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Not A Nest (part 3)
They hadn't planned where to meet. After collecting his painted rock Branch had shooed her away and said he'd find her.
The troll tree itself spanned a huge area. The nesting grounds added to that were too much for one troll to search. There was no way Branch would be able to keep up. How the fur did he figure he'd find her? Half the time she didn't know her own plans.
Sheer curiosity pushed her to go the opposite direction of the lookout. She took her watering can and strolled out of her pod, greeting friends she passed. The number of good mornings shrank until there were no more trolls to talk to.
Wild forest ate up manicured lawns. Poppy exited the shared area of the troll tree as easily as warm frosting spread over a cupcake.
A stream led her deeper into the woods and around sparkling glitter rocks. Mushroom forests sprang from wet bark. The air smelled of peat moss and damp soil. A huge fallen tree rested here, its remains long ago hollowed out by critters. The trunk's opening loomed overhead like a lichen covered cavern.
Poppy scampered inside. Patches of sunlight spotted the curved floor where light poured through holes in the dissolving wood.
One bright patch hosted a cluster of tiny starflowers. This protected hollow was one of the few places she'd ever seen the rare blossoms. Sunlight highlighted their blue petals.
Poppy tilted the watering can, humming the verse of this morning's song. The music echoed off the trunk walls. When the last of the water trickled out she folded the can into her hair. Then she walked out of the log back into the sun.
Hmm.
No Branch.
Excitement quelled into a weight pressing down on her hopes. Is this what Suki meant when she wished to be found?
The shade of disappointment crawled around the edges of Poppy's positivity. She snorted and shook her head at how silly that was. It hadn't even been a day. Cupcakes, it'd barely been two hours, and it's not like she'd made herself easy to find.
Poppy made her way back to the troll tree. It wasn't fair to feel disappointment after only a short trip. If she thought Branch was going to show up at the village boundary dressed up nice with treats in hand, that went beyond optimism into crazy daydream. She chuckled at the mental image.
x x x
By the third day she accepted something strange was going on. Like, it seemed almost too quiet whenever she left the troll tree to see if Branch would make good on his request to visit. Weren't there usually more critter songs? More shakes and shimmies in the plants as everyone moved around?
Out in the nesting grounds she paused at the edge of a shortgrass thicket. Was this somebody's court? It had been last season, but now…
Her ears swiveled. Too quiet. The air felt charged, like she'd rubbed her hand over a balloon and got her fur to stick static to everything. Something might happen. Something would happen? Something—
"Greetings and namaste Poppy," Creek said.
She poked her head around a sapling and saw him sitting cross-legged on a rock. Oh. Must've only been Creek? Her ears didn't seem to agree. They kept turning, trying to find what was out of place.
Meanwhile she stood frozen by the other troll's presence. Creek had changed court locations and she'd been too distracted to notice.
He glided to a standing position, all smooth magenta sparkles and turquoise hair. Anxiety clutched oddly at Poppy's stomach. Isn't this what she'd wanted? Her fur itched. Gah, when had he rebuilt his nest? What kind of princess didn't notice these things?
One ear heard what Creek said. The other caught the distant sound of... actually all she could hear was Creek. Branch would've shushed him.
"This is a pleasant surprise. Is this alright, or shall I come to you?" Creek asked.
Poppy wanted to shush him.
"May I?" Creek purred.
Unwilling to expose her back to the troll prowling closer, Poppy glanced over her shoulder where she'd heard a noise. Shoot. She did see something moving in the underbrush. It swished out of sight.
Creek finally caught on something was amiss. "Poppy, are you alright?"
"I um. I. I have to go!"
She ran. She had to be fast.
Leaves smacked her in the face. A root skimmed the bottom of her foot. Twigs caught at her dress and she cursed and tore away. The forest was definitely quieter now except for the breeze and heavy fleeing footfalls up ahead. Felt snagged. Hair. Her favorite dress. Hooked thorns scraped up clumps of fuzzy blue fibers.
Poppy growled. "Branch!" She kept running as best she could in the thick briars. It was more a hobbled obstacle course hop. Open air licked through tiny holes in her dress.
"Branch!" Grrr. How long had he been following her? Was that his idea of spending time together? No wonder he hadn't been worried they would be seen together—he hadn't even—ugh! "Branch!" she shouted uselessly.
Up ahead he burst out of the briars to escape. Onward he fled. She ripped herself from the thorns. Tiny vest leaves tore up alongside periwinkle felt.
Poppy hunted Branch, dashing after the flighty gray troll. She grit her teeth and bellowed his name for the umpteenth time. Finally, finally the sound of his flight halted dead stop. The back of his tattered vest burst into view.
Branch whirled on her, palms out, all of his fur flared angrily. "What?!"
Her irritation poured over. "Stop running! Why do you always have to run!"
"Leave me alone!"
"I will, if you just tell me why you're running."
"Well gee Princess Poppy, I don't know. Maybe I don't want to stand around and watch you court every troll in the forest."
The verbal blow shot her tail straight out, all her fur raising. "What? I'm not—in case you didn't notice, HE approached ME!"
Branch scoffed. "An offer from Mr. Dreamboat himself. How lovely. Let me know how it goes. Oh wait, don't."
It was nowhere near as lovely as Branch said. Poppy just—and he made it sound like courting was some evil act. How else was she supposed to find out what she wanted? You had to meet people! Go out and explore! Why couldn't he get that through his paranoid skull?
"I didn't even know you were following me, Branch," she snapped.
He gaped at her like she'd fed him a bitter lie. "I said I was coming with you. Then you gave me a hairball of a time finding you—"
"Without so much as a hello. How was I supposed to know you were there?"
Branch flung a bristling hand out at the thicket. "Well good, I'm glad it was a secret! At least now we know whose attention you really wanted!"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT CREEK!"
Immediately Poppy slapped her hands over her mouth. Horror flushed all her fur flat. She hadn't meant that. She hadn't. Branch's eyes went wide. He physically backed off.
"I absolutely did not mean that," she said. Her voice shook. "Creek is an amazing troll, a great friend. He shares cupcakes with us, he tries to cheer me up when I'm upset, everybody appreciates the weekly yoga sessions, he takes care of the village…" She thought she might be sick.
Branch looked pale. He continued backing away. Trolls cared about each other. How could she say such a thing?
Regret overwhelmed Poppy. She couldn't even pretend everything was fine. At some point Branch vanished. She didn't notice when.
So. She hadn't just ruined everything because this could all be fixed, no problemo.
Too bad now that she was totally alone panic came smashing down.
What if Branch told everyone what she'd said?
What if he told Creek?
Her heart ate itself alive at the image of how hurt Creek would be. How her friends would gasp. Would anyone want to hug someone so mean spirited? Would her dad ever look her in the eye again? She wasn't fit to be queen.
Out in the realm of romance and fun, Poppy sat and pulled her knees to her face. Her hair balled her up into a nest with no windows and no doors.
Eventually, when she was strong enough to face the village, she went home. Then she hid there.
Branch didn't tell anyone.
x x x
It'd been one day. Poppy couldn't live with her sin. She couldn't live holed up in her pod for the rest of her life. The closed doorway loomed as a constant reminder of her horrible words.
She crafted an apology basket. Then she opened the door. Her feet marched all the way to Creek's pod.
A wide smile spread over Creek's face when he saw her. It hurt to see; he had no idea at all.
"I'm really sorry," she began. "About yesterday. And after. I… I got in a heated discussion and may have accidentally said, um," her voice shrank down to a squeak, "I accidentally said I didn't care about you."
She winced, holding the basket out.
Creek looked absolutely baffled, standing there palms pressed together. One hand took the basket. "Oh," he said. "Ah. I appreciate the honesty, Poppy."
He blinked, still looking very confused. He asked, "You do care, right?..."
"Oh absolutely," she said with all her heart. "You're one of my closest bestest friends. I was upset and wasn't thinking. I care a lot. I am so so soooo sorry."
Creek's confusion cleared. Behind his sparkling smile she had no idea what he was thinking, but she had a sneaking suspicion he knew Branch was the root of the, um, heated discussion that'd upset her. Thank sugar Creek didn't comment on it.
He tucked the apology basket over an arm. "So," he said, "about yesterday by the way, outside the village."
"Mmm?" Gosh she felt a million times better. Phew. PHEW.
"Would you care to join me for an evening stroll tonight?"
Poppy's ears snapped up. "Oh. I. I appreciate the offer. Honestly I hoped you'd asked sooner."
The almost smug look on Creek's face assured Poppy she was making the right choice.
"...But I think I'm going to pass," she finished.
"Hmm. Well that is a shame. Maybe some other time, then?"
Oof. "Prooobably not?"
Creek's expression shifted slightly in surprise, and then embarrassment at being turned down. A light blush dusted his face. "Haha. Seems I misread the situation. Thank you for the basket."
And that was that. Her old daydreams met their end. She was free.
Free. Free! Her steps skippily brushed over the tree on her way out.
x x x
It took time to build the resolve to seek out Branch. After he'd seen her explode like that she wasn't ready to face him.
She headed to the market square with her friends. Chatter about the new worm Biggie had adopted from Milton kept the energy flowing. Satin and Chenille swapped gossip. Cooper's goofy laugh punctuated a sentence here and there. Guy filled Creek's spot, and he did it with so much sparkly flair it felt natural. There was hardly a hole left.
Satin's voice. "Aww, these pictures are so cute Biggie."
Poppy stared into the woods as they walked. Had she ruined things with Branch?
Cooper this time. "It was cuh-ray-zee. The whole stadium got covered in glitter."
Hopefully Branch was okay.
"And so Mr. Dinkles said…" Biggie drifted off. The conversation lulled to quiet.
Poppy realized she'd gone ahead of the group a couple steps. They'd slowed to a stop. She looked back, confused only for a second because she'd been thinking about, well… the only person who'd make everyone stop.
"HelloooOOooo Branch!" Guy sang.
Ahead of her the gray troll stood. Poppy could tell he wanted to fold his arms, but his hands were full.
Biggie said, "Is that… is that an ice cream cone?"
Branch looked down at the cone. "No. It's a bunch of snow I found on the ground this morning."
It was so obviously ice cream that Poppy giggled. How could he not notice? She opened her mouth to point out he'd found ice cream on the ground this morning, not snow.
She couldn't say it. She sucked in air. Nope. No words. The comment disappeared behind closed lips. All eyes turned to her. She always had something to say, and Branch always rolled his eyes at it.
The routine didn't happen. Instead Poppy and Branch watched each other.
He didn't seem especially upset. More… uptight, which was normal. As if he'd brushed off her outburst the same way she overlooked his darker days.
Did he like ice cream? She'd never seen him with one. And his fur wasn't gray, not really. She'd noticed the color in it before. Could the others see it too? The longer she stared the more she wondered.
All her friends were watching, and she could feel her cheeks heating, and, uh, was she supposed to talk? Somebody else say something.
Poppy looked at the ground. Her tail had curled around one leg.
"Poppy…?" Biggie prompted.
She snuck a peek at Branch through her lashes. His tail clocked sharply back and forth while he surveyed the group with suspicion, his eyes scanning the surroundings for something or someone. A dribble of melting ice cream slid down the cone. He lapped at it absentmindedly.
Poppy lifted her head more. Only Branch could eat an ice cream and look miffed about it. It was actually kind of endearing, his grumpy ice cream licking. Though she'd be silent for a day if it meant seeing a genuine smile over there instead.
His gaze found hers. Tension crackled off him in waves, but he didn't walk away. He waited with begrudging patience for… what? An apology. She should apologize.
His tongue skirted the edge of the cone again. Poppy wondered if he might stand there and eat the whole treat without realizing or enjoying any of it.
"Are you gonna invite him or not?" Suki blurted.
Sugar! Sprinkles! Right, right, the card. He wasn't waiting for an apology; he was waiting for his usual invitation. Poppy fumbled in her hair for the envelope, knocking a bunch of other cards, some candies, and a pair of scissors out in the process. Branch's invite tapped her fingers in the front where she always kept it. Wow, haha, the card. Right. Okay.
His eyebrows went up a notch.
Hotly aware how flustered she was, Poppy brought the card over.
If Branch thought he could hide a smirk behind the ice cream he was wrong. The edges of his wide grin curled around the cone. He loved throwing her off her game and ruffling her fur. Poppy had half a mind to slap the card at his feet like a blushing fool and take off.
He plucked it from her fingers. "Thanks."
No snide remark. No card destruction. He strolled away toward the bunker, giving her friends a wide berth. The patches on his shorts sashayed with confidence. He didn't look back.
"Well that was odd," Biggie said.
"Who was that troll?" Suki said. "He didn't even say 'bergens' once."
Satin chimed in. "He said thank you."
"He took your invitation," Chenille added.
They wanted an explanation. Poppy flexed her empty fingers and fished for one that sounded less illicit than whatever she and Branch had been up to. The last time she'd seen him… "We got into an argument."
"Ohhh," Satin said. "So now he's being extra nice to make up for it?"
"I guess." Honestly Poppy didn't know. She was still stuck on the fact he'd come to the village for something as "frivolous" as ice cream.
If that wasn't enough icing on the cake, Branch threw them all for a loop by attending the party he'd been invited to, just like he'd promised that day at the lookout.
x x x
The gray shape hovered at the celebration's edges, trying to avoid conversation but also be in the same area at the same time as everyone else. When Poppy noticed him she excused herself and made her way over.
"Um, hey, Branch."
"Poppy."
Permission to babble. "I'm sorry I shouted the other day. I don't know what got into me. I'm normally great with feelings, you know? Or… I know you don't really like feelings or talking about them but you don't hate me right?"
"What? No." He actually looked offended.
"I mean I get it if you don't want to spend time together after what I said. It was the most untrolly thing to say. It's okay if you don't think of me as a princess anymore…"
"Poppy—"
"...like what kind of princess says things like that? That they don't care about people?"
"Hey—"
"I've never heard anybody say that, not even in a scrapbook. Not a good one anyway. Only villains say they don't care. My gosh that's like something a bergen would say…"
"Stop!" He clutched her hand for half a second. Maybe. It was so fast she wasn't sure. "Stop," he repeated quieter. "My gosh, Poppy, if one mistake was enough to ruffle my fur we wouldn't even be talking right now."
Wow, okay. Way to be brutally honest all of a sudden Branch.
"No not like that. I mean, me. I'm the one who messes things up."
"Woah hang on—"
"The parties, the fun, the festivals, blah blah, I know what everyone says about me."
"That's not true—"
"Ba ba ba! Still talking! Listen, let's just..." he sighed heavily "...can we not make a big deal of this? Yes, you shouted something surprising. Compared some of the things I've done? Tame."
She sloughed a fist into her hip and tilted her head. "Oh really? Name one thing."
"I literally burned your Pizza Palooza invitation. In front of everyone."
Oh yeah. That did happen. Huh.
"Look, if there's one troll in the forest who doesn't expect you to be cupcakes and rainbows all the time, it's me. So. Let's go back to how we were before," he said.
"You burning my invitations and me being nice?"
A single laugh barked out of Branch and took them both by surprise. She couldn't complain if it made even him laugh, but personally she didn't see what was so funny. She liked where they were now, Branch coming to parties, seeing him in the forest, exchanging gifts. She didn't want to go backwards.
He saw her confusion and said flatly, "I meant let's pick up where we left off."
"Ohhh. I like the sound of that way better."
