upright to find Buttercup in the doorway, headphones in her hand. Smoothing her, now slightly ruffled, hair, she got to her feet and tried not to look embarrassed.
"I'm fine. Just a bit… well…" She paused. She really had no clue what was wrong with her today. Normally, doing all the things she'd already done and then settling back with a good book was all she needed to fill a Sunday, but today, it just wasn't cutting it. Buttercup stretched and a lazy grin formed on her face.
"Don't worry; I know just what you need. Get your jacket on and follow me."
xxx
"Buttercup, this really isn't necessary." Her sister didn't answer, instead walking to the edge of the building that she'd brought her to.
"Well, when you feel better afterwards," she said smugly, "I think you might just change your mind." Blossom scowled a little and rubbed her arms. The temperature had dropped considerably overnight and the fierce wind was doing nothing to help, especially not at the top of the skyscraper where they currently stood.
"You ready?" Buttercup was asking, her grin wide and slightly edging towards the manic side. Blossom took a deep breath.
"I still think this is silly."
"Yeah? Well maybe you won't when I beat your ass. Not that it'll be a challenge; we all know I'm the fastest." Blossom bristled and then settled herself.
"Fine, if you want to be that way, I'll be happy to prove you wrong." Buttercup cackled wickedly, eyes gleaming.
"Alright then, on three. One… Two…" Both of them took off before she could say three.
"Cheater!" Blossom yelled hypocritically, rocketing down the side of the building. Buttercup only shrieked with laughter and pulled slightly ahead of her. Pulling her arms into her sides and stretching her legs as much as they would stretch, Blossom streamlined herself as much as possible, pulling level with her. They curved off onto street level at the same time, streaking over the traffic. The wind whipped Blossom's face and dragged several strands of her hair out of its neat ponytail. They tickled her ears as she flew. Buttercup was ahead again, still laughing, and Blossom found herself laughing too. It was almost exactly like the game of tag they'd played the day they were 'born'. She had the same sense of freedom, although there would be no destruction this time.
They screeched through the city centre, scaring pedestrians and drivers alike. It was hideously irresponsible and she really shouldn't be using her powers simply for her own enjoyment like this, but at this moment, Blossom really didn't care. She didn't care that she couldn't feel her face anymore or that her hair was a mess or that she could be doing something productive with her time because this was fun. When had she forgotten how much she loved to fly?
"Hey loser!" Buttercup called, three feet in front. "You still haven't proven me wrong!" Blossom drew her numb lips into a Cheshire Cat grin.
"You haven't seen anything yet!"
xxx
Later, exhausted, frozen and feeling entirely too happy for this to be real, Blossom lay spread-eagled on the roof of the building where they had started the race.
"That," she said, her voice slightly thick with a combination of cold and the adrenaline still pumping madly around her system, "was amazing." Buttercup, in a similar state to her sister, chuckled.
"Told ya," she said smugly.
"You did. Wow." She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of freezing air. Somehow, the frustrated feelings of a mere hour ago had melted away, leaving her feeling like her blood was made of champagne; like she was just going to dissolve into little bubbles and float away into the sky.
"I haven't done anything like that in years," she mused. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Buttercup look over to her.
"Huh, maybe that's why you're always so uptight about stuff." Blossom smiled. A little while ago, that comment would have had her up in arms, but now she felt like she was incapable of being angry.
"You might be right," she said quietly, staring up at the sparse clumps of clouds that were blowing across the sky. Buttercup sat up, folding one knee up and resting her head on it.
"It was weird, feeling all that stuff from you. It's usually me that gets that way." Blossom blinked. Before, she had always felt exasperated by Buttercup's random and sometimes violent outbursts, but if what she had experienced earlier that day had been what Buttercup had been feeling all the time…
"Is that really what it's like for you?" she asked, propping herself up on her elbows. Buttercup considered the question for a second.
"I guess. Sometimes it's not that bad, sometimes it's worse. Basketball and the dojo help, but sometimes I really have to go out and fight, you know? Worst thing is, when I get like that, I find myself hoping that he's gonna show up."
"You mean…?" Buttercup nodded, her mouth set in a grim line.
"I know it's insane, and I know it's dangerous, but it's the only thing that works. With him, I can really cut loose; really let go. Everything else just goes away and at the end, I'm finally spent. Can finally relax for a while. Can't say I like him, but at times like that, he's the only person I wanna see." She pulled herself to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. Blossom thought back to her realisation of how similar Buttercup and Butch's thoughts were, and Brick's comment about them being two sides of the same coin came involuntarily to mind.
"You ready to go home? It'll be dinnertime soon." Blossom snapped out her thoughts.
"Oh, yeah. It's getting dark too."
xxx
Later, Blossom settled back against the cushions on her window seat, sighing contentedly as she opened up one of her new books. She could already tell by the pastel coloured front cover that it was going to be another generic high school romance wherein unpopular girl would fall for popular guy, there would be turbulent romantic tension and then finally some dramatic event where he would realise his love for her. It would be stupid and fluffy and it would probably never happen in the real world, but Blossom didn't really care about any of that. She might not have admitted it before, but she liked being able to switch her brain off for a while and read something that required no real thought to get something out of it.
Never mind what Brick says, she thought to herself, her eyes flicking over the words. Apparently, this was a bad move, as the second his name passed through her mind; there was a knock on the window. She snapped her head round to meet his red eyes, frowning as she did. He grinned and gestured for her to open the window. Her only response was to stand up and jerk the curtains closed before relocating to her bed to read. She had had a very good day in the end, and she was in no mood for him to spoil it.
There were a few more taps at the glass, but they stopped after five minutes, and she enjoyed a private little vision of him trudging away along the road, disappointed.
No sense in giving him what he wants so easily, she thought gleefully. And then paused. There she went again, thinking things that almost made it seem as though on some level (a very very, very deep sub-basement level) she wanted him to win this bet of his.
"Ridiculous, of course," she muttered to herself. It was. Of course it was. Besides, it wasn't as though she needed or wanted a boyfriend anyway. She was a superhero; those kinds of relationships never worked out well.
He has powers too, a nagging little voice in her mind pointed out. Blossom found herself putting the book down. Why did her mind feel it was necessary to point out a flaw in her logic? About this of all things. Picking the book back up, she tried half-heartedly to read about how bad life was for this particular heroine (a slightly dim brunette called Ashley), but it was no use. She only got through three pages.
"Stupid idiot ruins everything," she said darkly, slotting a bookmark between the pages and putting the book on her nightstand. "I told him no more house visits." Finding herself yawning, she looked at the clock. It was nearing 11, and so she decided that she should probably be getting to sleep anyway.
Going to need it to deal with him again tomorrow…