Here we go, chapter 17! Enjoy, and please review :)
17
It was becoming very uncomfortable at the breakfast table. This seemed to be a recurring theme these days, but today it was mostly because Bubbles kept shooting her glances as she tidied her dishes away.
"You're... going to be late if you don't hurry up," she said eventually, quite timidly. Blossom had never been one to suffer insinuations that she was going to be late for anything, but today she just made a noncommittal noise and dropped her spoon back into her cereal.
There had to be something she could do about Buttercup. That was all she could think about. Clearly, Buttercup did not want to be... whatever exactly it was that was wrong with her, but she didn't know what to do about it. If that was the case, Blossom had to help her; it was her duty as her sister. Right? Still, part of her was repulsed by it. To her perfectly controlled way of life, it seemed completely alien, and she had no idea how she was meant to handle it. She had avoided Buttercup that morning on the way to the bathroom, and she did feel bad about it, but she didn't know what else she could do.
Eventually, she gave up on the soggy remains of her cereal and headed upstairs to finish getting ready for school. It looked like she was going to have to fly today, which was normally never necessary. Still, what was one slightly unusual occurrence compared to all the other strange things that had kept happening this month?
xxx
School was largely uneventful, although several of Blossom's teachers did comment on how distracted she seemed. Of course, she shrugged it off gracefully, but the cracks started showing at lunchtime, when Buttercup flopped down next to her and started complaining loudly about maths class.
"I still don't get why we gotta do it. Am I ever going to need trigonomic functions in real life?"
"So you're feeling better today?"
"Uhh... I guess. I'd kinda prefer if you didn't bring it up though. I don't really like talking about it..."
"Maybe you should though. It might help. Maybe we can figure out a way to make it stop. I think that-"
"Blossom! Just... don't, okay? I'll deal with it myself, my way."
That was the end of the conversation. Neither one of them had anything else to say to the other, and while the atmosphere wasn't hostile, it was certainly very uncomfortable. So much so that Bubbles, when she arrived, turned around and walked off to sit with a group of her friends instead.
xxx
When she reached the music room at the end of the day, she felt exhausted. She barely even registered Brick standing shuffling music next to the piano; she just wandered in, sat down her bag and case and all but fell into a chair.
"Uh, wow. Someone miss their coffee this morning? You look dead." She shot him as best a withering look as she could muster before groaning and running a hand through her hair.
"Let's get this over with quickly. I need to get home and go to bed I think."
"Yeah, no kidding." He walked over and handed her a set of sheet music. She glanced over it and made a noise that was almost approving. It was fairly simple, but it was classical and she knew it well enough.
"No more dragons today?" He shrugged.
"Clearly Puff's true depth was beyond you, so I figured we'd go with something easier. Can't expect miracles with these materials."
Normally, the insult would have had her up in arms. Today though, she only managed an annoyed frown and a short growl of irritation. If she'd been in any state to realise it, she'd have been happy to note that this reaction actually seemed to rattle Brick's cocky composure.
"You know what, let's skip it." Blossom looked up.
"Skip it? What do you mean?"
"I mean you're too tired for me to even tease you right and I can't be bothered today anyway. Butch came home all beat up last night and tore half the place down. Gonna take me hours to sort out when I get back; I'm betting Boomer hasn't done a damn thing about it." He stretched and stepped over to look out of one of the windows. Blossom almost blurted out the fact that Buttercup had come home in a similar state, but she bit it back. However, Brick had turned and seen her open her mouth.
"I already figured it was your sister behind it. No one beats Butch up that badly except her, and no one gets him madder either. I'm guessing she was in bad shape too though, considering the mood he was in last night." He turned back to stare out of the window before speaking again.
"I bet you think you've got it hard with your psycho sister, huh? Lemme tell ya, Butch is way worse when he gets going." Blossom wondered about that, but then remembered what little she'd managed to read of Butch's thoughts the night of the fountain ceremony and shuddered. She could believe it. All too easily.
"You probably shouldn't tell me this you know. If I know the weak link, beating you gets that little bit easier." He gave a smug little laugh.
"I figure you worked out the 'weak link' years ago, and I'm betting you've also figured out that he's still not what you'd call weak. Then again, I'm not sure which one's worse; Boomer barely gets off his ass to do anything these days and Butch goes totally batshit the minute anyone mentions crime. Or your sister." He sighed. "Siblings; whatcha gonna do with 'em?"
There was a brief silence while Blossom got her things back together and pulled herself into an upright position.
"Well," she said, a little unsure of what she was meant to say in this situation. "I guess I'll see you on Monday."
"Yeah. Oh hey, I'll walk you to the gate. Just the gate today, I swear." She narrowed her eyes at him, but she was too tired to argue, and so acquiesced.
Strangely, he was still being less than irritating. In fact, other than the brief slanging match they'd had in geography that morning and the couple of jabs he'd taken at her in the music room, he was being... well, perfectly civil.
"Is this a new approach then? Be nice to me so I see that you're a good guy after all and swoon into your arms?" He opened his mouth, paused, and then carried on.
"Would that work?"
"No."
"Damn. In any case, no, that's not it. You're just no good to poke fun at when you're all moody like this. I like the Blossom with the fiery temper, not the mopey one." He pulled out a packet of cigarettes and lit one up as they left the school grounds, catching her eye as he did.
"Filthy habit, I know," he said lightly, exhaling the words along with a cloud of smoke. "I swiped 'em off Boomer this morning. Normally, I wouldn't touch the things, but just the thought of going home and clearing up Butch's mess gives me a nicotine craving."
"What makes you think I care?"
"You don't, but hey, it's conversation."
There was an awkward silence as Blossom tried to think of an excuse to get out of the conversation. But then again, why was he still walking with her when he said he'd leave her at the gate? On second thought, that was a silly question.
"I'm going to fly from here. I'll see you on Monday." As she turned to leave, she snatched the cigarette from his mouth, dropped it and ground it under her heel as she took off.
xxx
She could hear the television blaring as she entered the front hall; some soap opera from the sound of some woman screeching her lines like a harpy with laryngitis. As she made her way through to the living room, she found Buttercup reading a magazine with Bubbles perched on the arm of the sofa behind her playing with her hair.
"I still don't know why you don't grow it out. You'd look great with long hair."
"You're annoying."
"And you're mean! Hey, Blossom, wouldn't she look great with longer hair? I'm right, aren't I?" Blossom shrugged helplessly. To be honest, she couldn't see Buttercup with anything longer than her usual shoulder length black mop.
"I think I'll put the kettle on," she said instead. "Want something?" Both sisters put in requests, and Blossom quickly left them to it. It was nice seeing them acting so normal, but Blossom still couldn't shake that sick feeling when she looked at Buttercup. How could she act normal after what she'd done? It made no sense to her. She was shaken out of her thoughts as the kettle clicked off the boil beside her, and she set about making tea (and a coffee for Buttercup). As she started spooning sugar into Bubbles' mug, the Professor appeared, absently shuffling some papers and looking even more tired than normal.
"Ah, Blossom, you couldn't make up another coffee while you're there, could you please?" he asked, sinking into a chair and haphazardly spreading out his notes. Blossom instantly pulled out another mug from the cupboard and made his coffee without a word. He thanked her as she put it down next to him, and then stopped her before she left to take her sisters their drinks.
"How are things? With your new powers, I mean. Have things settled down?" Blossom considered the question.
"More or less. Bubbles still has trouble stopping herself from taking on other people's features sometimes, but other than that, we seem to be back to normal." He nodded, then rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"And Buttercup?"
"Wh-what about her?" She couldn't stop the stutter, and she wanted to hit herself for it. The Professor wasn't meant to be worried about them; they were supposed to be able to handle each other so he could concentrate on his work.
"She's... healed alright? No problems?" It was clearly not the question he wanted to ask, but she understood the feeling of not wanting the answer to the other question.
"She's fine. Completely healed."
"That's good." He shifted the papers into a loose pile before standing and picking up his coffee mug.
"I'll be in the lab if you need me. And remember, if you ever need any help with... anything, I'm never too busy." Blossom nearly cracked after that one. Nearly, but not quite.
"I know, don't worry." He smiled, even though his eyes still looked worried, and as he left, he planted a quick kiss on the top of her head. It was a small gesture, but from him, it was one that meant a lot.
"Don't work too hard," she said quietly, watching him head out and towards the stairs down to the labs. She took out the mugs to her sisters, and after a moment's deliberation, lowered herself into the seat next to Buttercup, sipping her tea and joining in with the idle chatter about TV and magazines and hairstyles. Whatever was wrong with Buttercup, she reasoned, she would find the answer in time. There was no rush, and there was no need to stop treating her as her sister. She still was, and she always would be.
xxx
It was much later when the Professor emerged from the lab for a late night coffee break. And as he made his way to the kitchen, he found the TV still on and all three girls huddled together, fast asleep. He considered moving them to their rooms, but somehow the fact that even though they had grown apart in so many ways, they could still retain some habits from when they were little stopped him. Buttercup sprawled out with Bubbles' head resting on her legs and Blossom propped up on her shoulder; it was such a simplistic, and in some ways quite silly, scene, but just knowing that they were all there, that they were all safe was enough. He absently ruffled Buttercup's hair as he passed, and she muttered something in her sleep. Something that he tried to ignore.