At dinner, Bloom and Blue Boom finally appeared in the kitchen; their healing power had returned earlier, and now they were at their peak.
When the teens saw them at the entrance, Bluee and the Candies flew toward the boys with open arms.
"Bloom! Blue Boom! You're finally up!"
"It's such a relief!"
Blue Boom stepped backward, astonished, his hands up in defense.
"Oh, right," said Candy Blossom, "you don't like hugs."
Blue Boom shook his head in agreement.
With a quick, practiced glance, he located everyone in the room. He counted them by instinct, the way he had been trained to do, but he forced himself not to dwell on it. Now that he had started learning how to control his hypervigilance, he didn't want to slip back into his old habits. He didn't need to be aware. He wanted to just be there.
He noticed his brothers at the opposite side of the table. Thornton was straddling his chair, one foot up on the seat, and his free hand wrapped around his knee. He was focused, jotting notes onto a tactical map. Behind him, Red Uto stood, leaning barely over his shoulder, eyes scanning the coordinates. Both Ghosts were so absorbed in this that it took them a second to look at the door and finally notice their brother at the door.
"Hey, you healed faster than usual. How do you feel?" said Red Uto with a thin smile.
Thornton also gave him a brief smile and continued his work.
Blue Boom noticed this cold welcome, but said nothing. After all, it could have been nothing, just how crowded the kitchen was. Instead, he sat at the table and tried to keep up with the questions everyone was asking him and Bloom.
After dinner, Mili pushed the Nerds Club and Red Uto to the Meeting Room and decided to add all the notes Thornton had written on them.
"Ugh, why don't you ask him directly?" complained Red Uto, "It'll be faster than taking the maps back and forth."
"Skye wants Thornton and the others at the Training Room," Mili explained, "we can't waste a minute if we're going to fight Him in three days".
"If we're gonna face him soon, we all should be resting," pointed Punk Brick.
"We'll do it, it's not going to be another Survival Room training. Just a little maze". And with that, Mili closed the door.
The maze mimicked every detail from the woods and the electric tower where they would ambush Him. The teens only have to trail the others and tag them, while avoiding being tagged themselves. Hide and seek for the battle.
Blue Boom used this chance to corner Thornton and signaled him to split up from the rest. For the two of them, this activity could be done in minutes, and the blonde was more interested in asking his brother about his behaviour in the kitchen. This meant to expose himself to being mocked or scolded, yet he had a hunch that he needed to clear things out, or it would become bigger.
"It was strange waking up and not seeing you or Brick around. For a moment, I even confused Bloom with him".
Thornton just kept walking.
This indifference stung Blue Boom harder than the other two options. So, he stopped and leaned against one of the trees growing inside the maze, waiting for his brother to notice he was angry too.
It was useless. Thornton kept walking, at least further than Blue Boom had expected before he stopped. Instead, Thornton gave him a gaze that made it more difficult for Blue Boom to speak his mind. Yet, he tried.
"Usually, it's you who's in the clinic".
"Parra was there".
"Yeah, I know. And Bloom said he didn't leave our side all night".
Thornton's expression shifted. He gave Blue Boom a sharp, inquiring look. The silence stretched between them until it was clear Thornton was asking the silent question: "Your and Bloom's side? Or just yours?"
The younger looked away, his chest tightening. He felt exposed. He had tried to group himself and Bloom to make the care seem less personal, less "fatherly," but Thornton had seen through it instantly.
"You've been... I don't know… Angry?" Blue Boom blurted out, abandoning the small talk.
"I'm not" was the answer he got from Thornton after he clenched and unclenched his hands a couple of times.
Blue Boom placed some fingers over his mouth, measuring his next words.
"You are. I noticed how you sat in the kitchen. You always sit like that when you're angry", the blond said, knowing he was stepping on dangerous ground. But he didn't step back.
"I thought you'd go with Brick and the Nerd Club to explain Mili the mistakes in their plan".
"Brick didn't require me".
"You know it was Mili who dragged him before he could say anything".
Thornton finally walked back to where Blue Boom was.
"Then, you should be checking on Brick too, because that's not how he usually behaves".
The anger in his voice was noticeable, but yet different than usual. It wasn't the anger he usually showed when a mission failed, nor from when he couldn't have things his way.
"He just wants to send all these Ruffs and Puffs back to their own worlds ASAP".
The distant crack of a stick snapping pulled them back into the reality of the game. They weren't alone in the woods. They parted ways to finish the activity, with a heavy silence between them. Boomer held onto a faint hope that after training and a shower, Butch would have cooled down. He was wrong. And this time, even Brick noticed it.
Both brothers were dressing on the bench in front of the shower stalls when Brick burst in, annoyed, clearly fleeing from something.
"Damn Puffs," he muttered as he undressed. "They want another family meeting. They're getting on my nerves." Then, the silence between his brothers hit him. "What's wrong?" he asked as he observed both of them, trying to unveil the problem. "Did something happen during training?"
He noticed Boomer's quick, anxious glances at Butch. And Butch's refusal to make eye contact. The eldest knew Boomer usually acted as the counterweight to Butch's mood; whenever Butch tried to start a fight, the blond would leave in silence. But this was different. The silence only grew heavier after Brick said the word family.
Not this time. This time, the silence only grew heavier after the oldest had said the word family.
Or maybe he had just imagined that. In any case, this malfunction of their unit was inappropriate. He dropped his voice into a commander's tone.
"Butch, what's happening?"
Butch sighed, a sound of sharp annoyance.
"Nothing's happening. Focus on the mission," was Butch's angry answer.
"I do," Brick replied, his voice dropping into a commander's tone. "And my job is to make sure nothing compromises our team."
Butch turned toward him, a new kind of rage burning in his eyes.
"Are you?" he tossed his towel aside. "I'd say you're more on bonding with Mili and the others than our unit".
The accusation caught Brick off guard.
"What? What exactly are you implying?"
Butch stepped closer, stopping just a few inches from his brother's face. His stare was sharp, deliberate, and icy.
"I'm saying you're treating this family bonding like it's real," he said coldly. "Not like the distraction it's supposed to be for the girls."
Boomer moved slowly, positioning himself slightly to Brick's side. He was trying to understand the root of the problem, but he was also ready to intervene if they came to blows. Right now, a fight between these two seemed just as dangerous as facing Him without a plan.
Still, Brick didn't back down. He matched Butch's gaze, his eyes flashing with a fierce, steady light.
"If the fake fam... —if the other people—keep us safe, I'll play the part," Brick's eyes flashed, his voice hardening into something sharp and dangerous. Then his voice hardened. "Don't you dare suggest I've forgotten who my brothers are."
Butch stepped forward again.
Boomer moved without thinking, pushing them apart.
"Enough," he said quietly.
Butch scoffed.
"Are we? Really?"
And he walked out of the room, foggy with steam—yet cold.