Chapter Five: A Gift for the Giver
Branch suppressed a yawn as he made his way back to the bunker later that night; between misleading Smidge and delivering everyone's gifts without being seen, he was pretty beat. Normally, he would've gone right to bed, only he hadn't given Poppy her gift yet, and he had found a note at the hideout where he kept his Giver-Alter-Ego stuff.
Opening up the note for the umpteenth time, he silently read:
Darling,
When you're done, come right back home; I have a surprise waiting. I love you!
Where a name would usually be signed, there was a glittery, pink kiss mark. A quick sniff confirmed that it was his wife's favorite strawberry-kiwi flavored lip gloss.
Branch was mildly curious what the 'surprise' was. Knowing Poppy, it would be a spine-snapping hug, the thank-you card from earlier, and some kind of dessert loaded with chocolate. He smiled to himself, wondering what he did right in his life to deserve being Poppy's husband.
As the elevator settled at the bottom of the bunker, Branch braced himself for Poppy's crushing hug. Except…it didn't come. There was no sign of Poppy anywhere, not even scattered scrapbooking supplies or a cooking mess in the kitchen.
"Poppy?" Branch called.
He became worried as he came to the bedroom and saw she wasn't there either. He was about to panic and alert Pop Village that the Queen had gone missing when a song he didn't recognize began to play on the stereo and the bedroom door slammed shut behind him.
He whirled around to find-
Trolly moly!
Poppy was standing beside the door. Her hair was down and encircled by a floral headband, and a transparent teal veil was wrapped around her, barely concealing the dress she wore beneath it.
She gave Branch a smirk as she sashayed over to him, dropping the stereo remote on the nearest shelf and placing a hand on his chest. He twitched when cold finger cymbals met his skin.
"Surprise," she purred, gently pushing him backwards.
Branch slowly sat down at the foot of their bed, not taking his eyes off his wife as she giggled and stepped back. He was fairly sure his jaw hit the floor when she opened her veil and revealed her elaborate teal-and-purple Belly Dance costume.
His colors…
For Pop Trolls, intentionally wearing their spouse's colors was considered a very intimate gesture.
Poppy paused as the short opening song came to an end, taking in Branch's expression.
Even though they were married, Poppy knew that a lot of women harbored crushes on Branch; a few were even bold enough to flirt with him. Satin and Chenille, though they were dating other guys, still caught themselves unintentionally staring at him too long. For the most part, Poppy didn't mind, but there were times when it bothered her to the point of feeling insecure about herself.
But now, with her husband staring at her in slack jawed awe as if she were some otherworldly being, Poppy had never felt more desirable in her life.
Taheya's words came back to her mind: "Take what you are feeling and let it be part of your dance."
Poppy smiled and twirled when the first notes of the main song started. I'll do just that.
Branch could only stare in a trance as Poppy twirled and her skirts and veil flowed out around her. She halted and started to move her body in a way that was making him melt in his seat. He could not believe that he had such a beautiful, unearthly woman all to himself.
Poppy flicked the veil to make it wrap around her arms, sliding her hips in a horizontal figure-eight motion. She lifted her arms and did the vibrating hip shimmy Nagwa had taught her. She then pranced toward Branch, letting the silk veil billow out behind her. She let go of the veil with one hand to bring it in front of her; she didn't stop dancing as she languidly looped the veil around the back of her husband's neck.
Branch gulped, feeling Poppy lightly tug him forward with the veil, an enticing glint in her eyes. As mesmerized as he was by his wife's dancing, what she was doing at the moment was making it difficult for him to resist jumping to his feet and kissing her senseless. He managed to scoot forward a few centimeters before Poppy released the veil and spun away from him.
She gave him a flirtatious wink, then began to play her finger cymbals. She danced in a semicircle so her back was to Branch. Carefully, she dropped to her knees and leaned backwards until her back was on the floor and she was looking at Branch upside-down.
If Branch hadn't been drooling before, he was certain he was now.
Poppy smiled widely and continued to play the cymbals and move her arms and upper body to the music. Even at the angle she was at, she could see her husband's face becoming a nice shade of purple. Although, she couldn't tell if it was because he was blushing or if he forgot how to breathe.
She leaned back up and glanced over her shoulder, still playing her cymbals. Yup, he was still breathing. Phew! She swung around on her knees to face Branch and did some hip drops, a wide hip circle, and tossed her hair around before standing again.
Poppy's dancing slowed along with the music. In a practiced move, she gently removed the cymbals from her fingers and let them fall to the floor. She untucked the sides of her skirts from the top of her belt and held them out as she twirled and coyly strode over to him, swaying her hips, stopping just in front of him.
Poppy led her arms above her and brought them down in front of her and used them to frame her body as she did isolated belly undulations.
How can she make her stomach muscles do that? Branch thought.
Poppy turned away from him again and moved her arms in a hypnotic, serpentine way in front of her while languidly leaning backwards so her face was next to Branch's. He shivered when she grinned wickedly and placed a quick peck on his jaw and danced out of his reach.
The song's tempo picked up, and so did Poppy's dancing. She alternated between hip and shoulder shimmies and began twirling as the music picked up speed. She spun faster and faster and faster then fell across Branch's lap as the song ended.
Laughing, Poppy wrapped her arms around Branch's neck and kissed him.
"How's that for a thank-you, Giver?"
Branch chuckled and slid his arms around Poppy's waist. "That's probably the best thank-you I've ever gotten. Where did you learn to dance like that?"
"I met up with the Raqs Sharqi Queens and princesses whenever I went to Bridget's."
"Ah." Poppy's recent weight loss suddenly made much more sense. "So, today's 'meeting' had nothing to do with the foreign exchange program?"
"Oh no, we talked about that, too," Poppy replied, "We just multi-tasked and squeezed in a costume fitting and final dance rehearsal."
Poppy adjusted herself so she was sitting more comfortably on her husband's lap.
"So, what gift did you bring me?"
Branch's expression became serious. He unclasped Poppy's belly chain and set it aside before placing a hand on Poppy's lower abdomen.
"Poppy, I know we've only been married a few months, and we haven't talked about this before," he hesitated, suddenly nervous. "…but…do…do you…do you want children?"
Poppy beamed and threw herself at Branch, squealing happily as they fell back on the bed.
"I take it that's a 'yes?'"
"Duh! That's one of the reasons I did all this!" Poppy pushed herself onto her knees and gestured to her outfit.
Branch smirked and grasped her hips.
"Well, it worked; I barely managed to restrain myself. I also noticed the colors of your dress."
Poppy grinned; she knew that detail and its meaning wouldn't be lost on him. She removed her headband and tossed it over her shoulder.
"Since you got the message, would you care to act on it?"
Branch pulled her back down to him and kissed her passionately, giving in to his desire for her.
"I'd love to," he said lowly between kisses, "but first I need to find my wife underneath all this fabric."
The next night, the royal couple were snuggled together, their entwined hands over Poppy's belly, which Doctor Plum confirmed would grow bigger in the coming months.
"Thank you," Poppy murmured.
Branch smiled and kissed his wife's temple. "No, thank you."
As they drifted off to sleep, Poppy made a mental note to ask the Raqs Sharqi Trolls about Belly Dancing through pregnancy and childbirth.
Notes:
As revealed in the story, Raqs Sharqi is belly dance, specifically Egyptian because that's my specialty as a belly dancer myself. I might write more stories expanding on different styles of belly dance, but we'll see.
I feel like I mentioned some things in this fic that need explaining; so, who's ready for a nerdy crash course in Egyptian Belly Dance?
*crickets chirping*
Oh-kay, well here it is anyway. (By the way, I'm not the authority figure on this, so I apologize for any mistakes.)
Shamadan – a form of Egyptian dance which includes a Shamadan (candelabra) headpiece
Saidi – also known as 'RaqsAssaya'; a Southern Egyptian folkloric dance using a cane or a stick called an 'assaya'
Cabaret – nightclub belly dance; more like the stuff with the two-piece bra and skirt/pants costume we see today
Awalim (singular 'Almah') – female entertainers that historically only danced and sang for women in harems. Today they perform at weddings.
Ghawazee – Egyptian gypsy-like dancers that perform in public streets and have a more traditional style
I'm not sure if Awalim and Ghawazee fall under the Raqs Sharqi category or not, since they both came before Raqs Sharqi was fully developed.
All my named Raqs Sharqi characters are based on real life people. The Raqs Sharqi Queens and princesses are based on Egyptian belly dancers Taheya Karioka, Samia Gamal, Nagwa Fouad, Naima Akef, Khyriyya Mazin (a Ghawazee dancer), Soheir Zaki, Azza Sherif, and Dina Talaat. Samia and Nagwa's husbands are based on composers they had worked with: Farid Al Atrache and Ahmad Fouad Hassan. Eman is based on belly dance costume designer Eman Zaki, who makes really beautiful costumes.
The costume Poppy wears in this is not one of Eman Zaki's, though; it's a style that I've seen in quite a few Egyptian belly dance clips from the 1960's; it's my personal favorite style. Aaand if you wanna see Poppy in this costume, then head over to my Tumblr or Instagram. My username for both those sites is newtobroppy, and look under the Belly Dance Tag.
I'm also ignoring canon as far as where Troll babies come from. I headcanon that Trolls start showing signs of pregnancy the day after conception, and that they only carry them for a few months.
Of course, you're more than welcome to imagine whatever songs you want for Poppy's dance (and I'd love to hear what songs you come up with!), but here are the songs I personally had in mind:
- "Aziza" (performed by Hossam Ramzy)
- "Taht El Shebbak" (performed by Hoda Al Sonbaty)
- "Ah Ya Zein" (performed by Mohammad Qandeel)
- "Escape from Cairo" (Mohammad Al Hasan Abo Abid)
- "Shik Shak Shok" (any version)
- And there's two albums called "The Best Belly Dance Album Ever" and "Cabaret d'Egypte" that have several other songs I thought could work too.
I couldn't make up my mind which one to use, so I just thought I'd list them here and give you the option (all of the above are available on YouTube).
I really enjoyed writing this story, and I look forward to writing more Broppy fics in the future. I really appreciate all the kudos and kind words from all of you! Thank you so much!