Sir Bedfellow Won't Come Between Us

by bethanime

Takes place during S2E7- Pillow War. King Peppy told Branch and Poppy something like this had happened before, but he gave them the impression that only bad things would come of one pillow choosing two people. The duo meet another troll who had a similar experience during the Pillow Harvesting Festival. Her story freaks Branch out, yet motivates Poppy to make her move

"And so it begins…" King Peppy said while looking deeply into your eyes, hand clenched shut and grimace firm.

Poppy and Branch left the Pillow Tree Forest together in seemingly good spirits.

"Can you believe my dad?" Poppy chuckled. "Like we would ever let a pillow come between us."

"Right? How juvenile does he think we are?" Branch and Poppy had left the clearing walking side-by-side, but Branch had slowed his stride and let Poppy take the lead. Now his hands were held behind his back, and Poppy was walking through some bushes.

Poppy didn't notice that Branch had fallen behind her or recognize that his voice seemed further away. She was too lost in thought until…

She heard Branch's yell and turned to face three pillows hurtling toward her. She dodged left, then right, and caught the last pillow. She faced Branch with feigned surprise written on her face.

"A sneak attack? Ooooh I am going to wreck your whole world, son!" The thoughts that had been playing through her head jolted to a stop. The subject on her mind was challenging her to a duel, and there was only one thing she loved more than a challenge.

"Not if I wreck yours first!" Branch retaliated with a grin. The two trolls, despite their opposite views on life, did share a passion for competitions. Especially when their opponent was the other.

Poppy and Branch simultaneously leaped into an attack with pillows raised. Their focuses were completely trained on each other, as they had been since the affair with the Bergens. Poppy only saw Branch. Branch only saw Poppy. Unfortunately, Jia saw both of them and knew what kind of ruckus they were about to cause.

"Hey!" Jia shouted almost as loudly as the other two trolls. "You're gonna wake the baby."

"Sorry, Jia…" Poppy whispered with an embarrassed smile.

"We'll try to keep it down," Branch continued.

Then Jia realized what the two trolls were holding. "Oh! Is it time for pillow harvesting already? I've been so caught up in baby Elvis, I didn't even realize the season." Jia sighed and held her head in her hand. She closed her eyes as a distant memory played behind her closed eyes.

"Yeah, pillows are ripe for the picking now. You should go and get one for Elvis! He'll sleep like...well, like a baby for the whole year!" Poppy said a little too energetically and a little too loudly. The aforementioned Elvis poked his head through his mother's hair and shushed his queen.

"Are you kidding me? Elvie is a direct product of last year's Pillow Harvest Festival. This kid loves sleep more than anything else. He gets cranky when anyone wakes his slumber." Jia looked sternly at Poppy and Branch. Poppy scratched the dirt with her toe in mild shame.

A look of confusion crossed Branch's face. His brows furrowed and his mouth frowned as he asked, "What do you mean...your son is a direct product from the pillow harvest?"

Poppy looked up slowly and met Jia's eyes.

Jia responded with a lovestruck sigh, "Oh, well you know my husband, SangWon? I had had a crush on him forever! His glittery skin, sparkling eyes, fantastic….."

"Okay, okay! We get it. On with the story." Branch's cheeks flushed a vivid purple. He didn't want to imagine what fantastic thing Jia was going to talk about.

"Anyway," Jia coughed, "I never told SangWon how I felt. I was too shy and convinced that he didn't feel the same about me. But on Pillow Harvest Day, a pillow chose both of us. I was pretty confused at first and adamant that I was the true owner of the pillow. Then," Jia's eyes lost focus again as a flashback took over her brain. "SangWon asked me to share the pillow with him. Apparently we were both crazy… Crazy in love. We've been sleeping peacefully ever since. And the exercise~~!"

Jia began humming to herself as she walked away from the pair. She remembered fondly how SangWon's hand touched hers when they first plucked the pillow. How smooth he had been in getting her to share the pillow and his bed with her. She giggled like a lovesick schoolgirl as she walked through the bushes Poppy and Branch had emerged from mere moments ago.

Branch and Poppy did not have peaceful expressions on their faces when Jia left. Branch's entire body was a bright shade of purple, his eyes bugged out, and his jaw on the ground. Poppy's eyes were equally as wide, but her hand covered her mouth and kept her jaw in place. The two trolls slowly turned their heads to look at the other, but when their eyes met, they both let out an "EEP!"

"I HAVE TO GO!" Branch shouted loudly as he dashed in the direction of his bunker.

"ME TOO!" Poppy yelled as she hopped over a small log and sprinted toward her pod.

"Ahahaha!" An inconspicuous cloud above where they had been standing seconds before guffawed and a devilish grin spread across his face.

Branch raced home barely looking where he was going. He tripped and stumbled on his rocks, twigs, and his own booby traps. When he reached his lift, battered and bruised, he pulled Gary out of his pocket.

"Gary, I CAN'T share Sir Bedfellow with Poppy! B-but I need to sleep well in case something happens! What if we have a butterfly infestation? Or the grossums come back for revenge? Or the entire village burns down?! And I can't stop it because I'm sleep-deprived?!"

Branch has thrusting Gary to and from his body as his voice raised an octave, then two octaves. Spittle flew and splattered onto Gary. Branch began to hyperventilate as he leaned against his wall and slid down to the floor. Branch's eyes lost their focus and began staring into outer space.

"Trouble in paradise?" A calming voice filled the room and startled Branch back into focus.

"Who's there?" Branch asked the words before he could think because if he had taken a second to think before asking, he would have already known it was…

"'Tis the wonderful and powerful me! Cloud Guy!" Cloud Guy formulated in front of Branch. Cloud Guy wiggled his arms and legs. "I heard you're in a bit of a pickle."

Cloud Guy took a jar of pickles from Branch's shelf and handed him one dripping wet pickle. Branch hesitantly took the pickle.

"You should knock more often…" Branch muttered under his breath. His licked a drop of pickle juice from his finger tip, but didn't argue with Cloud Guy. He had lost all of his energy before he had even begun sprinting to his bunker.

"Do you wanna talk about it, big guy?" Cloud Guy folded up his legs and sat across from Branch as he began chomping on his own dill pickle.

"No. Yes. I don't know!" Branch heaved a sigh. "I didn't even know that pillows could choose TWO people! And today Sir Bedfellow chose me and Poppy. Of course we thought it was just a mistake and only one of us could be worthy of such a prime example of fluffiness… but…. Then Jia told us that stupid story about…." Branch sighed again and took a big bite from the pickle. "I mean, that could never happen to me and Poppy. We're not..." Branch trailed off into silence.

Cloud Guy patted Branch's knee. The little blue troll must be having a rough time for him to open up to the cloud this much. "You and Poppy aren't what?"

"We aren't in love!" Branch barked back. His voice cracking. "I mean… I…" Branch's gaze drifted to his bedroom as if he could see through the wall- see through his bedside cabinet- and see all of the cards and scrapbooks he had collected from Poppy over the years.

"Why haven't you told her you love her yet? You might be surprised." Cloud Guy spoke in an unnaturally soft voice for him. Unfortunately, Branch had started to take another huge bite of his pickle when Cloud Guy spoke. Branch began to choke on it and sputter some more. For the third time in the last hour, his face turned purple. Unlike the other two times, this shade of purple wasn't caused solely from embarrassment.

Cloud Guy jumped behind Branch and began doing the Heimlich maneuver. The pickle flew out of Branch's mouth and smacked a photo of him and Poppy. His saliva mixed with pickle juice ran down Poppy's face.

"I never said that I…"

"I think that may be the problem, old buddy, old pal." Cloud Guy patted Branch on the back one last time to make sure all of the pickle was out.

"What, so you think I should go up to Poppy and say, 'I love you. Let's share this pillow?'" A puzzled look crossed Branch's face. It couldn't be that easy. Could it? What if the pillow had brought Jia and SangWon together because it had sensed they shared the same feelings? What if Poppy also l-loved Branch?

Cloud Guy continued to speak encouraging words to Branch and give him advice. Both of the boys were so engrossed in their conversation, they didn't hear the faint gasp at the top of the lift. Gary was the only one who noticed they were not alone.

After Jia had wandered off and away from Poppy and Branch, Poppy's first instinct was to go back to her pod. She made it only a few feet into the direction of her house before she gathered her wits about her. She was initially embarrassed at the thought of sharing Sir Bedfellow with Branch, but wasn't what she had been planning to suggest to him anyway? This was her chance to let Branch know how she felt and maybe finally move their relationship forward. She kept waiting for the right opportunity or the right holiday to confess her feelings to Branch. Something or someone (Dammit, Keith) always ruined her chance. Branch was a delicate creature, and she didn't want to scare him away by being too forceful with him. Timing was important when it came to her favorite blue boy.

So why was she running away from this chance to finally get everything out in the open? Sure, she was nervous that Branch didn't feel quite the same way. She was worried about ruining their newfound friendship. He had finally come out of his shell and had started spending much more time with her and the Snack Pack. She didn't want to step too far, too soon for him to simply retreat back into his bunker and stop interacting with everyone again.

So she decided to test the waters with Sir Bedfellow. She could Branch the option to try sharing the pillow with her. Nothing had to happen between them. She and Branch had slept in proximity of each other before. What difference was a few feet from a few inches?

She had followed Branch's broken and bloody trail back to his bunker. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop on him and Cloud Guy, but she heard her name and was curious. THIS was the perfect timing. The perfect moment for her and Branch. She had to make everything perfect, and she knew just what she had to do. Poppy sneaked back to Troll Village to put her plan in motion.

Cloud Guy and Branch abandoned the cramped bunker for the more spacious meadow around the entrance. Branch feigned claustrophobia, but he was worried that Cloud Guy was going to help himself to more of Branch's provisions. And to be honest, they were both clumsier together than they were apart. Branch could just imagine Cloud Guy setting off the self-destruct button on the bunker. Branch shuddered at the thought.

"Okay, let's practice!" Cloud Guy's lumps created a topknot on the top of his head that resembled Poppy's hair. He spoke the next words in a falsetto. "Hi, Branch! You are looking scrum-dilly-umptious today!"

Branch winced and gagged. "Poppy would never say that."

Cloud Guy rolled his eyes. "Spoil sport. Hey, Branch! Looking blue as always I see."

"Much better. Hey, Poppy. So, uh… I was j-just wondering if…" Branch slapped his hand to his forehead.

Cloud Guy snored loudly. "I guess it's the right holiday because this is such a snooze fest. C'mon! Be more confident. Give me a smolder." Cloud Guy wriggled his eyebrows and puckered his lips.

"I can't do this when you're not taking it seriously!" Branch grumbled and tapped his foot.

"I am being serious! Ladies love confidence."

"Fine, so I should say- 'Hi, Poppy! Let's forget about the pillow fight and share Sir Bedfellow!'"

From the grass beyond Branch's bunker came a faint voice singing, "Ain't no mountain high! Ain't no valley low. Ain't no river wide enough, baby!"

"If you need me, call me," Cloud Guy said as he made a phone sign with his hand and put it to the side of his head. He dissipated as Poppy came through the clearing.

"No matter how far," Branch grumbled under his breath.

Poppy saw Branch, and her smile immediately faded. Branch's stomach sank as she ran to him. "Branch! There's an emergency!"

Branch's ears perked up. An emergency? "Is it the grossums? Hang on, let me get Gary!" Branch began to head back to his bunker, but Poppy grabbed his arm and pulled.

"There's no time for Gary. We have to hurry!" Poppy tugged on Branch's arm more urgently. Branch stumbled a bit before getting his bearings. He let Poppy lead him back through the grass. Their little legs pumped frantically as they crashed through the forest. Poppy suddenly stopped.

Branch doubled over to catch his breath. "W-where's the danger?" He grabbed his side to ease a stitch out before dubiously glancing up. He was expecting to hear hundreds of trolls crying and screaming for help, but everything was eerily silent. Except Poppy's quiet laughter beside him.

"Danger? I never said there was danger…" Poppy placed her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. She glanced up to the sky with a look of insincere innocence on her face.

Branch glanced between Poppy and the empty clearing around them. He could feel his temperature and his anger rising. "Then why….!"

Poppy booped Branch's nose and parted some blades of grass. Nestled in the grass was a small picnic basket, a blanket, and Sir Bedfellow himself. Poppy sat down on the blanket and patted the space beside her.

"S-sir… Poppy! We agreed that neither of us would have Sir Bedfellow until the pillow fight!" Branch huffed and sat down cross-legged beside Poppy.

"And neither of us will have him." Poppy put her hand on top of Branch's. Her pink eyes held his blue ones and peered into his soul. She waited a few breaths before she said, "Both of us will." She entwined her fingers between Branch's.

Branch's look of bewilderment made Poppy giggle softly. "Wha-what are you saying, Poppy?"

Poppy let out a gust of breath and rolled her eyes teasingly. "You know trolls aren't the best at spelling, but let me try to spell this out for you…"

Poppy leaned forward until her mouth was just a hair's breadth away from Branch's ear. "I… love…. U."

Branch gulped his heart back down his throat as realization hit him. He lowered his eyelids and turned to face Poppy. "I love you too." Branch caressed the side of Poppy's face. Maybe this was as easy as Cloud Guy made it seem. "I've loved you for the longest time…"

"Woah-oh-oh… For the longest time," Poppy sang back to Branch. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned her face into his hand. "Me too, you know. I didn't know how or when to tell you. But this whole...fiasco-slash-blessing... with Sir Bedfellow and Jia convinced me that know was the perfect time."

Branch was only half-focused on Poppy's words. He couldn't take his eyes from her soft, rosy lips. He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. Poppy smiled against his lips. She felt like crying tears of happiness, but instead she pressed her lips harder against Branch's. Branch let out a soft gasp. Poppy took the opportunity to sneak her tongue into Branch's mouth, but then she felt something wet against her cheek. She opened her eyes and pulled back. Branch's eyes were screwed shut, yet that couldn't stop his tears from falling onto his cheeks.

"Oh, Branch. Are you okay?" Poppy got on her knees and cradled Branch's head to her chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head into her dress. He gave a mumbled whisper that Poppy couldn't quite make out. She leaned her head down closer to Branch.

"Am I dreaming?" She could hear Branch more clearly this time.

"Not yet." Poppy leaned her body backward on the picnic blanket and brought Branch down with her until both of their heads were on Sir Bedfellow. "But we will be soon."

"I don't want to sleep yet," Branch grumbled half-heartedly. He nuzzled the space between Poppy's breasts before he realized what he was doing. He shot up off the pillow suddenly with flushed cheeks. "Sorry…"

Poppy giggled and pulled him back down to her. The pair locked lips again. Their kiss was hesitant at first, but became more passionate and less teary than the first one. Branch moaned against Poppy's lips and flipped them so he was on top of her. He broke away from her lips and gazed into her eyes. Both of their hearts were full to the brim.

A movement in the grass behind them caught Branch's eyes. "Did you see that?" He whispered to Poppy.

Poppy hummed in contentment. "No." Poppy reached her hair up and put it behind Branch's head. She forced his head back down to hers. He kissed her back, but had one eye on the grass. There it was again.

Branch broke away. "Someone is watching us."

"Who would be watching us? A bunch of perverts?" Poppy huffed. She wanted Branch's lips against hers again, but he was reverting back to his paranoid self.

"So, like half of the village?" Branch teasingly stuck his tongue out at Poppy. He took his weight off her and walked to the grass. Behind the blades, he saw a box. "Did you bring a picnic and a present, Poppy?" he called back to his almost lover.

"No. What did you find?" Curiosity got the best of Poppy. She rolled onto her belly and stood up to follow Branch. She peered over his shoulder to find a chest. "Let's open it!"

Branch was tempted. Oh, he was so tempted to open the box. What if it posed a threat to their village? What if someone had lost it and had been looking for it? Branch took a deep breath.

No, not this time. He wanted to give all of his attention to his queen.

"How about we open something else?" Branch waggled his eyebrows at Poppy.

Poppy snorted in return and jokingly slapped at his arm. "Branch!" Then she gave him an even more seductive look and winked. "Let's continue our picnic at your bunker? Cloud Guy told me you have some delicious pickles."

Branch looked up into the sky and yelled, "CLOOOOOUD GUY!"

Poppy giggled and took his hand. The two of them packed up the picnic and walked hand-in-hand back to Branch's bunker for some much needed downtime.

Neither one of them noticed the glittery red hand that grabbed the box.

Hours later, a sweaty Branch plopped down onto Sir Bedfellow. An equally sweaty and panting Poppy laughed and sighed contentedly. She snuggled closer to Branch's naked body, her hand splayed out on his chest.

"I'm going to tell my dad that Sir Bedfellow didn't come between us after all, but that we came on…"

Branch's cheeks purpled and he quickly kissed his queen to stop her from finishing that sentence. Even though they had both enjoyed the best 10 minutes ever, Branch was still a little too shy. He put his arm around Poppy and pulled her closer to him. Poppy smiled against his armpit. Branch let out a huge yawn. Before either of them could say another word, they were both sound asleep.