Hello again!
This chapter had some more fluff! It's so much fun writing it! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I don't own trolls but Rose is my OC.
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Rose looked down embarrassed, her bangs hiding her eyes. Another small hiccup caused her body to shake slightly. "You okay kid?" Branch asked, seeing her nod slightly and hiccup again. "Just take a deep breath in and hold it for a few seconds then let it out. Do that a few times, it will help." He stood up and patted her back gently as she followed his instructions. He saw the empty bowls. "Do any of you want more?" He saw them shake their heads and he took the bowls.
"That was very good Branch. Thank you." Peppy smiled and stood up. "I should take my leave now, I don't want to burden you any farther." He told Branch, hearing Rose hiccup again.
"You did not burden us sir. I really appreciate what you told me, thank you." Branch said, looking at the leftover. "Would you like to take any home with you? I made way too much." He started putting the extra in containers.
"I'd love to take some. Thank you Branch." He smiled, and went to the kitchen. "If you ever want to talk Branch, don't hesitate to talk to me."
Branch closed the container for Peppy, handing it to him. "I was actually wondering." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "If maybe you had any photos? I only have two photos and they're pretty damaged, and my father isn't in either of them. They're only of my grandmother and mother."
Peppy smiled at Branch. "I'll look around and see what I have. I'll bring them by tomorrow." He saw Branch's eyes lit up causing Peppy to smile more. "I'm sorry I never told you about anything earlier."
Branch shrugged. "It's okay. Better late than never, right?" He smiled at Peppy.
Peppy smiled back, and wrapped his arms around Branch bringing him into a hug. Branch hesitated for a second before hugging him back. "You have grown to be an amazing troll Branch. I'm very happy to think one day you will be my son in law." He patted Branch's back and went to talk to Poppy. Branch was frozen in place at his words, his heart racing as the blush rose on his face and ears.
Rose ran to Branch, jumping in place to get his attention. When Branch looked down she opened her mouth pointing to it. "Are you still hungry? Thirsty?" He asked, kneeling down. She shook her head, pointing to her throat. "Oh, your hiccups are gone." She nodded and wrapped her arm around his leg.
"I should probably head out too, there's a few things I need to do around town and it's already past lunch time." Poppy said as she finished her juice and looked at Branch.
Branch stood up and looked at her, about to take a step forward before he felt his leg weighted down. He looked down as Rose held onto his leg, her feet on his so she was balancing on his foot. Branch carefully walked out of the kitchen, making sure Rose was okay on his leg. "Okay ankle biter, come here." Branch said halfway out the kitchen and picked her up. He looked at Poppy and Peppy. "I'll lead you two out." He said as they started heading towards the side exit, passing by the letters. "Oh right. What letters are those Peppy, do you know?" Branch asked him as he picked one up.
"I believe they're from yesterday's meeting, questions the trolls had." Peppy said, looking at the large sack. "There are a lot of them." He stated.
Branch quickly read the question before putting it back. "I'll take a look at them later." He said before going back towards the exit. He stopped in front of the door, feeling Rose starting to squirm in his arms. He placed her down and opened the door, seeing her quickly walk and hugged Poppys leg as she looked at the door.
Poppy knelt down to the little trolls level. "I have a few things I have to go do, but I'll be back." She smiled at Rose, who shook her head. "Can I get a hug before I go?" She opened her arms.
Rose shook her head vigorously as Poppy lowered her arms slowly. Before Poppys arms were much lower Rose jumped towards her, wrapping her legs around her to keep from falling. Poppy hugged her back, as Rose clung to her, before she took out her notebook and started writing. 'No go.' She shoved the page into Poppy's face, a frown on her lips.
Poppy stared at the paper. "No go? What do you mean?" Poppy looked at Rose, who kept pointing to her words. "As in you don't want me to go?" Rose nodded and hugged her again. Poppy was shocked for a moment, rubbing Roses back gently. "Oh you're the sweetest thing!" Poppy cuddles her close. "I won't be gone long, I'll be back for dinner."
"You're coming back after?" Branch spoke, causing Poppy to look at him.
She smiled lovingly when she saw his ears were perked up and his eyes lit up at her coming back. She took a few steps closer to him, standing in front of him. "Of course I'm coming back after! Why wouldn't I?"
His eyes softened, giving her a loving look. "I wasn't sure how long you would be, and with the party after I thought I'd see you tomorrow instead of tonight." He shrugged.
"Oh, the party! I almost forgot about it." She said before she heard Branch's dramatic gasp.
"You? Forget a party?" He smirked when she looked back at him. "Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend? My Poppy would never forget a party!" He placed both his hands on her cheeks, pinching them teasingly.
Poppy pouted as she started blushing, using her free hand to swat his hands away. "Stop it! And I didn't fully forget, I got distracted."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, the smirk still on his face. He leaned towards her, his cheek touching hers. "What distracted you?" He kissed her cheek, feeling the heat from her bliss on his lips, before pulling back. "Come on Rose, you have to let Poppy go now." He gently tried to lift her up but she held onto Poppy tightly, shaking her head.
Poppy glared at him, her cheeks a dark pink. "You have to let go now Rose, okay?" She felt Rose shake her head again. "I'll be back soon." She gently moved her hand to Roses, unhooking her little fingers so Rose let go of her dress.
Branch moved Rose off of Poppy, and immediately started hearing Rose whimper as she reached for Poppy. Branch looked at Poppy, who was giving him a sad expression. "She will be fine, we will see later." He held Rose tightly as he felt her squirm in his arms.
Poppy nodded and took a few steps backwards, still watching Rose. Peppy placed a hand on Poppy's shoulder. "The quicker we go, the sooner you get back." He whispered as they started off towards the village. "See you tomorrow bug." Peppy called, causing both Branch and Poppy to freeze.
Both their faces heated with blush. "D-Dad!" Poppy said embarrassed.
"I may be old, but I was young once. I know exactly where those come from. You can't hide it from me." Peppy continued walking.
Rose started crying loudly, struggling against Branch. Branch snapped back from his embarrassed state and kept a hold of her, seeing Poppy in the distance, looking back as her ears fell before she headed back to the village. He shooed her before he went back inside. "Rose, it's okay. She will be back soon." He tried to sooth her, feeling her grip onto him tightly.
He sat on the couch and gently rocked her. "Come on kid, she will be here soon. Why don't we do something? Do you want to do something?" He asked, feeling her shake her head. He let out a small sigh, and let her cry for a bit longer. After another ten minutes, Rose's sobs started to fade. "How about we decorate your room? We could paint it if you want?" He suggested, seeing her shake her head. He thought for a moment. "Well, what do you want to do? I don't know what kids like to do." He sighed.
Rose looked at him, wiping her eyes before she took out the notebook and started writing. 'Draw?' She held her paper up to him.
"You want to draw?" He sat up straighter, seeing her nod. "Alright, let me go get some more paper." He placed her on the at the table so she had a flat surface and went to get what she needed. Branch came back a couple minutes later with loads of paper and drawing utensils. "I used to like to draw, but I mostly designed this bunker."
Rose held up her notebook, which had 'thank you' written on it before she started drawing on the paper. As she started writing she saw in the corner of her eye that he was staring at her, causing her to sheepishly look away.
Branch snapped back from his train of thought. "Oh, sorry for staring. I was just thinking of soemthing. Stay here." He got up and started wondering as he looked for certain things.
When Branch came back he had a handful of miscellaneous items. Metal rings, cardboard, vines, tape, glue, and a few things Rose wasn't sure what they were used for. Rose watched as Branch started to work, noticing how his tongue was sticking out as he concentrated. She looked down at her paper and went back to drawing, sticking her tongue out as she worked as well. After a half hour Branch stopped and grinned. "There! It's finished." He held up his work to show her.
Rose stared at it confused, before looking at him. "It's for you. I saw how the notebook is just about full and thought I'd make you your own notebook. It also works as a little bag." Branch opened the binder, revealing lots of blank pages. Inside it had a pocket to hold writing utensils, and the outside had a couple little pockets. "I even added a spot where you can keep Bebe. And I put a little bell here so you can get our attention." He put his hand through a hole on the top of it. He placed it on the table and opened the metal rings. "When you finish using the pages you can easily take them out and refill it with new paper, so you never have to run out." He said, proud of his work. He handed it to her, waiting to see how she liked it.
Rose stared at it, before she started looking through the compartments. After a few minutes she took her toy bear Bebe and placed it in the spot Branch said she could go, ringing the bell a couple times as her eyes lit up in excitement. Rose held it up, looking at it before she opened it and started writing. 'Like it. Thank you.' She showed him it, as her eyes shined.
Branch grinned. "You really like it?" He saw her nod fiercely. "I'm glad you like it." He picked up the vine he had and laced it through the spine of the binder. "This way you can carry it without using your hands, it would be too bulky in your hair." He said as he tied it around her shoulder so the binder laid by her hip when she let it go.
Rose stood up on her seat and jumped in place, testing it. Branch quickly placed an arm around both open sides of the chair. "Careful, don't jump on there. You could fall." He said cautiously
, causing Rose to stop jumping on the chair and jumped onto his chest. Branch quickly placed a hand on her back to keep her from falling as he looked at her confused. Rose held him tightly, rubbing her face in his shoulder as she cuddled into him. Branch slowly held her closer, his hand making circles on her back gently. "I'm going to take this as a thank you. You're welcome kid." He smiled.
They held each other for a while longer, before Branch looked at her. "Hey, do you mind me calling you kid? Do you prefer I call you Rose or something else?" He asked as Rose shrugged. "I feel like I should call you kid, so how about something else? Like a nickname?" Rose stared at him confused for a moment before nodding. "I was thinking...twig?" He said, his ears down nervous about what she thought of it.
Rose tilted her head a bit, before lifting her binder and started writing. 'Twig why?'
"Well, you and I are the only ones who have turned grey for more than a day, we're very similar. So you're like me, and you know." He rubbed his neck nervously. "A small Branch is a twig right? So I thought it was unique." He looked away. "I can always just call you Rose, it was…" When he glanced back at her, and froze when he saw it.
Rose had a small smile on her lips. This was the first time Branch saw her smiling. She started nodding vigorously, quickly writing in her book. 'Twig, twig, twig!' She quickly shoved the book in his face excitedly.
He stared at the book that was placed on his face, moving his head back so he could see her. "So you do like it?" He smiled, feeling her nod. "I'm glad." He whispered, holding her close before placing her on the table. "Well then twig." He said and she bounced in his arms happily at the nickname, letting out a small giggled which caused him to smile more. "I believe I did promise cupcakes. I don't have any at the moment, but we can go out to get some." He suggested, seeing her grow nervous about going out. "I guess we can try making some. I never made any before." He thought out loud, feeling her bounce in his arms.
Rose quickly started writing. 'Cupcake!' She showed him the book.
"Alright. I guess we can give it a try." He went to the kitchen and placed her on the counter. "Is there any kind you want?" He asked, looking through some books he had but couldn't find a cupcake recipe. Rose pointed to the boxes that were still in the corner of the room. "There may be one in there. You're okay if I look in some to see?" He saw Rose nod and put her on the floor before he walked over to the boxes and started going through them. He found a handful of books, but none of them were cookbooks. "No luck twig." He said, looking at her. "What if we wait for Poppy? I'm sure she knows a recipe off by heart."
Rose looked down, her ears lowered and nodded. Branch frowned slightly, before picking her up again. "Well, we can try it without a recipe I guess." Rose perked up and pointed to the kitchen. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" He muttered to himself and went back to the kitchen.
An hour later Branch was cleaning the kitchen as Rose was drawing cupcake designs she wanted to to make. Neither had heard the light footsteps coming towards them. "What in the name of troll happened here!" Poppy's voice echoed as she saw the state of the kitchen. The walls and ceiling were covered in flour, milk was dripping down the counter onto the floor where Branch was cleaning.
Branch and Rose jumped as the voice, turning to the pink trolls behind them. Rose started hitting the chair to clap and tried to jump off the chair, Branch quickly caught her and placed her on the ground. "Poppy, I didn't expect you to come this early. I thought you would be back closer to dinner time." Branch walked over to her.
Poppy stared at them. Both of their hair had white speckles of flour and their clothes had what looked like batter on them. "It looks like you two lost a fight to a cake."
Rose reached up towards Poppy eagerly, her new binder in her hand. Poppy knelt down and Rose quickly started showing her all the things her book could do. "Wow Rose, that is so cool! Where did you get it?" Poppy smiled.
Rose ran over to Branch, tapping his leg and ran back to Poppy. "Branch gave it to you? That is very nice of him!" She smiled at Branch before looking back down at Rose. "Why are you two so dirty?" Rose quickly opened her book and showed Poppy the word cupcake. "You two made cupcakes?" She looked up at Branch as she picked Rose up.
"Tried. We tried to make cupcakes. When we put the flour in the mixer it flew everywhere, the milk spilt everywhere, and I didn't have a recipe book so I don't think they will taste very good." He shrugged. "But it's what she really wanted to do so we gave it a shot." He looked at her before looking at Rose. "Why don't you go clean up?" He took a damp cloth and handed it to Rose. "Bathroom is down the hall, first door on the left." He reminded her as Poppy put her down and she walked to where she was told.
Once Rose was out of earshot Branch turned to Poppy. "What's wrong Poppy?" He asked, seeing Poppy look at him.
"How did you know something is wrong?" She asked, looking at him confused.
He smiled slightly. "Your eyes always shine brighter than the sun, but right now it looks like the sun is hiding behind some clouds." He said poetically. "You may be smiling, but your eyes show you aren't happy." He took a step towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Poppy relaxed into his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. "The funeral is going to be tomorrow." She felt Branch stiffen at her words. "That's why I'm back earlier than expected. I thought it would be better if I told her sooner so she can prepare a bit for it." She held Branch tightly, looking up at him.
He gently rubbed her back. "You're right, it will be better for her to know what to expect." He kissed the top of her head, burying his face in her hair gently. After a minute he pulled back slightly, his forehead resting against hers. "So, um. Did your dad say anything after you left?" He asked, hearing her groan.
"Don't remind me. He started giving me the talk. Again." She leaned against him more, blushing slightly as she rubbed her nose against his and smiled. "But he was mostly teasing, no one else said anything about it while I was in town so I think they're gone."
He chuckled, placing a hand on her cheek. He felt her lean into his hand as she smiled more. "Your dad loves giving the talk. He even gave it to me a couple months back." He let out an embarrassed sigh. "That was not a fun lunch." He muttered as he heard Poppy giggle. He looked into her eyes and smiled, seeing her eyes sparkling. "There's my sunshine." He whispered and pressed his lips against hers, bringing her closer to him.
Poppy kissed him back immediately, smiling even more when she pulled back. "You and your sweet words." She giggled as she kissed his nose. "Thank you, you always know how to cheer me up." She felt his hand leave her cheek and traveled down to her hands. He took a step back, bringing her with him as he slowly started dancing around the table, his eyes never leaving hers. Poppy laughed, grinning as her eyes watched him. "What are you doing?" She followed his steps, swaying along with him.
Branch shrugged. "I just felt like it." He lifted their hands and gently spun her, hearing her laugh fill the bunker. Branched grinned at her laugh, bringing her back to him and placed his hand around her waist as they kept dancing. Suddenly a small chime caused them to jump apart, and looked down to see Rose had come back. "Oh, sorry twig. I didn't realize you finished."
Poppy looked at Branch confused. "Twig? Why did you call her twig?" She looked between them.
Branched blushed slightly, looking away. "I thought I shouldn't call her kid anymore so I gave her a nickname."
"And you chose twig?" She raised an eyebrow, staring at him.
"Well, yeah. Her and I are similar, and I thought what's a small branch? A twig. So I call her twig." He explained, looking at Poppy out of the corner of his eye. Poppy stared at him, a small pout on her lips. Branch gulped, taking a step back. "W-what is it?"
Poppy was silent for another minute. "That is the cutest nickname I have ever heard." She started smiling at Rose, but Branch could see there was something else in her eyes.
Branch looked at Rose. "Hey, can you go sit on the couch for a minute? We will be over in a minute." He saw Rose look at him infused before nodding and went to the other room. Branch turned back to Poppy. "Okay, what is it? Do you think I shouldn't give her a nickname? Is it better if I call her something else?"
Poppy looked at him and smiled. "It really is the cutest nickname, it's adorable. She seems to really like it too!" Poppy looked at him, before looking away slightly as she gently rubbed her arm.
Branch stared at her, before the corner of his mouth lifted. "Are you jealous?" He asked, seeing her shoot him a glare.
She stopped at his words. "Jealous? I am not jealous! Why would I be jealous? What would I be jealous about." She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.
Branch chuckled. "I'm not a hundred perfect sure why you would be jealous, but it does seem like you are." He took a step towards her and kissed her softly. "And here I thought you would never get jealous, let alone over a nickname."
She frowned more. "I am not jealous!" She turned her back to him.
He reached into his hair before wrapping his arms around her. "You are jealous, admit it. It's fine to be jealous." He placed a piece of paper in her hand before he let her go and walked over to Rose so they could check on the cupcakes they were making.
Poppy looked down at the folded piece of paper before she smiled softly. Branch had made a list of nicknames he heard other couples call each other and ones he thought would fit Poppy. She couldn't help but smile more as she read a few that had means written down or had lines through. 'Sunshine, helping me through my dark storms. Honey, we always stick together no matter what. Sweetheart, isn't it obvious.' She giggled as she read them before putting it in her hair and watched Branch.
Rose tapped her hand against her side to make a loud clapping kind as she quickly walked to the kitchen and stood in front of the oven. "Okay, back up. It will be hot." He instructed, taking a pair of oven mitts and opened the oven once Rose was away from the door. He placed them on the oven too and looked at them questionably. "I don't think they look right." He said, feelings Rose tug his pants as she stood on her tiptoes trying to see but could barely reach the handle of the oven.
Branch lifted her so she could see, he saw her frown once she saw them. They looked burned on the top but were still bubbling around the rim, indicating they were still raw in the middle. "Sorry twig. I can go out and buy some if you want?" He offered, seeing her staring at the ruined cupcakes.
"Why don't I help you make a new batch?" Poppy walked into the kitchen. "I know dozens of cupcake recipes off my heart!" She saw Rose's eyes lit up, a small smile on her lips. Poppy stopped for a moment when she saw the smile, and started grinning herself. She quickly took Rose out of Branch's arms and lifted her in the air. "Oh you're so cute!" She brought her into her arms and cuddled her. "What's your favorite kind of cupcake? We can make different kinds!" Rose quickly took her book out and started writing a couple different kinds of cupcakes. "Okay, okay! How about we make a chocolate, strawberry short cupcake, and classic vanilla?" She saw Rose nod excitedly. "Alright, let's get started!" Poppy grinned, placing Rose on the counter and gathering the ingredients.
Branch watched, smiling before he went to the table and placed the bag of letters on it. After a couple minutes Poppy walked over to Branch. "Okay. Maybe I was an itty bitty bit." She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. "It's just, we have been dating for almost six months and we didn't have nicknames." She buried her face in his shoulder, embarrassed.
Branch chuckled, moving his head and kissed her cheek. "First, we don't need nicknames. I like saying you name, but that list of some that I thought of in case it came up." He took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. "Secondly, you don't have to be jealous. You know you are the one troll I care for the most. You are the love of my life." He looked into her eyes, smiling as her eyes pierced his. He melted at her stare, pulling her closer to him.
Poppy smiled, her nose gently against his as she was about to speak but heard a ring coming from the kitchen. They both looked towards the kitchen to see Rose holding up a half empty curtain of strawberries with one in her mouth. "Don't eat them all! We need those to make the cupcakes!" Poppy quickly went to Rose and went back to making cupcakes.
Branch watched, a smile on his lips as he rested his hand on his hand as he watched. His chest buzzed but he didn't fully know why, but he liked it. He let out a small sigh before he went back to reading the questions from the bag.
