Under The Wishing Well
Fifteen cupcakes in an hour made Branch's left eye start to twitch. He was going through the tunnels with his carving tools in hand to finally finish his big surprise to Poppy when he witnessed a rain of sugary goodness falling from the wishing well.
He did not have time to get fifteen wishes done that day, even with Poppy's help, and, still considering himself a full-fledged troll, he wasn't willing to put someone's needs before his own.
Yeah. He was in a bad mood and to remedy that, Branch had to speak with Poppy about the wishing well. It was fun while it was just between them. It was a delightful secret that was fully enjoyed until it started to get in the way of his plans.
Last week he had granted more than two hundred wishes - thankfully most of them were asking for a piece of his pie which he had no idea how the word was still spreading - and he had little progress on his project because of it. A Branch with construction work behind schedule was a cranky Branch.
Familiar giggles reached his ears when he walked a little further to get the cupcakes. Since they were there he wouldn't waste them, right? Branch looked into the dark, right under the wishing well, and found his girlfriend, doing her best to hold her laughter while holding a candle.
"Are you okay?" Branch approached, suddenly worried that she might have lost her mind.
"Oh, Branch!" The pink girl looked thrilled to see him and immediately jumped up to give him a rib-cracking hug. "I knew you were going to be the first to find me!"
"Find you…?" He took a moment to understand that she was probably playing a game and he accidentally joined in. Maybe he took a bit longer than usual to understand because she was so delightfully distracting.
"Yes! Now let's wait for the others. I'm sure they won't take long. It's not a hard place to find, right?"
Branch had at least three points to make about her hiding place, but it was also very convenient to solve the problem he had at hand.
"You chose a place under the wishing well to hide." It wasn't a question and she nodded happily with her toothy grin. "You know that once the other trolls find you they will also see the tunnel that leads to the bunker."
To prove his point he raised the tray with the fifteen fresh cupcakes he had just fished out from the net under the wishing well (yes, he came up with a way to save the cupcakes so he could eat more of them).
"Oh, Branch, you're always so prepared for everything," she pulled him onto the floor to sit next to her and her eyes spotted the thermos hanging on his vest. "Is that coffee? Wow! You totally outdid yourself." The coffee was supposed to last the entire afternoon of digging and polishing tree walls. The perfect refreshment for a hard-working troll, but, since Poppy looked so happy about it…
"I thought you'd get hungry." He lied, not being able to meet her eyes as he nervously laughed. "But the point that I was trying to make is that everyone will know that it is us who have been granting the wishes."
"Oh…" She stop mid-bite as his point dawned on her. Her face changed like she was reading a scrapbook and Branch could clearly read her thoughts. First, she was surprised she didn't think about that. Then she panicked wondering if she should hurry and change her hiding place. Staring at him she pondered about the fairness of the game, since he had found her already it wouldn't be right to move because everyone deserved the same chance. And finally, her shoulders fell, giving up on finding a solution. "I guess I accidentally revealed our secret."
"Yes, but it's fine." He quickly raised his hands to dismiss the wave of apologies that she was working on, "I was thinking of a way to talk to you about the wishing well, anyway."
"Really? Is there a problem?" Poppy moved closer. Her arm lightly brushed against him and distracted his thoughts.
"Uh… w-well." He was not going to act all nervous around his girlfriend. It was time to move past that! They touched! That was part of a relationship. No more losing brains when she electrified his body with a small and unintended graze. "Granting wishes is taking too much time and between my bunker maintenance and games, I have no time for my personal projects."
At that point, Poppy looked at him. Really looked at him. His toolbox was on the ground, by his side. The thermos had been tied to his vest with a belt and he had a few ropes and safety gizmos that only he could know how to use.
"Oh… you weren't playing Hide and Go Hug." She concluded.
"Uh, no. But… I don't mind playing now."
Her picturesque upbeat mood went down a notch and Poppy leaned on him, hugging her legs. Branch skipped a glance at his girlfriend. Was she inviting him to lean back? It felt like he should stretch an arm over her shoulders and maybe side-hug her. He tried to look at her face for any hint in her expression, but from his point of view, he could only see eyelashes and the tip of her nose.
"It would be nice if you ended my torment and hugged me." she startled him and his arm quickly went around her, doing as she wished. "Good. You're really snuggly."
His face was in flames.
Poppy seemed to be hinting at more touching lately. He didn't remember her pressing him like this. Maybe a couple of times before they - blush - kissed in front of Holly… or when she asked for a public display of affection that happened in front of Val and Petra. It was true that he seemed to correspond to her wishes by warming her up during her period… and when he completely lost his mind and accidentally gave her a hickey when he was just trying to lick off some frosting from her neck.
Perhaps he had gotten her hopes too high when he slept shirtless in her bed… in her pod. Although it was merely a practical way to keep an eye on her with her broken hair, it still took more guts than he was having lately. Hair, he had even walked in when she was bathing! Since when did he step back on his courage scale?
Was it possible that courage was like a jar of water? He had been drinking from that fountain for a while and maybe it was nearly empty. He probably used a lot of his supply when talking to King Peppy about their relationship and those peck kisses after she won the Contagious Hide and Seek game.
Or maybe she was sucking it out of him. Like that time when she kissed him wearing that medieval costume. She had looked at him differently, almost jumping on him like a panther. Branch had thought he would get a deeper kiss that day. Poppy looked like she would dive in open-mouthed, but to his great surprise with her self-control, she didn't.
He was like a snake to a charmer. He had fallen easily into her spell when she "kisspologized" for ignoring him. The brief kiss was a great way to make him feel better… and the fact that he had been right and could tick another score on his list.
And, as Ace, he had tried to return the favor and charm her back. It was a disaster but it was the intention that counted, right?
"When the game is over… would you like to go for a stroll?" They could use some fresh air and his cloudy thoughts needed to clear so he could understand what would be his next step with his girlfriend.
"It would be nice." Her reply wasn't half as enthusiastic as he thought it would be.
More touching!
"I guess we're about to even out." He declared.
"What do you mean?" She turned to look at him in confusion.
"I used to be grumpy and you taught me how to be more open to other trolls. Meanwhile, you were always upbeat and it seemed you're allowing your grumpy side to show more often."
"I'm not grumpy!" Poppy quickly defended herself.
"Oh, I've seen you frowning. And you held your hands together to make a point, just like I do." Branch smartly replied with a side-lopped smile. "Then you crossed your arms and put Cloud Guy in his place looking all moody."
"Well, you guys get on my nerves sometimes." The tease was noticed, but Poppy doubled her defenses. "And you're handsome I can't stop watching you. I may be catching on to some things you do."
"Grumpy Poppy!"
"I'm not grumpy." The tease ended up with both of them grinning. Branch's hands rested on her hips and Poppy found herself with her palms in his chest. "But… if I ever am in a mood that is anything but happy, you're welcome to kiss it better."
The butterflies in his stomach woke up and started crazily flying around. Poppy wanted to be kissed. Right there. Alone in the dark with him. No one to witness their private moment.
With a sudden injection of courage that came out of nowhere, Branch leaned in.
For a moment it felt like he had forgotten how nice it was to touch her lips. Poppy tasted like fruity lip gloss. Her strawberry scent was intoxicating and reverted through every cell of his body, waking him up in ways that weren't proper for a cold and dirty underground tunnel.
"Hahaha, found you, Poppy!"
Branch quickly broke apart before he had a chance to deepen the kiss like he wanted to. Poppy looked at him a bit embarrassed and mouthed an apology.
"Cooper!" She picked up the candle once again and smiled at her goofy friend. "Hug!"
Branch decided to be patient. The kiss could have gotten delayed, but it was coming. He knew it.
