First Lesson
Branch finished the final adjustment on the Dune Huggy and opened his garage to get it delivered to Poppy. He had the oil checked and had it cleaned with extra care, after all, the Queen seemed to be enjoying driving around more than taking the metroll.
It was nearly noon and he decided to have lunch before driving all the way to Poppy's pod. Silently, Branch wondered if she even noticed he had taken the car last night. Everything was quieter than usual.
Scrambled eggs were enough to fill up his stomach since he wasn't in the mood for cooking anything too complicated. Branch was still having too many chores with the bunker maintenance (for Pete's sake, he blew up half of his garage!) and he had no time for cooking.
Besides, two days after the Gift Swap, Poppy was busy like he had never seen before. Their friends were also doing a great job keeping her fully focused on her queenly duties.
First it was Smidge, who was hammering a bridge that had been so old it came down. He had spotted Poppy guiding the construction team to raise a new pod to the top of a tree and decided to approach, but the smaller yellow troll seemed to require immediate assistance and came to ask the queen for help before he could mutter any words.
Then it was Biggie, who was serving sandwiches to the workers. Branch, once again, spotted Poppy in the crowd and took a step towards her, only to have his mouth filled with too many sandwiches, so many that he ended up choking. By the time he caught his breath, his adored pink girl was nowhere to be seen.
"Branch? Can I talk to you?" Poppy knocked, causing Branch to drop his fork and search for Gary, to open the trapdoor so she could get inside. What a coincidence! Showing up when he was thinking about her…
It was funny how she didn't come straight inside when she was insecure about something. Branch had done his share of observation to notice Poppy was careful when dealing with him since the Holidays and he wondered what had happened.
She walked inside his kitchen looking uncertain of what she was doing there and didn't stare at him at first.
"Hey. Do you need anything?" Branch did his best to give her the soft smile he had been using for a while. He felt like it reassured her that he was there for her, regardless.
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't want to bother you in the middle of a meal. I can come back later." She turned to leave, but Branch stood up from the chair and placed the empty plate inside the dishwasher.
"You never bother me. I was done anyway." He chuckled, because he noticed it made her shoulders relax when he did that. Poppy slowly returned to face him and he crossed his arms, ready to give her all the attention she needed. "How can I help you?"
Poppy's cheeks seemed to be set on fire as soon as he said that. It was a rare sight for her to blush embarrassedly like that, and Branch felt his heart picking up the pace. She looked incredibly adorable.
"I wanted to ask you something…" She started saying and her voice faltered. Cleaning her throat, Poppy tried again. "If it sounds weird… or offending… you can interrupt me and I swear I'll never mention it again."
Branch got worried then. Whatever she wanted to ask him, it was serious and he felt his body going on survival mode. He analyzed her like she was a subject to be studied. Her cheeks were still red, her forehead was sweaty, she was playing with her fingers and pretending to take imaginary spots from her dress just to avoid looking him in the eyes.
"Well… Val said that friends ask friends for help and - as my boyfriend and the troll I trust most in the whole world..." Poppy swallowed hard, as if something inside her was hurting. Branch saw as her breathing got faster - not because she was breathing loudly, but because her chest was going up and down like her heart was racing. "The truth is: I'm old."
"What?!" Of all things, he didn't expect that to come out of her mouth. Complaining about her age, what the…?
"I'm nearly twenty-five and… I've never had a relationship before." Poppy finally said it all in one breath, causing Branch to feel like the ground was opening to swallow him. Was it about their relationship? Did he do something wrong? Oh Hair… was it the scrapbook? He wasn't ready for that conversation whatever it was and all he could do was to nod and indulge her to continue to understand where she was getting at. "I haven't been kissed and I'm starting to feel insecure about it."
"O-okay…" Was everything he could reply. His mind was blank.
"I trust you more than I trust myself." Poppy continued, finding her feet quite amusing. A soft and bittersweet smile formed on her lips when she looked at the door, as if she was ready to run. "So, I guess what I wanted to ask you is…" His heart stopped, "Branch, I want to learn how to kiss. Would you help me?"
Sweat broke on his forehead like he had jogged around Trollstopia. Twice.
What. The. Hair.
"I know this is too soon." Poppy quickly amended, waving her hands before he got the wrong idea. He paled and his pupils dilated. Seeing his reaction, the queen panicked. "If you're not ready for this step, I..." Hair, she hoped he wouldn't notice she was a bad liar.
"This is… surprising." Branch managed to say with a squeaky voice and Poppy only blushed more.
"We're not ready, are we?" Feeling like a fool, the pink girl turned around, completely abashed. Of course, it was too soon! She had just kissed his cheek two days ago and he melted like sugar in the rain. Holding hands was easy, but kissing…?. "I'm sorry, I should have asked before assuming… I'm sorry. This conversation never happened."
"Wait!" He shouted, causing her to hesitate before turning the elevator's lever. "I'm not…I'm not refusing." Hair, he was short of breath. "I wasn't expecting it now, that's all."
A small hint of hope sparkled in her eyes. Branch allowed himself a moment to swallow the lump in his throat.
"Would you…" She licked her lower lip in a hypnotic way. "...help me then?"
"I'm not… exactly an expert…" What was he saying? He had never kissed either. His bunker days only gifted him with a lot of theories and poetries… things he could read from books and imagine later. He didn't have any experience!
"Is that a yes?" Her voice sounded like music to his ears.
He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss the love of his life. It was way sooner than he had envisioned… talking about going big!
"How do you want to do it?"
Branch completely forgot about returning the Dune Huggy. That day he didn't leave home. Somehow his lounge room didn't seem fit for the activities they were planning that evening so he spent the day trying to make it look a little more romantic.
Flowers were put in a jar on the coffee table. Colorful pillows were carefully placed on the couch so they could be comfortable leaning on it. He even went to the middle of the village to get a diffuser to have some nice perfume by the time Poppy arrived.
It felt a lot like a date to him so he brought back a few cupcakes, coffee, juice and other delicacies he would like to offer her. He couldn't help the warm lovesick sensation about the possibility of having her in his arms like he had been dreaming in the past years.
His rational, survivalist side was intrigued about the reasons that caused Poppy to question her age and her lack of experience. He feared some of the girls had teased her about it during girls' night. He really wished he had said it wasn't a problem at all, that everyone had their own time, but he didn't want to change her mind.
Hair… he would die if she changed her mind now. His expectations were sky high.
All he could do - to avoid going insane with spiraling feelings- was to concentrate on what Poppy wanted. If she wanted to learn how to kiss, oh boy, he was going to help her. Practice makes perfect, or so the books said.
He finished pinning the last sketch on the vision board and took a step back to admire his kissing plan.
Branch was so anxious that he could barely keep from pacing around. It was about the time Poppy showed up so he decided to step out of the bunker and wait for her outside. Only... as soon as he opened the trapdoor, he found her standing there, looking like she was debating with herself if she was supposed to continue with her plan.
Poppy was freshly showered. Her hair was slightly damp. She had a new dress on; it was violet and the fabric looked lighter than the ones he was used to seeing. The crown was nowhere to be seen, but her face was shining with the proper amount of eyeshadow, mascara and a glossy lipstick.
"I'm sorry, I was about to knock." She explained herself but couldn't help a dark magenta color to burn her cheeks. It was obvious that the queen had been standing there for a while, hesitating to knock and probably re-thinking their whole arrangement.
Seeing her like that made Branch eager to convince her to go through it. An inexplicable will to taste those lips swept his own lack of confidence aside, turning him into a very understanding and compelling troll who was there for her. He raised his hand to help her in with that gentle and inviting smile that was becoming less rare these days.
Accepting his hand, Poppy stepped on the elevator, incredibly aware that they were closer than necessary, but still, not wanting to move away.
"I don't know if you're hungry." Branch said to break the ice, "but I have some cupcakes, just in case."
"Huh… maybe after…" her voice didn't sound like her at all. It was low and it wavered, indicating that she was a nervous wreck. She had meticulously brushed her teeth, checked her breath and made sure she was smelling good so Branch would feel comfortable enough to kiss her. She was not eating cupcakes before they were done.
Poppy noticed he had put an effort to make the bunker more romantic. She noticed the sweet scent, the pillows and the flowers. The nervousness melted a little at the discreetly modified lounge room.
He was adorable!
"Did you think this through?" Branch asked and Poppy merely shook her head. "Okay, so I did make a list of lessons." The poor queen looked like she was about to pass out. A list! And Lessons! Kissing sounded way too more complicated than she had previously thought! "I'm open for suggestions, but I think we should start simple and escalate from there."
They walked to his garage and he showed her all his annotations, sketches and calculations.
Branch's confidence increased. He had bookmarked the best kissing scenes in the novels he owned so it was easier coming up with an educational plan for Poppy.
"The best authors I read indicate that kissing involves a lot of things, but after the first sparkle of feelings, all characters start testing the waters. It was quite challenging but I was able to make a list of steps we need to cover. In each class we will take a new step until we master all the lessons."
Poppy gritted her teeth while forcing a smile on her face. It looked too complicated. Was she going to have enough time to learn all that before the Festival?
"So, today we just practice lips, you know. We just… press them together. Then next class,"
"You're really calling them classes!" Poppy nearly shrieked, causing Branch to internally grin at her surprise.
"... next class, we practice some hugging while kissing and if you're confident, on the third we can move to French kissing."
"French kissing…" dropping heavily at the couch, Poppy repeated his words, understanding that he was planning to teach her everything.
"Yeah, you know, when tongues get involved."
"Gosh, Branch I know what it is." The trembling was back. She felt so ridiculously childish when he spoke like that.
His heart broke at the sight of her. Slowly approaching, he sat down next to the young girl who looked like she was going to die of embarrassment right there. Her eyes were fixed on her knees and her arms were stiff at her side. Branch couldn't help but raise a hand to gently caress her cheek, noticing how warm - almost feverish - she was.
"Poppy… if you're having second thoughts…"
"No." Firmly, she turned her face to stare at him. "I want to do it." She was not going to be laughed at in an international festival… and she was dying of curiosity to know how Branch tasted like. "Can we start already?" She wasn't the most patient troll and she was lacking confidence… well… it was time to get it over with.
"I'm all yours." Branch knew he shouldn't joke around, but it made her smile. He wanted her to make the first move.
"Okay…" Poppy took a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly. Inching forward, she didn't calculate where she was going and accidentally bumped noses with him. "Ouch, sorry. Did I hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine." It was true he barely felt any pain, he was just surprised when she seemed in a hurry to connect their lips. And she looked so adorably insecure! That was so unlike her he couldn't help but admire a whole new side that was being displayed only for him. "Look, you lean right and I go left, okay?"
The second time she leaned forward, Branch wisely kept his eyes open. Poppy did the same as the first time. She shut her eyes and didn't see where she was going so it was up to him to avoid bumping noses again.
He didn't expect the wave of electricity to clash down on him when her lips lightly touched his. Branch had been successfully avoiding butterflies in his stomach, but as soon as he felt the softness of her lips it was like the world stopped turning. Everything stood still. Even the buzzing sound of his firebugs seemed to have quieted down.
The kiss barely lasted two seconds. Poppy backed away and opened one eye. Seeing that Branch was already staring at her with a smile. A love sick puppy kind of smile.
"Too pathetic?" She half smiled.
"Did it feel pathetic to you?" He answered her with another question, because to him it was nothing but brilliant.
"I don't know how it felt…"
"Poppy, it was a simple peck." Branch took her hand in his, to reassure her she had done nothing wrong. "Let's try again. Longer, this time."
"All right." Gathering her courage, Poppy took another deep breath, but before she closed her eyes, this time, Branch raised a hand to stop her.
"Lick your lips." He commanded before he could stop himself.
"What?" A tingling feeling on the back of her knees alerted her that she might be too sensitive about the kiss.
"Your lips are dry; it may help you feel things better if you lick them." Who was he trying to fool? He was the one dying to taste her.
It was hard to resist doing what he asked. First, Poppy thought it was a reflex, because as soon as he finished telling her what to do, the tip of her tongue was already running over her lips. His eyes narrowed a little, focusing on her mouth, and a wave of self-assurance made her realize she was hypnotizing him with the slow movements.
"Like this?" One timid and long blink later, Poppy puckered her lips.
"Huh…" Branch, on the other hand, had to blink several times to push away the spell her lips had cast on him. "Perfect."
This time, he was the one who leaned forward, completely forgetting it was a class and he was supposed to be teaching her. He pressed his mouth gently to hers, a little harder than she had done before, but the heart melting feeling was there and it was a lot stronger. There was something about the texture of her skin that made him wonder if he could ever go on living if he didn't have it daily.
She was the one to break the kiss again, but both took a little longer to come out of their personal heaven. Poppy touched her lips with her fingers, not really sure if she was feeling shy or if she wanted to imprint the feeling in her memory.
"It was so much better, wasn't it?" Branch grinned, feeling a smug attitude coming out of nowhere. Poppy, looking so blissfully happy instead of being on the verge of a breakdown, was the indication that he was doing everything right.
"I'd like that cupcake now."
