Chapter 20
This time when Hefty woke up it was to the sound of light scratching and the movement of paper. For a moment he thought he fell asleep during one of Brainy's lectures again until he realized how comfortable he was; laying on his stomach in bed, naked with the blankets up to his mid-torso and half hugging the pillow under his head. The effort to open his eyes was more than normal but he remembered where he was and who the person emanating heat beside him was.
Sitting up in the bed, Branch was still bright blue and had some of the blanket pooled around his waist as he had his knees bent upward to use as a table to draw on again. He was humming a bit as he sketched, not noticing that he was being watched yet.
Content just to observe for a bit, Hefty laid still and smiled. Again, he just found himself so amazed to be here with this wonderful, beautiful Troll that he couldn't begin to fathom how he got to be so lucky.
"Good morning," Branch didn't pause in his sketching, "I can hear you staring."
"Those ears are amazing," Hefty chuckled when Branch gave him a little half shove. "What are you drawing?"
"Your favorite thing to look at," replied Branch.
"You?" grinned Hefty.
A light blush spread across Branch's cheeks, "Alright, second favorite." He stopped and showed Hefty a drawing of his sleeping face.
"Wow," Hefty murmured, looking at the drawing. Unlike the previous ones of Hefty done by memory or the quick sketched ones of Hefty walking around yesterday, this sketch was detailed and shaded. If it was in color, Hefty would have sworn it was one of those instant-painting things called photos that Miss Frizz had all over her walls. "I knew you'd do even more amazing with a live subject."
"Helps that I have a pretty handsome subject to start with," commented Branch, setting the sketchbook to the side to avoid looking at Hefty while he blushed.
Smiling more, Hefty sat up and kissed Branch's cheek, kissing him more fully once the Troll turned back to face him. He licked Branch's lips, deepening the kiss once he was granted entry into that spellbinding mouth.
Turning more fully towards Hefty, Branch wrapped his arms around the Smurf's neck, practically melting into the kiss. This kiss was deeper than many of their other kisses but it was slow, gentle with no feeling of urgency and just warm and caring.
When the two broke apart, both smiled and let out soft, comfortable chuckles. Even though things had gotten a bit more intimately heated between them last night, the atmosphere hadn't turned awkward. If anything, things just felt comfortable and natural.
Though Branch really did need to wash the sheets this morning, not to mention himself and Hefty as well. When they both managed to get out of bed, they wrapped towels around their waists, because Branch was not about to walk around naked and he wasn't going to let Hefty do it either, and Branch gathered up the bedding which Hefty helped carry as he followed Branch to another part of the bunker that he hadn't seen yet.
This room was divided into three parts. Right when you walked in the first thing you noticed was the far end looked a bit like a pond, filled with clean looking water. On the left were three wooden barrels and a wall of cords and what looked like clock gears that Hefty couldn't understand what they actually did yet. To the right was a line of tables, which had some more towels on it closer to the water, and clothes pins in a basket. In front of the tables were a couple of clothes lines that stretched the length of the room.
Silently, Branch set the bedding down on the left side of the room and filled the three barrels with water from the pond. All the bedding went into one barrel with some soap and the lid was secured on top before Branch locked it into a mechanism on the wall. The Troll then cranked a handle Hefty hadn't noticed right away, which turned the gears and tightened the cords. Once Branch let go of the handle the cords released and the released tension twirled the barrel around and, in the process, tightened the cords the other way which then twirled the barrel in the other direction and it just kept going.
At Hefty's staring, Branch explained, "The twirling of the cords momentum will wind down on its own in a few cycles and then I'll dump out the soapy water and do it again with the next barrel to rinse. It usually takes two rinses to get all the soap out."
"You can never talk to Handy again," Hefty said slowly.
Branch blinked, "What, why?"
"Handy will fight me for you," exclaimed Hefty. "Smurf it all, if Laundry Smurf saw this he might propose marriage on the spot!"
"One Smurf who does all the laundry," Branch repeated. "Yeah, I think I can rig up one of these for him without marriage. And you better be joking about Handy."
"I'm not," swore Hefty. "He'll take one look at this or any of those sketches for things you have and worship the ground you walk on."
"Well he'll have to get used to worshipping from a distance because I'm not interested in any Smurf but you," Branch assured him with a kiss. He went over to the table and grabbed a couple of washcloths, handing one to Hefty. "We should wash up as well."
Hefty eyed the washcloth, remembering how Branch wiped him down the previous day and blushed a little. Would he get to wipe down Branch this time?
The sound of water made Hefty look up and he saw Branch was in the pool of water up to his waist already. On top of that the towel that had been around Branch's waist was on the ground.
"Are you coming in or not?" asked Branch, turning to the Smurf.
The only noises Hefty could make were incoherent.
Rolling his eyes, Branch splashed some water in Hefty's direction.
Chuckling, Hefty started to remove his towel, smiling a bit at Branch turning around to give him some privacy. He dropped the towel next to Branch's on the floor and joined the Troll in the water, "It's warm."
"The rocks at the bottom generate heat with a little light," Branch explained, turning back to him, "It won't get any warmer without sunlight but at least it isn't freezing."
"How did you get water in here anyway?" asked Hefty.
"I figured out how to divert some underground water here without flooding the place," said Branch. "But I also can't control the flow of it. Sometimes the water fills up and flows out daily. Other times it stays dry for days so its not dependable for drinking but works well enough for washing."
Hefty hummed, "Yeah, you definitely can't talk to Handy anymore."
Branch splashed Hefty again.
Smirking, Hefty splashed Branch back.
This began a splash fight which quickly escalated to waves of water drenching each other until they were both laughing.
"Well, we're thoroughly rinsed off now at least," commented Branch wiping some excess water from his face, his hair now lying flat and floating in the water behind him.
Hefty stared, "Your hair…"
"Did you think it stayed upright all the time?" asked Branch, using his washcloth to start washing off.
"No but it's really neat to see it like this," Hefty explained. "It looks even longer when its wet." He moved a little closer. "Can I touch it?"
Blush spread across Branch's cheeks and he was silent for a bit before nodding.
Carefully Hefty ran his fingers through a bit of Branch's hair. Dry the Troll's hair was smooth and silky. Wet, it glided through Hefty's fingers like fine silk ribbons.
"Can you do stuff with your hair when its wet?" asked Hefty.
Branch shook his head, "There's not much control when its heavy with water; I won't be able to stretch it or anything until it's dry."
"Being caught in the rain must be a nightmare for Trolls," commented Hefty.
"No kidding," Branch agreed softly.
It took some sweet talking but Branch eventually relented to letting Hefty wash his hair. With Hefty so close and touching Branch and his hair so thoroughly, it took all of Branch's willpower not to dive under the water to blush to death in peace. That didn't stop the Troll from sinking down to his shoulders and probably would have sank further if Hefty hadn't asked why he kept moving further into the water.
As Hefty rinsed out Branch's hair, Branch was torn between getting out of the water as quickly as possible and considering asking if he could wash Hefty's hair. That would only be fair, right?
"There you go, all clean," Hefty grinned proudly but was still running his fingers through Branch's hair.
"Alright," Branch stammered, trying to get his blush under control. "Um, your turn."
"Huh?" Hefty had the nerve to sound confused.
"I'm going to wash your hair now," Branch said it was a statement but it came out sounding like a question.
"You don't have to," said Hefty.
"I want to," replied Branch, looking over his shoulder at him.
Finally, Hefty was the one blushing but he nodded.
The Smurf's hair was rather short but it still felt good under Branch's hands. Really it was more like giving Hefty's scalp a massage and he couldn't help but smile each time he got a little sigh to escape his partner.
Partner? Branch hadn't really considered it before but it felt right. Maybe he wasn't as far from thinking about marriage as he thought?
After rinsing Hefty's hair, Branch kissed the top of Hefty's head, "There, all done."
Blush spread across the Smurf's neck and shoulders as Hefty covered his face, "Ah Smurf; you're going to kill me…"
Branch laughed and Hefty splashed him again.
After another splash fight the two of them finished washing and grabbed towels from the table to dry with. As Hefty dried off without caring if Branch saw him or not, Branch tied a towel around his waist and dried off more with another towel that he patted his hair down with as well. Then, as Hefty put his towel around his waist, Branch set up the laundry to rinse.
Together they went back to the bedroom to get dressed. Leaving his vest off for the moment, Branch started working on combing his hair.
Once he was dressed, Hefty watched for a minute, mesmerized before walking over to him. He smiled and held out his hand.
At first Branch just looked at him, but, in the end, he blushed and surrendered the comb.
Grinning, Hefty got to work on combing Branch's hair. He went carefully, aware from Smurfette how easily long hair could snag. As he worked he watching in amazement as Branch's hair dried and started to go back upward without the Troll having to do a thing.
"Hey Hefty?" Branched called softly, the Smurf almost missing it.
"Yeah?" asked Hefty.
Though he had spoken first, Branch didn't respond right away. He swallowed, fiddling with his hands before speaking, "I love you."
A warm smile spread across Hefty's face as he pulled Branch close to hug him from behind and kiss his cheek, "I love you too."
When they made it to the kitchen, Branch tried teaching Hefty how to make a simple breakfast. It was rather cute watching Hefty take such a mundane thing so seriously, watching Branch demonstrate and try to imitate him as if Hefty still needed to impress Branch. If thee wasn't serious risk of Hefty cutting or burning himself, Branch probably would have kissed him a few times during the lesson.
Hefty insisted on eating his slightly burnt creation, cutely proud of himself for making it, "So what do you want to do after breakfast?"
"We should probably see how things are doing at the Troll Tree," said Branch. "I'm curious if Poppy has tried to teach your fellow Smurfs any choregraphed dancing yet."
"Considering how into teaching me a few moves she was, I wouldn't doubt it," commented Hefty, pausing to drink some tea. "Um, I know I sang in front of both of our villages before but I'm not sure if I ever want to sing, by myself, in front of anyone but you again… Is that okay?"
"Of course," Branch assured him. "Singing in front of people isn't for everyone, you don't even have to sing for me if you don't want to."
"But I like singing for you," Hefty smiled.
"Oh, thank Smurf," sighed Branch, smiling when it made Hefty laugh. "Seriously though, your voice is amazing."
"Just for you Siren," said Hefty, kissing his cheek.