Chapter 31

In the morning, Hefty and Branch woke up early to clean up and dress before anyone could come looking for them. Still Hefty couldn't resist pulling Branch close and kissing him at every given opportunity, loving the feel of him, even after he was dressed, loving holding him, and, of course, loving kissing him. At each contact Hefty was just filled with a sense of warmth and how right it felt having Branch here with him.

Everything felt so perfect that Hefty hesitated to feel concerned when he saw Branch come out of the bathroom, holding onto the side of his neck and looking confused, "Is something wrong?"

"There's something on my neck," Branch said slowly, lowering his hand to reveal the hickey Hefty had made last night. "It feels like a weird bruise."

Heat burned on Hefty's cheeks, "Um, I did that." He blushed worse when Branch just looked more confused. "Last night, when I sucked on your neck; it's called a hickey."

Recognizing the name, Branch blushed and his hand flew up to cover the hickey again, "Split ends, everyone is going to know what we did last night!"

"I doubt it," said Hefty. "More than likely they'll just think we made out prettily heavily."

Blushing worse, Branch kept the hickey covered.

"Want to give me a hickey?" asked Hefty.

Looking up, Branch stared at him.

"It's only fair," said Hefty.

Narrowing his eyes, Branch frowned, "You want me to give you a hickey."

Nodding, Hefty grinned, "Why not make it a dozen?"

Rolling his eyes, Branch tossed a pillow at Hefty, "You're impossible."

"And I'm all yours Siren," Hefty caught the pillow, smiling. He tossed the pillow back onto the bed before opening his arms for Branch with a bigger grin.

Though Branch rolled his eyes, he moved into the awaiting arms and hugged Hefty, speaking into his chest, "I'm still not giving you a hickey."

"Oh, come on, please?" Hefty pleaded, pulling Branch closer and curling around him more, loving the sound of the Troll's laughter.

When they finally managed to part they headed out and towards Chef's. As they walked, Branch looked around on occasion.

"Not much has changed since you were last here," commented Hefty.

Shaking his head, Branch mockingly gave Hefty a light shove, "I'm just wondering where Pudgy flew off to. I haven't seen him since we arrived last night."

Honestly, Hefty had forgotten the firefly had followed them there, "Maybe he's just exploring?"

"Maybe," agreed Branch, following Hefty into Chef's mushroom.

"Good morning Hefty," Chef greeted, then grinned. "Oh, and Branch! Couldn't stay way, could you?"

Branch blushed, "Um…"

"There was actually another incident yesterday," Hefty stepped in, saving him. "The Troll Creek was caught by Gargamel and was hurt before we rescued him; he's in the Recovery Mushroom with bruised ribs and Poppy's watching him. I went and got Branch last night so the Trolls would know what happened."

"And you couldn't stay away from him," Chef teased.

"That too," Hefty admitted with a smile.

Chuckling, Chef scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Bruised ribs can be rather painful at first so he might not have much of an appetite. Something easy to digest would probably be best to start with."

"Do you have any oatmeal?" asked Branch, looking around the kitchen. It was a fairly nice size but didn't seem like nearly enough to feed so many Smurfs.

"I believe so," nodded Chef, going to a cabinet and pulling out a bag. "Yes, here we are. I can pause breakfast prep and have it ready for you in a Smurfy minute."

"If you don't mind me in your kitchen, I can make it," offered Branch.

Chef blinked, then smiled, "Of course I don't mind, the more the merrier." He gave Branch the oatmeal and pointed out where the pots were, waiting until Branch walked away to grin at Hefty, lightly tapping on his heart tattoo. "Excellent choice."

"Thanks," Hefty smiled back before crossing his arms and giving him a more serious look. "Don't get any ideas."

"Wouldn't dream of it," chuckled Chef. "Though he is rather cute…"

Hefty lightly smacked Chef's arm and Chef just laughed.

"What are you two talking about?" asked Branch, turning back to them.

"Nothing," Hefty and Chef chorused together.

"Good, then I'm not interrupting," Papa walked in but stayed by the door. "I believe it's time we had that talk now, Hefty."

"Yes Papa," Hefty nodded. He walked over to Branch, kissing his cheek. "I'll be back in as soon as I can. Don't accept any marriage proposals that aren't from me while I'm gone."

Rolling his eyes, Branch kissed Hefty's cheek back, "No promises."

"Now that's just mean," Hefty mocked getting shot in the heart, keeping his hand there in a wounded fashion as he followed Papa out of the mushroom.

"Who the heck does he think is going to propose?" asked Branch. He finished prepping the oatmeal to cook before joining Chef at the counter to help cut up vegetables for breakfast, dicing things up quickly and efficiently.

Chef hummed, "You keep that up and I might."

Looking up, Branch gave him a pointed look sharper than the knife he was holding, "Fair warning, I may not be as physically strong as Hefty but I can and will hurt you."

"Duly noted," Chef chuckled, returning to his prep work.

When Hefty returned he draped himself over Branch, holding him close.

Pausing, Branch looked at Hefty the best that he could with the angle, "Are you grounded?"

"No," Hefty groaned, "Papa said there was no point with you, Poppy and Creek here. But words like irresponsible and disappointed were thrown around a bit."

Chef winced and made a sympathetic sound.

Not really having a frame of reference, Branch hummed in acknowledgment. "But at least you're not grounded, right?"

"I don't know," Chef shrugged. "I bet Hefty wouldn't mind being grounded in his mushroom if you were there with him." He pointed to Branch's neck, "It would give him a chance to leave more of those hickeys."

Branch blushed, dropping the knife to cover the hickey with his hand.

Hefty stared at Chef as he thought of the possibilities, "Oh Smurf, why couldn't I have been grounded?"

Blushing worse, Branch elbowed Hefty, though he doubted Hefty felt it much when he considered all his muscles. "You would have been there alone, Doofus; I'd be off checking on Poppy and Creek."

"Oh yeah," sighted Hefty, resting his head on Branch's shoulder.

With a fond shake of his head, Branch slowly uncovered his neck to pick back up the knife and go back to work, not even trying to get Hefty to release him.

"You tolerate him very well," commented Chef.

"He's a doofus, but he's my doofus," replied Branch.

Grinning, Hefty kissed Branch's cheek, then moved toward his neck.

"Don't even think it," Branch warned, pausing in cutting vegetables to look at Hefty.

"I wasn't thinking anything," Hefty lied quickly, blushing a little when Chef busted out laughing.

By the time the porridge was done, all of the meal prep was taken care of between Chef and Branch with a little bit of assistance from Hefty after he managed to peel back from Branch. They gathered up a few bowls and spoons, to take with them to the Recovery Mushroom. Of course, Hefty insisted on carrying the pot containing the porridge.

Carrying the rest, Branch looked around a bit more as they walked, keeping an eye out for Pudgy and slowly starting to figure out how to tell more of the male Smurfs apart. There were still quite a few Branch hadn't officially met yet but he imagined there would always be some that he would never be able to tell apart by sight until they did something for the trait they were named for. Like Winner and Loser, and yes that still bothered him.

Upon entering the Recovery Mushroom, Hefty set down the porridge by the hearth so it would stay warm until they needed it. At the same time, Branch put the bowls and spoons down on the counter.

In the bedroom, Creek was sitting up in bed, propped up against pillows, watching Papa Smurf using a bit of magic on his torso. He looked up when they entered, smiled, then turned to Poppy, "See? Branch is happy again; told you we needed to get his Smurf."

Though she giggled, Poppy gave Creek a little poke on the cheek, "We're still in Smurf Village, remember? Branch came here."

"Ah yes," Creek mumbled, "My point still stands though."

Poppy turned to Branch and Hefty, "The pain medication is making Creek a tiny bit out of it so excuse any weird things he says."

"I'm not saying anything weird," Creek defended himself.

"Earlier you said an orange is a banana," Poppy reminded him.

"I stand by it," said Creek, "They both peel."

Smurfette giggled a bit, standing by the bed next to where Poppy sat.

"In any case Branch, you are very lucky," Creek said very seriously.

"Oh?" asked Branch, not sure where this was leading, "And why's that?"

"If Papa Smurf here is any indication, your Smurf is going to be quite the silver fox when he's older," commented Creek, speaking as if Papa wasn't right there even as Creek suggested towards him.

Poppy covered her mouth in an attempt not to snort laugh but failed when Papa Smurf looked up with a blush and raised an eyebrow at Creek. She would have fallen off the bed in laughter if Smurfette hadn't been there to steady her.

"I'm going to ignore that as being an after effect of the medication," commented Papa, done with what he could do for the moment, and pulling the covers back over Creek.

"Whatever you say Papa Fox," Creek gave him a wink.

"Creek," Papa warned in his official Papa tone.

"Silver Smurf?" Creek tried again.

Branch sighed, "If you're well enough to flirt then you're well enough for me to yell at you for being an idiot. What were you thinking running off here on your own like an idiot? I told you to leave it be, you idiot."

Not responding, Creek turned to Poppy. "Three idiots in one conversation again. You two were meant for each other."

Though the comment confused Branch, it seemed to make Poppy sad. She said nothing though as she gently stroked Creek's hair.

Shaking his head, Papa turned to Poppy as well, "My magic is going to speed up the recovery process but Creek should stay in bed as much as he can stand-"

"Is that a joke?" asked Creek, "I don't think I could stand even if I wanted to."

"-and get as much rest as possible," Papa finished. "Same rules for Creek as they were for Branch; he should eat something before he takes any more medication. There's enough for two days and I'll come back and make more tomorrow."

"Oh, you should bring Willow, she'll be a sight for sore eyes," said Creek.

Sighing, Papa shook his head again, "Rest well Creek." He turned to Hefty, "Think you can stay out of trouble for a bit?"

"Yes Papa," said Hefty, though he was seriously considering getting grounded on purpose at a time to be named later.

Papa hummed as if he suspected, but didn't comment, "Well, I'm off to breakfast. You kids just let me know if you need anything else."

After the door closed behind Papa, Branch turned to Hefty, "Seriously? How old do you have to be around here to be an adult?"

"We're all adults," Hefty quickly defended.

"But everyone's a kid in comparison to Papa," smiled Smurfette.

"How old is he?" asked Poppy.

"He just turned 259, a few months ago," answered Smurfette.

The Trolls fell silent.

Creek spoke first, "Well, I guess Branch isn't going to see Silver Fox Hefty after all." His mind seemed to catch up with his mouth and his eyes went wide. "Don't listen to me! I'm loopy on pain meds; Poppy, tell them about the bananas!"

Surprising everyone, Branch chuckled, "I appreciate the thought Creek but… Hefty and I have talked about it before and though the age bit does worry me, we're going to enjoy the time we have together and try to figure things out along the way."

Smiling, Hefty gently took hold of Branch's hand, giving it a little kiss when Branch turned to him.

"Ah," Creek said slowly, "Good."

Turning, Poppy tilted her head towards Smurfette, "How old are you?"

Blushing, Smurfette twirled a bit of her hair around her finger. "That's complicated." She glanced over at the others before taking Poppy's hand into her own. "Could we talk about this? Alone?"

Hesitating, Poppy looked over to Creek.

"Don't worry about me Poppy," said Creek, "I'm all tingly from Papa's magic fingers-"

"Never say that ever again," Hefty blanched.

"-and recently medicated," Creek continued, "So there's no need for you to play nursemaid; go frolic with your girlfriend."

Poppy glanced over at Branch before turning to Creek again, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Creek nodded, then yawned. "In fact, I think I'm about to fall asleep, so the lot of you should go."

"Can you stay awake long enough to eat something?" asked Branch. "We brought some porridge."

Creek made an acknowledging humming sound but his eyes had already closed, looking to be drifting off already.

Leaning in, Poppy gave Creek's forehead a soft kiss before sliding off the bed. She took Smurette's hand again and headed out with the others.

The bedroom door closed, following by the sound of the outer door of the mushroom opening and closing. No noise followed for a while.

Sighing, Creek opened his eyes and looked around a bit. He wasn't really tired, or hungry or really anything at the moment. He just wanted to avoid saying else in front of Branch that could take away his colors.

So, Creek lost Branch to someone much older than them. He didn't have an exact number but if Smurfette hesitated to talk about it, it almost had to be a lot.

Leaning further back into the pillows, Creek closed his eyes again. Perhaps he should meditate for a while; all of this was making him feel off center and that was not a feeling Creek felt safe with for it always brought up things back up that he rather forget.