disclaimer: never will i ever.
dedication: to lilithkiss because her art is bEAUTIFUL and she is incredibly talented, not to mention nice! still can't believe she agreed to do this with me!
notes: this is a collab/exchange between me and lilithkiss. she gave me a prompt, i wrote a oneshot, and she drew a picture based on the oneshot. the picture is GORGEOUS and when i first saw it i legit flailed. i did.
notes2: BICKERING BUTCH AND BUTTERCUP IS MY AESTHETIC I LOVE THESE TWO.
playlist: 'Meant To Be' by Parachute

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Don't you see?
You can try to fight it
But it's meant to be
You and me, baby please

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x

"The hell're you doing up here alone, Sunshine?" A very familiar (and aggravating) voice breaks through her thoughts, and Buttercup turns around to glare at the intruder.

Of course it's him. Of fucking course.

"Fuck off, Butch," she grumbles, twisting back around to face the city again. She scowls at nothing, gripping the edge of the building so tight the cement cracks.

Today had been one of those days, where nothing seems to go right and it's all she can do to keep from exploding on the next person that even breathes too close to her. Her day had been downright shitty, and putting up with Butch's dumbfuck attitude was so not what she wants to be doing right now.

Suddenly, two emerald green eyes block her line of vision. "Y'know, if you keep looking so pissy all the time, your face is gonna get stuck like that." He grins at her from his position of floating upside-down in front of her.

"I will pummel you into the pavement in two seconds flat." She threatens. Butch laughs.

"What's got you so worked up, huh Butterbabe?" He leans back out of reach when she swings a fist at him, and flips over to sit cross-legged next to her.

Buttercup remains silent, eyebrows furrowed and expression angry. She glares down at Townsville from her perch on the edge of a skyscraper.

"Buttercup," Butch says. His voice is surprisingly earnest. "Seriously. What's wrong?"

She exhales loudly through her nose. If she doesn't say something, he'll pester her about it for the rest of the night, and then she really might explode.

"'S nothing," she shakes her head, hair catching in the slight breeze. "It's stupid. Just me…overreacting, or whatever. Forget about it."

"It's obviously not nothing," he points out. "You look like you're going to murder someone…well, more brutally than usual."

And suddenly, all the fight drains from her. Buttercup's shoulders slump, and her grip on the now-cracked cement loosens, and she's just tired.

"Being a Powerpuff girl…" She starts abruptly. "It's not about…it's not about looking good, or being popular, or famous…it's about helping people, and keeping everyone safe." She doesn't look in Butch's direction, instead focusing on the setting sun in the distance. The orange sphere tints the whole horizon in reds and oranges and yellows, and if she was alone she'd probably take a picture to remember it.

But she's not alone. And she has to talk about what's bothering her.

To Butch, of all people.

Fuck.

"We do all this shit for the city," she laughs humorlessly. "We fucking kill monsters on a daily basis and stop crimes and help rebuild the city every damn time something happens…and yeah, we're pretty famous. Everyone knows the Powerpuff girls. Everyone knows what we do for a living. But…" Buttercup pauses, and her grip on the edge tightens again.

"But…it just feels like they think it's all for show, I guess." She struggles to get the words out, but thankfully Butch doesn't interrupt, simply letting her speak. "I dunno…it just feels like…like we think we're doing this for the greater good, but…but the people think we're doing this because we have nothing better to do. We get taken for granted. You wouldn't think so, but all of the billboards and interviews and dedications and speeches and shit? It's all for show. The Powerpuff girls aren't known because they save the world…they're known because Townsville uses them like a fucking tourist attraction."

By the end of her rant she's clenching her teeth together and practically firing lasers from her angry, lime green eyes. Registering her tense stature, Buttercup forces her muscles to relax and exhales deeply again, this time closing her eyes.

For about a minute, Buttercup focuses on calming down and Butch remains silent. Once she opens up her eyes again, Butch speaks.

"At least you're known for doing good things," he comments offhandedly. "You're not famous for fucking up the whole damn city for fun."

"…If you even think about starting that shit up again I swear I will murder you."

"Chill," he placates. "I'd rather keep my limbs attached, thanks." He pauses for a moment. "But like I said, Townsville might take you for granted, yeah, but that doesn't mean that what you guys do doesn't help people. I mean, shit, Bubbles saved that whole elementary school the other day, right? And Blossom iced that ugly octopus fucker last week before it could destroy City Hall. And you fucking lifted that fifty story building so it didn't crush anyone."

Buttercup mulls over his words for a minute. "When did you get so…logical?" She questions, raising an eyebrow at him. Butch places a hand on his heart, an offended expression on his face.

"Um, excuse you, I am always logical," he sasses.

Buttercup scoffs. "May I remind you of the time we were ten and you thought wrapping your very flammable brother in goddamn tinfoil was a good idea?"

"How was I supposed to know tinfoil explodes if it gets too hot?"

"Everyone knows that, dumbass. That's why you don't put tinfoil in the microwave. It's common sense." Buttercup rolls her eyes.

"Hey, remember when we were in like seventh grade and we made a bet that neither of us could last three days without sleep?" Butch then says randomly.

Buttercup laughs as the memory surfaces, and the festering anger in her chest dissipates a little. "I won that bet, hands down."

"You did not! I totally lasted longer than you!"

"You didn't make it through school on the third day, dickface. We were standing in line for lunch and you fell asleep and knocked over the kid in front of you and caused a freaking domino effect in the lunch line." Buttercup deadpans.

"...Fuck, I remember that now," Butch laughs. Buttercup looks back at the sun, which has all but disappeared, the sky a mixture of blues and purples now.

"And in freshman year when we were doing self-defense in P.E. and you fucking threw me through a wall," Buttercup shakes her head and Butch laughs harder. "And after I punched you in the face and you broke the bleachers."

"That was funny as hell, I still remember the look on Principal Webber's face!"

"He was pretty pissed," Buttercup admits. She gently swings her legs, combat boots thudding dully against the brick side of the building.

"Oh, and what about last year, when we pranked Mrs. Harrison?" Butch asks. The two burst into a new round of laughter at the reminder.

"God, what did she even do? I don't remember," Butch runs a hand through his unruly hair.

"She always threw stuff at students and then she changed Bubbles' art show piece, remember? Bubbles came home crying about it and we pranked Mrs. Harrison the next day." Buttercup chuckles. "I've never seen Boomer so pissed off than when Bubbles came to us that day in tears about her artwork."

Butch nods and the two lapse into a comfortable silence once more, both of them gazing out at the city before them.

"Yo Sunshine," Butch unexpectedly speaks up after a little while of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever think about what you wanna do after we graduate?"

"If you graduate," Buttercup snickers. Butch flips her off.

"Okay, okay," Buttercup clears her throat and sobers. "I don't really know for sure, I guess?" She shrugs. "Maybe, like, women's MMA or something? Competing in that would be pretty awesome."

"You'd need someone to train with for that," Butch contemplates.

"Yeah," Buttercup nods. "I bet I could find someone eventually."

"Or, you could look no further," Butch grins at her and spreads his arms wide.

"…What."

"I'll be your training partner! Hell, I'll even be your trainer if you want me to." He wiggles his eyebrows, his eyebrow piercing glinting as he does so.

"Why would I want you to be my trainer?" Buttercup crosses her arms. "You're one of the banes of my existence, I don't want anything to do with you."

"Aw Sunshine, you don't mean that," he says. "Without me, your life wouldn't be as exciting!"

"The fuck are you talking about—" Before she can finish her sentence, Butch's arm snakes out to latch onto hers and he shoots into the air, dragging her up along with him.

"Butch, what the fuck!" She screeches as they zoom higher into the sky, the air turning gradually colder.

He only laughs in response, and Buttercup can't do anything in retaliation because he's crushing her against his chest, arms tight around her waist, her hands reflexively clutching at his jacket and her hair whipping around her face as he flies faster.

Finally, he slows to a stop. He looks down to meet her menacing gaze and laughs again, and she feels it vibrate through his chest and no she is not blushing. This is Butch for crying out loud.

He juts his chin in the direction behind her and lets go of her, Buttercup begrudgingly turning around. She floats a few inches away from him and looks in the direction he pointed.

Her eyes widen. "Holy shit…"

"Pretty cool, huh?" She can feel the smugness radiating off of him and she resists the very strong urge to roll her eyes.

She hates to admit it, but the sight Butch had brought her up here to see is nothing short of amazing.

It's the entire city of Townsville, all laid out before them in a grid of skyscrapers, lights, and cars the size of ants. The darkened night sky only brings out all of the lights even more, and the whole city twinkles and shimmers like the stars above them.

A gust of wind blows her hair back and Buttercup shivers. Even though she's superhuman, she stills feels cold and right now she is freezing. Her jeans and t-shirt are definitely not enough coverage for being above the city at nighttime.

"You cold Sunshine?" Butch questions with a smirk. Buttercup glances back at him. She doesn't trust the look in his eyes.

"Not really…" She mumbles, but they both know that's a lie.

"C'mere," Butch gestures her over, and Buttercup gives him a suspicious look. He grins at her and spreads his arms wide. Ever so slowly, she floats over, and once she's within reach his arms wrap around her again and tug her back to where she was before, melded against him.

"Butch—" she starts to say, but then he takes his jacket and wraps it around her along with his arms, and wow he is really warm and this is much better than freezing my ass off.

And then they just hover in that same spot, Buttercup tucked against Butch's chest inside his open jacket, and his arms holding the jacket closed around her back and keeping her tight against him.

Neither of them say anything.

Has he always been this tall?

What the hell are we doing?

"I was serious about before you know," Butch says quietly. Buttercup tilts her head to look up at him.

"What?"

"About before, being your training partner for the MMA's…I was serious." Buttercup can only blink at him in utter surprise, and Butch goes on. "I kind of realized a while ago that my life would be pretty shitty if I didn't have you…and I don't want to not have you."

Buttercup feels like her whole world has just been flipped upside-down and shaken like a snow globe.

Is this really happening? Is he…?

And then.

And then Butch does the unthinkable.

He kisses her.

And it's embarrassing to confess but Buttercup has wondered what his kisses taste like (she's heard things okay, it's not like that) and she soon finds out that he tastes like how pine needles smell, with a bit of mint. And it's strange and unexpected but so very Butch and Buttercup feels like she's drowning in him.

She's not sure she minds all that much, if she's honest with herself.

The kiss isn't soft or slow, but it's not fast and desperate either. It's deep, and their mouths slant over each other easily, Buttercup bending backwards just a little as Butch presses harder against her lips.

They only separate when air becomes too much of a necessity, and even then they don't go far, their breaths mingling in between them and fanning over the other's lips.

"I may or may not really like you, Sunshine," Butch says, his voice rougher than usual. Buttercup spreads her hands against his chest and looks up at him, her lips tingling.

"I…may or may not really like you too." Her voice is a little breathless and her eyes are wide, but she couldn't care less, especially when Butch leans down to kiss her again.

"You're still a dumbass," she mumbles against her counterpart's mouth. He laughs, the sound rumbling in his chest again.

"I make your life more exciting, admit it." He declares. Buttercup flicks his chest.

"You make it more stressful, I'll give you that." She quips as she leans away from him. He kisses her jaw.

"Nope, admit it." Buttercup shakes her head and smirks at him.

"Make me," she whispers. He quirks his eyebrow and squeezes her tighter.

"Is that a challenge?"

She kisses him this time, taking him by surprise. Buttercup places her hands on either side of his face and pulls away abruptly, maneuvering out of his grasp as he blinks in shock and incomprehension.

She smirks widely and gives him a mock-salute. "Catch me if you can, dumbass!"

And with that, she's off—leaving a bright green streak as she goes, her counterpart following right behind.

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hhhnnnngg gREENS. isn't butch so cute, being all supportive and comforting (kinda) for his woman.

i just really need buttercup and butch to be a bickering badass couple who will kick the shit out of you if you mess with them or their squad okay

I SHOULD BE SLEEPING BUT. THIS NEEDED TO BE PUBLISHED FOR THE GOOD OF THE PUBLIC.

alsoooo...a HUGE thank you again to lilithkiss! she's amazing! :D

I SACRIFICED SIX HOURS OF SLEEP TO WRITE AND EDIT THIS YOU ALL BETTER REVIEW DAMMIT.

ily~

peace out girl scouts,

two red converse