Poppy spent the night showing her ring off to her friends, admiring the gemstone and the green ring.
"That's a nice rock" Val commented as the Twins interjected, begging Poppy to let them design her wedding dress. which obviously she'd accept.
"Dang, Ya'll are finally getting hitched" Holly replied, rubbing her eye, being one of Poppy's best friends. she always got emotional. the only Troll more emotional than her at the moment was Biggie, who was literally sobbing with joy.
"I Knew you two would get together one day" he replied, blowing his nose into a handkerchief, hugging his worm who simply meeped.
Poppy smiled, thanking everyone for their support. still clearly a bit nervous about getting married but part of her really was looking forward to it. she and Branch had been a couple for a while, and she believed they would have ended up together regardless of him getting her pregnant.
The news that Branch had proposed to Poppy (and that she had accepted) would spread around Trollstopia like wildfire. meaning the two would be practically swarmed with praise and compliments from most of the other trolls.
as for now only Poppy's friends knew about it but she knew she would have to bring it up at tomorrows morning announcements.
"Nervous huh?" Branch asked, rubbing her arm. today they would be taking a big step, making their relationship public. Branch was uneasy about telling the whole city that he and the Queen were deciding to get married. well, she'd be the one telling them but still, both of them were nervous.
Poppy excused herself to the bathroom, whether it was a sick stomach from pregnancy, the pressure of dropping the bomb that was their engagement or just her having to go, Branch did not ask questions.
he waited for his fiancée to return, sipping from a water bottle, Poppy excused her leaving, admitting she has been drinking a lot of water recently, it could have simply been the summer heat, but Branch did not question it.
It was still around 10 at night, Guy suggested they do something to celebrate the engagement as the others jumped in, tossing ideas. the two wanted to keep it on the downlow until tomorrow, as when the news breaks, they would not get any time alone. the two decided to do a small event.
The group settled on a small celebration at Branch's bunker, not really decorated but the visitors took care of it. The party consisted of Branch and Poppy (Of course) Val, Holly, Smidge, the Twins, Guy and Biggie. The group was all acting in different task. Holly and Branch were baking in the kitchen, Poppy and Smidge were checking on things. The Twins were decorating. Guy and Val were in charge of music and Biggie was planning the games.
In the kitchen Holly was looking through Branch's cookbooks, which once belonged to his grandmother, she was excited to do this, knowing how good Branch's cooking skills were and very eager to taste one of his orgasmic dishes. the two were whipping up cupcakes. Holly mixing up the batter as Branch prepared the frosting for scratch.
"So, you and Poppy, gotta admit I'm not surprised, I could tell you two had that special something" she replied, whisking the mixture as Branch, ran his finger along the frosting, stating it needed more berry juice.
Poppy and Smidge looked around, seeing the twins decorating as they were discussing what color crepe paper to use. Poppy enjoyed hearing them discussing and bouncing idea of each other, eventually they asked Poppy what she thought about the colors as the queen nodded.
Biggie set a bowl of punch on the kitchen table as Branch looked at him, stating that they were gonna use coasters, he did not want a stain to set as Biggie placed the sliced fruit into the punch bowl.
"So, I looked through Branch's board games, we have Twist Em', Slides and Stairs, Submarine, and a few others" Biggie said, setting them as Branch asked, what they wanted to play.
Eventually The group decided to play a game of Slides and Stairs, each getting a game piece and setting them on the board. Branch was offered first roll (it being his game) but he let Poppy have it, rolling the dice in the leather cup, the two pieces clattering on the board as she moved her piece.
"Yes, Slide... Wheee" Poppy let out riding her piece down the slide. the goal of the game was to get to the bottom of the board first, by spaces or riding slides, if the landed son the stairs to had to climb up higher back to the top so it was a game of pure luck. Branch rolled his dice, moving his piece a good 7 spaces.
"So, what are the living arrangements gonna be when you two get married?" Val asked, rolling and moving her piece as she handed the dice to Biggie. Poppy explained they had not thought of it.
Poppy explained that Branch was welcome to move into the royal pod with her, considering they'd be husband and wife. in honesty Branch was a bit nervous about leaving his bunker, where he spent most of his life, his safe haven away to get away from Troll Village. Even when it expanded to Trollstopia it was a good distance away.
When they were younger, Branch kept its location secret, Poppy was the only one to ever find its location. she must have been about five when she followed him through the woods finding his bunker, since that day she would show up every day, dropping invitations, and presents, sometimes just talking, hoping that he was listening to her talk about her day.
Branch would never admit it back then, but he always listened to the then-princess talk to the wind. Branch reflected on his childhood as the dice were handed back to him, rolling as he had to climb a set of stairs
"I Could not picture leaving my Bunker" Branch admitted as Poppy comforted him, saying it would still be there, besides it was in walking distance and still be there. she took her next turn, moving 3 spaces.
"You know Branch, I've always thought about why I valued your friendship so much, but I think I finally have an answer. you made me work for it" Poppy explained, she thought about how since could recall, everyone jumped at the chance to be her friend. But Branch was different, he never spent time with her, he never attended her parties and refused her presents. as kid the two could not be further apart.
"Despite all that I wanted to be your friend, plus you always fascinated me, your grey coloring, your attitude. it was all foreign. I was always attracted to it" Poppy went on as Branch blushed, apologizing for his earlier behavior.
"Whoa Branch you had a grey phase?" Val asked in mild shock as he nodded, explaining he spent 20 years of his life without color as Val and Holly jumped back. when Poppy destroyed the strings, they only lost their colors for a few minutes, but Branch had been like that for 20 years.
"How did you survive?" Holly asked as Branch shrugged, say he was an expert on surviving, he walled himself off from the village and focused on the day everything would go wrong.
"I was surviving no problem, but I wasn't really living" he added, rolling the dice and moving his piece further along the board, saying it was actually Poppy that got him out of that place, explaining that had a hand in him falling in love with her.
"But Yeah, Branch was my first crush, when I was alone in my room I used to try put on a grumpy face and mimic him" Poppy confused as Branch was a bit surprised by this revelation, asking her if it was true.
she nodded, admitted she even used to turn her hair black in her room, she always thought it looked cool as the group looked shocked at the concept of Poppy with Black Hair, reflecting on when they thought she was brainwashed.
"I thought Creek was your first crush, he was you boyfriend since you were like sixteen" Branch admitted as she shrugged, admitting she only dated him because she thought Branch would never date her, plus he kept asking her out and while she enjoyed his company, it wasn't romantic, they'd never even kissed
"You really thought I looked good with black hair?" Branch questioned, wonder if he should change it. Poppy reflected saying that his hair color did not matter as she loved the troll for himself, hearing a collective aww from the group.
"I Think I speak for everyone when I say you two will make a great husband and wife" Biggie complimented moving his piece on the board. the game continued as Holly was the one to win. Just in time as the buzzer went off, signaling it was time to pull the cupcakes out of the over and let them cool before putting the frosting on them.
I'll put another Record on" Guy said getting up as Val said it was her turn to pick as the two ambassadors left the table to attend to their tasks.
"I still can't believe we're getting married" Poppy said, holding the stone of her ring as she locked fingers with Branch, since that moment he confessed his love her in the Bergen's pot it was still a will they/won't they kind of thing.
"Don't worry, Chenille and I will make sure you two look fabulous for your wedding" Satin promised as her sister looked at them "Matching outfits" Chenille added as the two sisters giggled. Smidge asked to be excused as the fruit punch was going right through her and she had to use the toilet, Branch told her where it was as had been in the bunker before.
Smidge followed Branch's instructions finding a door with the letters 'WC' carved into the door. Branch's bathroom was huge. it had a toilet, a sink, a big bathtub and a shower but she was too busy making her way to take care of business.
afterwards the small yellow troll reached for the roll of paper noticing the trashcan, usually no one would give a can of trash a second thought but something in the trashcan caught Smidge's attention. she reached down pulling the item from the can, looking at it up closely.
"Oh, my Gah!" she replied in her usual catchphrase when surprised.
(A/N: so, the fact that Poppy and Branch are engaged is not public yet, only a few of their friends knew but she plans of telling the city during morning announcements, while Poppy asked her friends not to tell there are rumors)