Hello Troll Fans!
Happy Pride Month!!
I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter! Big thanks to WildKat25 for her help! I don't own trolls, but Rose is my oc.
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Rose sat in Branchs arms as they made their way to Delta's home, hugging her dolls close as she leaned against Branch. Branch looked down at her. "Remember, Delta and Clampers are going away for the weekends. We can't stay too long,okay?" He reminded her. Rose frowned in response but soon became distracted as they came into view of Delta's house. Rose squirmed in his arms, causing Branch to place her on the ground. Rose quickly walked to the Door and knocked softly with Branch close behind her.
"I'll be right there!" Delta's voice rang as they could hear hoof steps heading towards the door. She opened the door and smiled when she saw Branch and Rose. "Good morning you two." She looked down at Rose to see her two dolls. She bent down slowly. "Well, what do you have there Rose?" Rose shyly held up her two dolls. "Those are some pretty dolls. Clampers is in her room still packing, why don't you go say hi? It's just around the corner." She pointed to the other side of the door."
Branch watched as Rose quickly walked to Clamper's room, seeing her look around at the country decor curiously. "She's going to miss Clampers this weekend." He chuckled.
Delta smiled. "Clampers will miss her as well, she's wanting to play lots of games with Rose. When is she getting her cast off again?" She asked, going to the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?"
"No thank you." Branch replied as he made his way inside. "She's getting it off tomorrow."
"That's good." Delta smiled, looking over to see a concerned face. "Everything okay, Sugar?" She asked, sitting down at the dinner table and motioned for him to join her.
Branch sat across from her and was silent for a moment. "Well, Poppy and I talked last night and she said she wants me to rule with her someday."
Delta stared at him, waiting for more. "And?" She ushered.
"And I just, I just don't know." He let out a sigh.
"You don't know what? You don't think you would be a good king?" She saw him nod slightly. "Ruling is hard work. You know that. Having to look after a whole village, protecting them, having everyone come to you when there's a problem, doing your best to do what's right. It's hard work." She looked out her window, seeing a few trolls walk by, smiling softly.
"It's really hard work from what I've seen this week." He added.
"This week is a special occasion. Stuff like this doesn't happen too often, at least not in my experience. There will be days like that, but it's easier when you have others supporting you."
Branch stared at her. "If you don't mind me asking, why don't you have someone ruling with you?"
Delta glanced over at Branch, smirking slightly. "Sweetheart, I don't need anyone to help me rule my kingdom." She giggled as she saw him fluster.
"I didn't mean to imply you couldn't, or weren't doing a good job. You're a great leader." Branch said quickly.
She laughed. "I know you didn't, Branch. I am a good leader, and I know that. I chose not to have a partner. I have never wanted a romantic relationship, and have no desire to be in one. All my life I have never wanted anyone that way." She smiled softly.
Branch smiled, nodding at her response. "I see. Has it been easier with all the tribes coming together?"
"It's nice having the other leaders to lean on when things get rough, but not easier. It's different. A good different. It's been easier with how organized you are. It's been exciting, lots of new problems and solutions. Without you, I don't think we would have half of this place built.." She chuckled. "Poppy is choosing you, not only as her future spouse, but as her partner in ruling her kingdom. This wouldn't have been an easy decision for her. She has put in a lot of thought about her choice. If she didn't think you were good for the job, she could have left you as her right hand. She wants you to be her king." She smiled.
"Well…" Branch started but was cut off.
"Well what? You are a good leader, even if your anxiety gets in the way. You don't see what we see Branch." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are a strong troll. You are liked amongst all the tribes. You are already a troll others can come to if they need anything. Believe in yourself more, Sugar. You are a troll that could change the world, you know." She grinned. "I'm not sure how pop trolls are in regards to spouses, but I do know that the other leaders and myself already know you will be a good addition to our team. You will fit in perfectly as far as I can tell."
Branch nodded as he stared at the table. "Poppy would have put thought into it." He muttered to himself, a small smile appearing as he let out a chuckle. "Poppy even brought a backpack full of material for me to read."
Delta laughed. "She knows you well." She looked up as she heard Clampers playing her jaw harp. "You aren't in it alone, Branch. You are helping Poppy lead, along with us. It will be hard to adjust at first, you will make mistakes. You will learn from the mistakes and make better choices. In the end, when you see your fellow trolls safe and happy, that's all you need. You know you have done your job right." She gave him a reassuring smile as she stood up. "Now, I have to make sure that kid has her stuff packed." She said loudly, hearing the music stop.
"I'm almost done!" Clampers called.
"Hurry it up! We have to go now." She peeked in the room to see Clampers stuffing things into her bag as Rose watched. "I was meaning to ask, when did Rose get dolls? I thought she only had a bear toy." Delta asked as she walked back to Branch.
"Oh, Satin and Chenille made them for her. They brought them over today along with a bunch of clothes for Rose. I wanted Rose to have something that resembled her parents that she could touch and hug, and the twins liked the idea so much they made them for her." Branch explained.
"I thought they looked familiar. That's an excellent idea, Branch." She smiled. "I knew you were the right choice to look after Rose." She placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair slightly before going to the door. "Come on, Clampers! Time to go." She went to the door and opened it.
Clampers came running out of her room, dragging a bag behind her. "I'm ready, I'm ready!" She said as Rose quickly walked out behind her.
"Alright, let's go." She looked at Branch as he followed them. "Do you two have plans later today?" She asked.
He nodded in response. "We're going to meet Poppy at the station. Rose is going with Poppy to their girl group thing. I'll probably go and work on the tunnels." He said as he watched Clampers and Rose walk ahead of them, Clampers talking excitedly as they walked.
"That will be interesting." She chuckled as the station came into view. She saw Poppy closing a door as Ray and Elise walked away from the train. "It looks like Jack is already on the train."
Branch nodded as he watched the family leave the stations. "Yeah…" He said quietly. He saw Rose climb onto Clamper's back and started running. "Be careful you too!"
"Miss Poppy!" Clampers called as she ran towards Poppy.
Poppy turned around and giggled. "Well, hello you two." She knelt down as Clampers stopped in front of her. Poppy picked Rose off her back and patted Clamper's head. "Are you excited to go back to Lonesome Flats?"
Clampers nodded. "Yeah, but I'm gonna miss being here." She smiled.
Poppy grinned. "We're going to miss you too, Clampers."
"We have to go now, Clampers." Delta said as she walked over to them, seeing a pout on Clamper's lips.
Poppy placed Rose back on the ground so she could hug Clampers goodbye. "Thank you again for this Delta Dawn." She smiled.
Delta smiled back at her. "Of course, Queen Poppy. It's my pleasure to take him away from here." She tipped her head as she heard the train whistle blew. Delta looked down at Clampers and Rose, seeing tears in Rose's eyes. She knelt down and smiled at the little troll. "We will be back in a couple days. Don't worry."
Rose frowned as she took a few steps back. Clampers smiled at her assuringly. "Bye Rose, see ya soon!" She said before jumping into Delta's hair as they got on the train.
As the train left Branch looked over at them. "So you two are going to band practice, do you know how long it will be?" He asked.
"It will probably be a couple hours." Poppy looked down at Rose. "It will be fun, Rose." Poppy said excitedly. She looked back at Branch. "Do you know what you're going to do?"
Branch shrugged. "I will probably work on the bunker, there are still a few more tunnels I have to fix. Now would be a good time to do that."
"I guess it would be." She smiled. "We should go. Did you want to say bye to Branch?" She said as she saw Rose frown and walk to Branch, hugging his leg tightly.
Branch knelt down and rubbed her back. "You will have fun Rose. I'll see you in a few hours, I promise." He smiled.
"It's going to be a lot of fun! Lots of singing and they have delicious snacks we can eat!" Poppy grinned, causing Rose to look up at her. "Are you excited?" Poppy asked, seeing Rose nod. Poppy grinned as Rose walked over to her. Poppy picked her up. "Even Barb is excited for you to join us! She may not show it, but she's very excited. It's her tough chick act, but we can see right through it." Poppy giggled along with Rose.
Branch watched the excitement between the two and smiled softly. He saw Poppy look over and gave him a wink. He chuckled as Rose bounced in Poppys arms, waving as they started walking to the rehearsal space. "She loves kids, but she won't say so. The other kids also love to hang with her too! And Carol is more of a quiet troll, she doesn't talk much. She likes to lay on the couch and eat cheese out of a can, but she's cool!" Poppy explained as they arrived at where they were meeting Barb and Carol.
Poppy let Rose knock on the rock practice room door, the door covered in skulls who's eyes lit up, surprising Rose as they lit up. She touched one of the skulls before the door flew open, revealing the Queen of rock. "About time you two showed up, let's get this party started!" She raised her fist in the air as she turned back into the room. "First things first, the kid needs an instrument if she's gonna be in the group." Barb went to a large box and started digging through it.
Poppy giggled as she followed Barb. "You're excited to have Rose here." She stated. When Barb didn't reply, Poppy laughed and whispered to Rose. "She's very excited you're here." She looked over on the couch to see Carol. "Hey Carol! This is Rose." Poppy introduced, placing Rose on the ground in the middle of the room.
Carol looked over at them and waved her hand. She looked at Rose before squirting some cheese in her mouth, looking up at the ceiling as she waited. "Here, a tambourine should work." Barb walked over to them and knelt down next to Rose, holding out a black and red tambourine. "Do you know how to use one of these?" She asked, shaking the instrument.
Rose took the tambourine and shook it, her eyes sparkling as she played with it. Poppy laughed as she watched Rose play with the instrument. She looked up when she heard a familiar noise. "Debbie is here! Hello Debbie." Poppy walked over to the bat creature.
"Do not put a bow and glitter on her again." Barb said, annoyed.
Poppy poured. "She looks so cute with a bow and glitter! Come on, at least the bow!" Poppy took a purple glitter bow out of her hair, holding it towards Barb.
"No glitter bows." Barb took the bow from her.
Poppy frowned. "Later then." She said as she noticed Rose staring up at Debbie. Poppy picked her up and brought her over to Debbie. "This is Barb's pet, Debbie. Say hi."
Rose stared at the creature grooming its wings, reaching towards it slowly. Debbie looked at Rose, tilting her head. Barb walked over and put a cracker in Rose's hand. "She likes these." She said before walking over to the stage and started to tune her guitar.
Rose held the cracker out to Debbie, watching as she took the cracker from her hand and ate it happily. Rose giggled slightly as she watched the bat huddled herself into a ball to take a nap. Poppy placed Rose back down and walked over to the stage. "Don't eat the crackers, they are made out of bugs." She said as she placed the container of Debbies crackers out of Roses reach. Poppy heard Barb snicker behind her. "It is not funny! I ate one, it was gross!"
"They're fine, it's more protein for your diet. You eat too much sugar." Barb laughed, placing her guitar down and walked over to them.
"It's gross. Lots of bugs are very nice!" Poppy crossed her arms.
Barb shrugged. "They're not bad and they're her favorite." She said as she moved Debbie onto the ground. "Let's get started already." She looked down at Rose who shook the tambourine. "Now kid, you're going to help keep the rhythm. Just tap the tambourine twice then shake. Got if?" She said as she demonstrated what to do.
Rose gently hit the tambourine twice before shaking slightly, looking up at Barb. She saw Barb nod and perked up, repeating the sequence as she giggled slightly with a small smile on her face.
Poppy grinned down as she saw Barb stand up. Barb stared at her. "What?" Barb asked.
"Nothing! Let's start playing!" Poppy skipped to her instrument. "What are we playing?" She asked, looking over at Rose who stood up and walked closer to Poppy as she kept playing the tambourine.
"I was thinking of just a jam session today." Barb said as she and Carol took their spots as well.
~~~
After almost two hours of playing, Barb placed her guitar on the ground. "I think that's enough for now." She stretched, sitting down on a chair across from the couch.
Poppy looked over at Rose to see her sitting on the ground. She walked over and placed a hand on her head gently. "Are you having fun so far, Rose?" She smiled as she saw Rose nod.
Carol went to the fridge and started rummaging through it. She glanced up and tossed a can of soda to Barb, who caught it effortlessly. Carol noticed Barb slightly nod towards the two pop trolls, nodding her head slightly in return. She looked over at Poppy and held up a can. When she saw Poppy nod she tossed her the can. She watched as Poppy stumbled the can as she caught it, seeing her grin at her success. Carol grabbed an arm full of snacks and closed the door, walking over to sit on the couch. She placed the snacks on the ground, splayed out so they could easily be seen. She placed a juice box in front of all the doors and looked over at Rose. "Hungry?"
Rose stared at the juice box, before looking up at Poppy. "Go on, there's a lot of food to try!" Poppy smiled down at her. Rose looked back at the food and stood up, slowly walking over to the food and looked up at Carol. She watched Carol as she opened a bag of candy and smirked. Rose watched as Carol held out her hand, motioning for Rose to do the same. Rose obeyed and helped her hand out, watching as Carol poured a bit of sprinkle like candy in her hand. Carol poured a bunch into her own hand and quickly stuffed it into her mouth. Carol leaned down towards Rose and opened her mouth to reveal a loud crackling noise. Rose gasped as she listened to the candy pop, looking down at her hand before putting it into her mouth, her eyes widening as she felt the candy pop in her mouth. Rose quickly ran to Poppy, pulling her dress as she opened her mouth.
Poppy laughed. "I hear it! It's fun, isn't it?" Poppy giggled as Rose ran back to the snacks and started to look through them. Poppy watched as Carol and Rose started eating, before looking at Barb. "I told him last night." She said quietly.
Barb looked up from her can. "Told who what?" She asked before taking another chug of her drink.
"Branch, that I want him to be king." She stared down at her soda.
"And? What did he say?" She asked, lowering her drink as she looked at the Poppy.
"He said he never thought of it, he's going to think about it. I hate waiting, but I know he needs time to process and read the material I gave him." She nervously picked at the can tab. "What if he says no? What do I do then? Do I say he can stay the right hand to the Queen, would he still want that? If he says no, would he still want to be with me…" She slowly trailed off.
Barb stared at her. "Branch is really rubbing off on you. Is Branch that bad?" She raised her eyebrow.
Poppy stopped and thought for a moment. "Branch is worse…."
"Boy, you have a handful with him then if he's worse." She leaned back in her chair to relax, closing her eyes.
"This is serious Barb." Poppy frowned.
Barb opened one eye and stared at her face, sighing slightly as she leaned toward her seat. "I'm not dismissing it, but this is Branch you're talking about. There is no point in getting worked up and worrying about what might happen until it does. Branch is going to think and look into everything he can before accepting the job. If he doesn't accept, he would still be your second in command. If he says no, then you move on. You haven't needed him to lead so far, you will be fine." She saw Poppy nod. "You gave him all the information you can. All you can do now is wait for him to think about it and come to you with his answer. Don't bring it up. Let him talk about it when he's ready."
Poppy stared at Barb. "Wow…When did you become an advice giving troll?" She teased.
"Why wouldn't I give good advice? I'm great at giving advice!" She raised her can in the air.
"You do." Poppy giggled. "That was surprisingly good advice. I need to let Branch do his thing and he will be ready when he's ready."
"You already ask for his opinion on most of the matters anyways. We all already see him as your king." Barb added as she took another drink, seeing Poppy blush.
"Ever since I was a little trolling, I always wanted to find someone I could call my king." She whispered, looking down at her can as she smiled to herself.
Barb groaned. "If I want a cavity, I'll stuff my face with actual sugar." She stood up and walked over to the couch. She noticed Carol had laid down as Rose watched Debbie hop around on the ground. She picked up a bag of chips and motioned for Carol to get up. Carol sat up and let Barb sit down, laying back down.
Poppy knelt down next to Rose. "Are you ready to go back, Rose?" She asked. Poppy smiled as Rose nodded, picking her up.
"Here." Carol's voice came as she held up a few packs of pop rocks. Poppy let Rose take them as Carol squirt some cheese into her mouth.
Rose stared at the candy in her hand in awe, before looking back at Carol and grinned. Carol glanced at Rose and smirked before eating cheese. "Thank you Carol, Rose loves those!" Poppy smiled at her. "We better go now. Branch is probably bored without us." Poppy chuckled as she made her way to the door.
"See ya later!" Barb waved, not getting off the couch. "You better come back for another session, kid."
Rose nodded sheepishly as she waved goodbye. "Bye you two, see you later." Poppy said as she left the rehearsal space and made her way to the bunker with a large smile on her face. "That was fun! Did you like it?" She looked down at Rose who grinned at the candy. Poppy giggled as she cuddled Rose close. "You want to come to the next one? We can try playing a few songs instead of just jamming like this session." She said excitedly as Rose nodded, leaning her head against Poppy's shoulder. Poppy smiled as she rubbed her back. "Alright, let's hurry back to the bunker. Branch is probably waiting for us."