The Crashing Pit
At Rockin Records Eddy was looking at the Rock Queen, pitching the crumpled can into the trash. He could not tell if she was drunk, she showed no signs but was opening up about her feelings... a very unlike Barb thing to do, he decided he did not want to risk trying or saying anything until they had a night of rest.
"Barb, I think we should wait for the morning before discussing anything on the matter, you can sleep on the couch," Eddy said as he headed upstairs.
"We only have one bed so... yeah" Eddy added, handing Barb a blanket as she asked about the whole one bed thing, to which he replied, saying it was because they were fairly poor, being that with CDs out most Trolls don't buy records.
"It's a financial thing, not a gay thing" Eddy defended as Barb chuckled, saying that it was obvious he wasn't gay, not that she saw anything wrong if he was, Barb laid on the couch as the two guys headed upstairs.
The Group arrived at the Crashing pit, which was a crater filled with sofas and beds, most slashed up, stitched, and stained. Trollzart simply gasped at the filthy sight, saying he would fly in his sleep, refusing to lounge on such filth. There was a small pool nearby where a few techno Trolls were sleeping as he stuck his foot into the warm, saying that the heat from the volcano made it strangely warm. all the other trolls found a place to sleep, branch stretching his back on one of the couches.
"How do Rock Trolls sleep like this" Branch muttered trying to position himself as Twiggy decided to rest on the carpeted floor, saying that sofas never did it for her, preferring to be close to the earth. Dawn and the funk Trolls fell asleep easily, because of their structure, leaving only Poppy, Branch and awake, laying on couches as Poppy turned looking up at the star-filled sky, the Pop Queen rubbing her thumbs together, humming a pop song to calm her nervous self as Branch looked at her.
"Seriously" Branch called out, pointing out that everyone in the crashing pit was trying to sleep and she was risking waking them up as Poppy laid down, telling Branch she sang when she was nervous which he knew too well. He and Poppy just recently found out about the other tribes a few days ago, then throwing time travel and evil lords into it.
"It's like something out of Cupcakes and Caverns" Branch commented earning a slight chuckle as he told her to focus on getting some rest, they were strangers in a strange land. he looked at Poppy still seeing her grey tint, Branch had spent years, closed off with no color but he could not imagine how Poppy was handling this but he could swear she looked like her pink was coming back.
"We will get out of here and back to our time" Branch comforted noticing how she was trying to deal with this situation, explaining how she hoped it was just a weird dream, thinking about their friends.
"They must be worried sick about us, Guy, Cooper, Smidge, Biggie, DJ, Sa-I get it Poppy" Branch interjected telling her if she listed the names of their friends, it would take all night as he looked at her, everyone around them was asleep as Branch was looking for a good moment to address his feelings about Poppy as they looked around the Crashing Pit, filled with sleeping Trolls.
"Can't sleep huh?" Branch asked as Poppy nodded, admitting her thoughts were keeping her up as Branch nodded, asking her to join him for a walk, saying he often walked around Troll Village when he couldn't sleep, when everyone was asleep it was nice to be alone around an empty location with his thoughts and he asked Poppy if she wanted to come with him.
"I guess, I mean I can't sleep and we should stick together" Poppy agreed to get off her sofa, smoothing out her dress as the two left the Crashing pit, looking at the landscape of Volcano Rock City, much Different than Troll Village, yet strangely familiar. The Pop Trolls lived here so they influenced the landscape. The two walked around, the moon shining on them as they decided not to go into the main city and stroll around the outskirts.
Branch was hoping to make a move on her but not scare her off as they walked along the stone ground as she looked at him, asking if an evening walk really helped him relax as he nodded, saying the exercise often tired him out and it was nice to be alone with his thoughts, He looked at Poppy explaining how crazy it was and he needed this as she seemed to be relaxed, the stage lights lit the town streets a dim red-pinkish color, glowing in the background.
"It's like we're all alone, like everything else doesn't even exist" Poppy commented as the streets were silent, she began to see why Branch enjoyed walks like this, feeling relaxed. Branch reached into his vest pulling out a bag of berries, offering one as the Pink Troll took it.
"Always bring a supply of food," Branch said, enjoying the fruit as they looked at the lights bouncing as Branch was looking for the right words to say as they stopped at a lake of lava, sitting, admiring the glowing substance.
"That is most different, I've never seen a lake like that in Troll Village" Poppy commented admiring the weird liquid as Branch pulled a berry out, chucking it in the stream as it sizzled and popped upon contact.
"That's hot" Branch commented sitting near it, holding his hands out as Poppy did the same sitting on a rock, the heat from the lake warming them, Poppy reached into her hair, pulling out a bag of Marshtatoes, Branch looked at her but not question it, she held her hand out to branch, knowing he always carried pointed sticks to use as weapons as he pulled two sticks out, handing one to the Pink Troll.
The two placed the fluffy treats on the sticks, holding them over the lava as Branch watched them cook, looking at Poppy, asking if they've ever been alone since their trip to Burgentown as she chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about tricking you to come along" Poppy claimed, remembering how she put all those trolls in his bunker as he nodded, looking at her, saying he was glad he came along. Branch had always lived away from the village and rarely socialized with everyone, it wasn't until their crazy adventure that they really became friends.
"Thank you, Poppy, for not giving up on me," Branch said thinking back, as long as he could remember Poppy was always trying to get him involved with the village, even before becoming Queen, she would drop invitations and letters off, and of course, Branch would never show up, she smiled.
"Well, I believe that every troll deserves to be happy, and I felt all you needed was a push out of your comfort zone," Poppy said looking at the Marshtatoes, melting and sticking together, a string of white connecting them as they pulled them out picking them off the sticks, enjoying the snacks.
The two kept sitting near the lava lake, cooking Marshtatoes as Branch thought this was the best time to tell her. It was one of the few times they were alone but they were dealing with a lot at the moment, would Branch coming out about his feelings really help the situation.
"Branch, I'll be honest; I've always had special feelings towards you" Poppy admitted putting another Marshtato over the lake as Branch looked at her shocked, he brought her out her to confess his feeling and she beat him to it as he looked at her, telling she was being serious and not her goofy self.
"When all the trolls sang, danced and hugged, you were just off doing your own thing, and thats why I refused to give up on you. I wanted to be your friend, every time you ignored my invitations I just mailed another one with the hopes that one day you'd show up, Maybe it's because with you I had to wait years and work hard for it But I value our relationship a lot" Poppy admitted pinching the tip of her Marshtato as Branch looked down.
"Poppy, I've felt that way and I understand, I never let anyone get close to me, after what happened to my grandmother, I just shut myself off, I could not bring myself to get attached. If I let myself care about you and something happened, I could not live with that twice" Branch admitted as she withdrew her stick.
"So what happens with us now, are we a thing?" Poppy asked not wanting to push Branch into a relationship as he shrugged, chuckling because she confessed to him first, looking at her.
"That depends, do you want 'Us' to be a thing?" Branch asked considering that with all that was going on, maybe this wasn't the best time for a relationship.
A/N Well, It's out there, Branch and Poppy confessed their feeling and Broppy is close to being a thing, should they get together
