Jealousy
Been out of town for holiday and now…I'm back! Thanks for being patient.
Poppy and Branch are so cute. I wanted to write a little story around them and this came to me. Let me know what you think, please.
I own nothing. Nothing.
Chapter Three
"How wonderful," Posie nodded out before shrieking and jumping into Branch's arms as a scaly foot plopped down beside her, "Ahhh!"
"Princess! Ow," Branch hissed, trying to get Posie to release her hold on his hair before glaring up at the crocodile, "Shoo now. Look you scared her. Go on, Barnabas. Shoo now. I'll play with you later."
"Um…Pose, get down please," a voice said as Posie regained her reasoning and glanced up to see Poppy standing next to a pink-haired Bergen.
"Oh! Right. Sorry, Branch," Posie gulped as he helped settle her back on her feet, "That scared me for a second."
"I am so sorry," the lady Bergen apologized as she pulled on the collar of the croc, "Come on, Silly. Don't scare Poppy's friend."
"That is Bridget," Poppy pointed out as Posie tried to right her clothing, "She is the kindest Bergen in the world and is engaged to the king. The crocodile is King Gristle's pet and has taken a shine to Branch. He wanted to play."
"It scared me," Posie pouted out before blushing as she noticed a bit of hair wrapped around her fingers that was certainly not hers, "I'm so sorry, Branch. I didn't mean to pull at your hair."
"Not an issue," Branch assured as he rubbed at his scalp, "You have quite a grip and that old croc can be a sneaky thing. He moves very quietly, but usually just wants a tummy rub. I should have remembered to warn you that he'd seek me out if he smells my scent while we are in town. Are you okay?"
"Fine," Posie answered, feeling out of sorts, "Thank you for the lesson. I'll just go and get changed since we got a bit dirty poking around the gardens. Bye, Pop, Branch."
"See ya, Pose," Poppy offered as the elder cousin took off.
Posie turned a corner and groaned at herself before peeking back the way she'd come to see what the other two were doing. Drat it! They were standing too close together, for Posie's liking.
"Are you okay?" Poppy asked, looking concerned as Branch continued rubbing at the areas of his hair that Posie had jerked on in her fright, "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Poppy. Your cousin just took me by surprise, but it isn't a wonder Posie reacted that way. Barnabus really scared her. I'm not exactly hurting, but I do think I've got chunks ripped out of my hair," Branch groaned.
"Let me see, Branch," Poppy insisted as she hopped over to a tree branch and took a seat, "I don't care what you say, Branch, you looked like Pose was really hurting you. Sit here and let me make sure that you are really okay."
"Poppy," Branch snorted before outright laughing as Poppy pointed in front of her with as serious a face as she could muster, "I'm fine."
"Sit, Mister," Poppy ordered as Branch smiled wide at her, "Right now. Come on."
Branch shook his head in what looked like exasperation before trudging over with a playful pout that made Poppy giggle. Posie watched as her cousin carefully looked through Branch's hair once the troll lad had taken a seat. This was the ultimate show of trust for trolls to allow another to touch one's mane so intimately. Jealousy burned once again. That she-troll-vixen's ways had to be halted. Branch was going to be set free from that Poppy's spell so he could see how much they didn't belong together. He belonged to someone better. Posie!
"My cousin got you good," Poppy tsked as Branch relaxed into her touches while leaning against the pink troll's knees, "Your scalp is really red here. Does it hurt? Tell me the truth, Branch."
"It hurts just a bit," Branch hummed while the stroking fingers through his hair seemed to make him melt into the touch more, "You're making it feel a lot better."
Poppy giggled once again and then pulled out a brush from her own pink mane as she gently began combing out Branch's hair. The troll lad smiled at the attention and closed his eyes in appreciation while Poppy worked. Both looked so content that Posie huffed irritably. She wanted to switch places with Poppy so bad that she could feel the brush in her own hand. Trolls were known for their manes, but Branch's was such a unique coloration that it was the elder cousin that wanted the permission to run her fingers through that mane. Posie glanced at the strands of the troll lad's hair still clutched in her fist. Posie had a decent amount of Branch's hair in her grip. She'd make a necklace out of the hair to keep a bit of him near to her heart.
"You are perfect, my lad," Posie thought as she watched the interplay between her cousin and Branch before sneaking away, "I deserve you more than that queen-want-to-be. I just need to show you that."
Posie determined that it was this laughable "connection" that all trolls spoke of that existed between Branch and Poppy that needed to be dealt with first. However, try as she might, Posie was having trouble breaking this connection that Branch and Poppy actually seemed to possess. Posie could no longer deny that Branch and Poppy revolved around one another. It was as if her cousin and Branch could communicate without words and just seemed to gravitate to one another naturally. She hated it every single time she saw it happen.
"Please stop," Biggie begged out of the blue when Posie was glaring over at Poppy and Branch splashing away in a trickle of water during another one of Poppy's parties, "It is unbecoming of a lass like you, Princess Posie."
"Whatever are you speaking of?" Posie demanded, making Biggie sigh.
"Your 'I'm-going-to-break-up-Branch-and-Poppy' plan," Biggie answered honestly as Posie blinked in surprise at him, "Princess, everyone is beginning to suspect your motivations in always trying to hang out with Branch. Branch doesn't seem to realize what you are doing yet, but when he does…wow. You haven't seen an angry Branch yet and you won't like it so stop. It is embarrassing to watch you fail so much."
"I am not…how dare…you have no idea what you are talking about!" Posie snapped before glancing sideways at the large troll lad holding the icky worm, "I just see a kindred spirit like me in Branch and that is all. I like that about him and he has such interesting stories to tell of his adventures living almost alone."
"His stories are very interesting and I love to hear them too, but I don't try to crawl nearly in his lap," Biggie retorted with narrowed eyes, "You are making Branch uncomfortable, Princess, and he is a good friend now. Please stop whatever it is you are trying to do and give Branch some needed space. He's being polite and would never tell you to stop because you are family to Poppy, but as his friend, I am asking you to back off."
"He is my friend too," Posie insisted as Biggie turned to her.
"Then as a friend of his, be respectful of his need to breath his own air," Biggie snorted, making Posie blush, "Branch talks about how great you are at learning all the survival skills he teaches. He thinks a lot of you as a good friend, Princess. I'd hate for you to ruin the friendship by mistaking his feelings to be more than what they will ever be because of his love for Poppy."
"Hmph," Posie sniffed as she turned away, "You are wrong on so many levels. Leave me alone."
The conversation with Biggie just egged Posie on to make Branch hers even harder. She tried to be regal. Failure. She tried to be alluring. Failure, but she did appreciate the attentions of Guy Diamond. She tried to win Branch over with singing. Failure. Not even her best flirts worked. No amount of flirting seemed to draw Branch's eyes away from Poppy. So Posie tried a different tactic in desperation.
"How'd you and Branch get so close, Pop?" Posie asked at the slumber party that she'd allowed Poppy to finally talk her into.
"I'm not sure," Poppy gushed, scooting closer, "He was…Branch was just always so unhappy and I didn't want him to be because…he so special, Pose. Then when he joined me on my journey, he and I grew closer until I understood him more as he opened up to me. He's been through so much and survived it as best he could. I realized he is the bravest and kindest troll I've ever known because he did things for others instead of just for himself even when it made him uncomfortable or feel hurt due to past memories. I thought I loved another, but…I love Branch and he actually loves me too, Posie. Isn't it wonderful?"
Posie wanted to hurl again. Poppy was so…Poppy!
"So just because he's kind to you is why you think he loves you?" Posie asked to try and shake Poppy's faith.
"Oh, no you didn't," Satin grumbled as she stood beside her seated twin, "Take that back, Posie."
"It's okay, Satin, Posie's just curious since she wasn't there to see everything. Branch sang to me when I lost my colors and admitted to me in the song he loves me," Poppy breathed dreamily as Posie frowned out of sight of the others, "We've gone on dates and…he is so…I love him so much, Pose, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. It gives me chills of happiness just thinking about that."
"Not meaning to burst your bubble, but didn't you say he kept to himself?" Posie pushed as Poppy turned to nod, "How do you even know that Branch really knows what love is when he's been such a loner? Maybe he is mistaking these feelings of being accepted for love over the first troll lassie that showed him they cared, Pop?"
"What?" Poppy gasped as Posie stood to confront her cousin.
"You once told me that Branch is just now getting used to being around others," Posie spat, "His feelings could be confused in his mind. It would be wrong to continue a relationship with Branch if it isn't really, truly built on real love."
"I…," Poppy began, looking troubled, "That isn't…that isn't true."
"Of course that isn't true."
Both pink trolls turned to see Branch standing in the doorway with the twins and the rest of the Snack Pack behind him. Branch looked absolutely livid. Obviously the twins had gone for reinforcements.
"I have had just about enough of you, Posie," Branch snarled as he stomped forward to place himself between Posie and Poppy, "Don't think I haven't noticed your flirting and the necklace of my hair you have around your neck, Princess."
Posie blinked in shock. Biggie had been right. An angry Branch wasn't nice to see.
"This is a friendship necklace," Posie lied as Branch scoffed at her, "I'm just trying to protect one of my new friends."
"That is a lie. You have been doing everything in your power to come between Poppy and I since you arrived," Branch denied as Posie gasped at hearing the truth spoke so bluntly by someone she had thought was oblivious, "What you are doing and saying will hurt Poppy and I won't allow that. I love your cousin very much and I'll not allow you to force a wedge between us over whatever it is you are trying to do."
"Let's all calm down and talk rationally," Guy Diamond insisted before stepping back as Posie growled.
"You are a fool to fall for this troll's stupid antics, Branchy!" Posie yelled, pointing at her cousin as the group gaped at her, "She is so…so…."
"What am I?" Poppy asked as she stepped forward, "Pose, I'm your cousin. What is going on with you that you are acting like this?"
"You are a total ditz!" Posie bellowed, making the rest of the trolls gasp, "You've got everyone around you thinking you are so perfect, but you are not!"
"I never said that I was perfect," Poppy denied, "Pose, calm down."
"Calm down?" Posie snarled, "I have spent my whole life being compared to you! Being second best to you and now you are my queen? Fine! I can live with that, but you are not getting Branchy! He's mine!"
"Names not Branchy and I'm not yours," Branch snapped back as Poppy stared at Posie open-mouthed in shock, "Posie, I'd love to say you are a great lass, but it seems you have a lot of jealousy issues that need to be worked on before I can give you that compliment. Take it from someone that knows about working on issues that fester inside of oneself, you'll go as grey as I did and that life isn't fun."
"I am so much better than she is," Posie insisted as Branch sighed, "I'm smarter, funnier. I sing better and I can think things through more. I'm doing so much better at your lessons than Poppy."
"You've got me on the lessons," Poppy groaned as Branch glared at Posie in anger.
"You didn't mean to set Smidge's hair on fire. It was an accident and I put it out before the fire did too much damage. Smidge wasn't even mad," Branch soothed before looking back at Posie, "Is that what this is about? You feel lesser in comparison to Poppy?"
"I'm not less! She is!" Posie huffed as she got right in Branch's face, "Look at me, Branchy. I'm so much better for you. I'm stronger and I learn all of your lessons without turning them into a game like Poppy. I could be a real partner to you and we could lead trolls to safety in emergencies like a real king and queen and not like a giddy, worthless child."
Branch's eyes widened as Poppy whimpered from behind him. Posie didn't miss that the troll lad reached to squeeze her cousin's hand to soothe her. Stupid Poppy!
"A queen doesn't put herself first," Branch spoke up finally when he turned back to glard at her, "A queen doesn't manipulate others to get what she wants. A queen watches over her people carefully. That is what my Poppy does. She watches over her people and she watches over me. She is the smartest, most beautiful, and kindest troll I know and you have no right to put her down because of your pettiness."
Posie saw Branch reach and retrieve Poppy's scrapbooking scissors from her mane before the elder cousin gasped as he cut the hair necklace from around Posie's own neck.
"No, Branchy," Posie begged, dragging him several steps away from Poppy, "We belong together, you and me."
"I'm sorry, Princess," Branch whispered as he sadly looked down at the braided strands in his hand, "This doesn't belong to you. I don't belong to you and Poppy would never claim ownership over me. She loves me for being who I am without putting constraints on me as I do for her as well. That is what love really is, Posie, accepting others for who they are and for what they want out of their own life. She and I compromise together and have learned to accept what is the same between us and what is different. We round one another out and enjoy learning more and more about each other. You and I can be friends, but nothing more than that. I don't love you. I'm sorry. My heart belongs to Poppy."
Posie shook in her righteous anger before leaping for her pack that she had strategically set up earlier in the evening. The others trolls had little warning as the crazed lass aimed a ripened, Spike Leaf pod at Poppy and shook it to made the deadly darts fire while the Snack Pack gasped or screamed with little warning to offer any form of help. It was Branch that surprised Posie the most because somehow he was already on the move. One minute he was on the other side of the room and the next he had shoved Poppy out of the way of the spikes as voices screamed out in denial and fear. This hadn't been part of the plan.
"Branch! Branch, no!" Poppy shrieked from where she had landed as the troll lad hit the ground while three spikes embedded themselves in the wall behind him.
Posie stared in horror at what she had done. Spike Leaf pods contained four spikes. There were only three in the wall. Where was the fourth spike?
"Unh," Branch hissed, rolling over as his hands closed around the spike buried deep in his side, "Poppy?"
To be continued…
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