Family Matters

Chapter 19: The First Bite

It wasn't easy choosing something to order. The two ruffs had never experienced any sort of luxury, so this whole thing was completely new territory for them. They scanned the menu items over and over again, studying them as if they were some ancient language they needed to decipher.

The Powerpuff Girls watched the boys struggle, trying to hide their discomfort. Just when they were beginning to relax, the world just had to remind them that their companions had lived a completely different life.

Since they came back to life, most of what they used to do was probably training, eating, and sleeping, with only field work as their only way to see the world. No friends, no outings—nothing.

"Um, boys?" Blossom ventured hesitantly, and she slowly pushed their menu down. "Maybe we can suggest something? We've tried everything here."

She only wanted to help, but from the angry looks on their faces, it seemed like she'd insulted them instead.

"I think we can handle our own when it comes to food," Brick said icily.

"I'm not saying you can't. I'm just telling you that we can give you some insight. You don't really know what these things are, do you?" There was no response. "We're not trying to hold your hand—we just want to offer you our assistance."

"We don't need your help!" Butch snapped. "We can do this ourselves!"

Buttercup sighed deeply and tucked her head in her arms. "This is gonna take forever. Just pick something already—I'm dying of starvation here!"

"I was gonna get to that!" Out of anger, Butch snatched up the menu and looked the options a second time. "Here!" he declared. "I want it!"

His voice came out so loud, a few of the patrons shushed him.

Brick looked down at the thing Butch had chosen. "Chocolate Overload? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes!" The ruff promised.

"Butch, I don't think you'd like that," Bubbles said slowly. "It's kind of—"

Before she finished, Blossom swooped in and covered her lips. "Just... let him be. He wants it."

The look on Butch's face though looked more like competitiveness than anything else. "What about you Brick? What are you having?"

"Me?"

"I ain't sharing anything with you, so if you want to eat something, do it fast."

The ruff shoved the menu at Brick with so much zeal, he fell back against the sofa. From underneath him, Boomer whimpered and pushed him back, forcing him on to the table.

"Ugh!" Brick glared at his sleeping brother. After giving him a bit of elbow, he looked down at the menu and chose the first thing he saw. "Tiramisu."

"What about the runt over there?" Buttercup asked.

"We can give him an apple crumble," Bubbles suggested.

Once they had all made their choices, Blossom stood up and left to go place their order.

However, the moment she stepped outside of the room, the puff was immediately swamped with stares. The entirety of the café seemed abuzz with interest, and all of it was directed her. Although most of the patrons tried to hide it, their curiosity was so clear, the air practically sizzled with it.

Blossom tried not to look up while she walked towards the counter. Fortunately, the register was completely empty, and she was able to quickly get out of prying gaze before becoming Swiss cheese.

"So, how'd it go?" Bubbles asked.

Blossom gave her sister a wry smile, her answer clear on her face.

"Hey, Boomer." Brick shook his brother's shoulder. "Get up."

Boomer moaned. He opened his eyes for a moment, just to look at Brick, before turning to face the back of the sofa. "No..."

Brick felt a twitch of annoyance at his dismissal. He tried again, but the ruff swatted at his face, catching him right in the eye and knocking his hat off.

"Ow!" Now, he was done being gentle.

Grabbing Boomer's head, he lifted the ruff from the sofa, eliciting a cry of pain as he dragged his face on to the table.

"Why?" he whined, rubbing his sore scalp. "What did I do this time?"

"You fucking caught me in the eye, you idiot! Our order's coming soon, so wake up already!"

Considering the rough treatment, it wouldn't be a surprise if Boomer was angry, but surprisingly, he wasn't—only a bit irritated. Still sleepy though.

A few minutes later, a waitress came by with their order. To pair with the confectionaries, Blossom had also ordered a pitcher of one of the most popular items on the menu—lemon basil iced tea.

The young lady carefully set the dishes on the table, then quickly tucked the tray at her side, lowering her head slightly. "If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

The metahumans thanked the server, and the young woman walked off. While Blossom poured the iced tea, Bubbles handed out the desserts.

Boomer was still looking a bit out of it when he got his, but at the delicious scent of his apple crumble, he perked up immediately.

"What's that?" he asked, looking curiously at the confection before him.

"Apple crumble," was his counterpart's reply.

"Apple... crumble..? It's a smashed apple?" The puffs fell silent. He caught the tense expressions on their faces and coughed. "Sorry..."

Bubbles smiled sheepishly. "It's a dessert. I think it had sugar, oatmeal, cinnamon, and apple filling. In here, customers can pay for extra toppings. Hope you don't mind salted caramel ice cream."

"I've never had ice cream." Carefully, the ruff scooped a bit of the treat on the tip of his spoon, then stuck it in his mouth. His face lit up. "It's pretty good!"

He stuck his spoon back into the ice cream, taking a chunk even bigger than his first and raising it to his lips.

Blossom's eyes widened at the size of the ice cream. It covered practically the whole spoon!

"Uh, Boomer, I don't think—" she began, but her warning was far too late.

He devoured it.

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Apple crumble, tiramisu, chocolate overload. All of those sound delicious, but Boomer seems to have taken too much of a liking to his. And I'm quite sure we all know what happens when you eat something frozen all at once. What do his brothers think of their orders? \(* o *)/

It's an understatement to say it took a while to update this story. I practically ignored it, and I apologize for that. Not only was I struggling to get past a certain part, but I was also focused on writing other stories. I'll try to get back on track. (- _ -)

I'll leave all the links down here!

My blog:

blackandwhitepersona.wixsite.com/penandink

My DeviantArt:

www.deviantart.com/bwpersona

Thanks for reading! 

- BlackAndWhitePersona