Chapter 39

Rain drops was the sound Creek first became aware of when he woke up, which made him smile a little. He, like any Troll, did not like going out in rain unless he absolutely had to. Still he loved lazy days where he could just stay in his pod, cozy up under some blankets and read while listening to the rain. Rain was symbolic in so many ways, plus it was rather soothing and excellent for meditation.

But this was not Creek's pod. And the ache in Creek's ribs reminded him that meditation was, more than likely, still impossible. Plus, there was a warmth there that reminded Creek that he was not in bed alone.

Slowly becoming more awake, Creek realized that he had curled up onto his side. Surprisingly this didn't agitate his ribs much. And the arm that had laid straighten out beside him, holding Brainy's hand, when he went to sleep was now curled up into a "V" shape and still holding Brainy's hand.

Opening his eyes, Creek saw Brainy still sleeping a short distance away, the Smurf having curled to his side and bent his arm up as well to keep holding Creek's hand. Without his glasses, Brainy did look a lot more like the general Smurf population but Creek could see some small differences at this distance. For example, Hefty's face was definitely fuller and older looking than Brainy's but Brainy didn't have the same youthful baby face that Clumsy had. Perhaps Brainy was somewhere in the middle as far as age went?

Looking around, Creek spotted Pudgy, who must have opted out of sleeping in Creek's hair, in favor of dozing next to Snappy Bug at the foot of the bed. Both had tiny but adorable snores that as soon as one finished, the other began.

A squeaking noise brought Creek's attention further up, and he was only vaguely surprised to see Poppy standing in the doorway, grinning her head off while she stood there dripping in a Smurf white raincoat, carrying a covered basket.

"Oh Creek," Poppy's smile only seemed to get bigger. She all but jumped out of the raincoat, letting it fall to the floor as she rushed over to the bed. "Why didn't you just say you wanted to spend more time with Brainy? I would have understood."

Creek blinked, trying to understand what Poppy was talking about. He glanced back at the still sleeping Brainy, and their still joined hands, and connected the dots, "Poppy, no-"

"No, I totally get it," Poppy cut him off. "Brainy can be a bit, well, Brainy, but he's-"

"Just stop, Poppy," Creek pleaded, quickly slipping his hand out of Brainy's and slowly making his way up to a sitting position with Poppy's help. "There's nothing going on between me and Brainy."

"But," Poppy tried.

Raising a hand to cut her off, Creek shook his head, "Brainy is a very nice Smurf but I'm not interested in the whole Smurf package." He poked both of Poppy's cheeks, "Besides, you know who I have feelings for."

Poppy pouted softly, "But Branch is-"

"These things take time," Creek cut her off, "Allow me that, please."

Grumbling, Poppy nodded, then glanced at Brainy, "If you two aren't getting romantic, why is he in bed with you?"

"First of all, he's not in bed with me," Creek lifted a little of Brainy's blanket to show that he was laying above the blanket that covered Creek. "Secondly, um, I sort of have a bad dream report to give you."

Instantly Poppy closed the distance between them, hugging Creek as tight as she could without hurting Creek's ribs, "Are they the same ones as before?"

Leaning against her, Creek hugged her back, "I think so. I can't understand the words just yet but the voice is unmistakable."

"I know you can't do yoga with your injury but you can't meditate either?" asked Poppy, lightly rubbing over the back of Creek's neck.

Creek shook his head, "The pain is too distracting and the medicine makes me sleep."

"Maybe you should talk to Papa?" asked Poppy. "Maybe he can fix up something that will take the pain away but allow you to stay awake?"

"Possibly," Creek agreed. "He said he'd come by today to make more medicine but I'm not sure that's still in the cards with the rain."

"I'll drop by his mushroom on the way to Tailor's," said Poppy.

"Tailors?" asked Creek.

"Well Smurfette only has one rain coat and I batted my eyelashes at her until she agreed to let me use it to check on you," Poppy smiled to herself, "On the condition I drop by Tailors on the way back to get another raincoat."

A small chuckle escaped Creek, "Another victim to those pretty eyelashes of yours."

Giggling, Poppy pulled back and pulled up the covered basket, "There's a few muffins in here that you can share with Brainy when he wakes up. I'll come back around lunch to make sure Papa made you more medicine and bring you more food."

"Thank you, Poppy, though I'm warning you now, I can't really eat much," said Creek.

"Don't make me force feed you," said Poppy.

"You promised you wouldn't do that anymore after you made Guy Diamond even more sick when he had that cold last winter, remember?" asked Creek.

"You don't have a cold," grumbled Poppy.

"You promised," said Creek.

"Fine," Poppy stood with an overdramatic huff. "I'll take my concern and good intentions over your well being away with me, for now."

Though Creek shook his head, he smiled at her, "Thank you Poppy, love you."

"Love you too," Poppy kissed Creek's forehead. "Now eat what you can, take more medicine and rest. And tell Brainy he's not allowed to leave you until I return."

"I'm not holding him hostage, Poppy," Creek frowned.

"Then tell him that's he's my prisoner, royal decree," said Poppy, gathering up the raincoat and slipping it back on.

"You're not his princess," Creek pointed out.

"Royal decree," Poppy repeated and headed out of the mushroom.

A soft chuckle escaped Creek. Really, how lucky was he to have a friend like Poppy?

Movement alerted Creek that Brainy was awake and moving to sit up.

"Good morning," Creek greeted, "You just missed Poppy; she brought us muffins."

"I know," said Brainy, reaching for his glasses and slipped them back on. "I was pretending to be asleep until she left."

"Why?" asked Creek.

"She scares me a bit," admitted Brainy.

"Poppy wouldn't hurt a firefly," said Creek.

"I insulted Branch," said Brainy.

"Then yes, be afraid, be very afraid," Creek taunted, wondering what it was Brainy would have said. The Smurf seemed too nice for it to be anything major. But he was also a better actor than Creek would have though, having not realized that Brainy had been awake during his conversation with Poppy. There were definitely some things said that he would prefer that Brainy didn't hear. "How long were you pretending to be asleep?"

"Not long," Brainy uncovered the basket, looking in curiously. "Why, did I miss something important?"

Watching Brainy take a muffin and start to munch on it, Creek figured Brainy didn't hear any of Poppy's assumptions of something happening between them, Creek's feelings for Branch or Creek's night terrors. If he had, Creek was sure Brainy would be asking about them or insisting again that he talk to Therapist Smurf.

"Nothing vital," Creek took out a muffin as well. He still wasn't very hungry but he knew he had to have something.

As Creek nibbled, Pudgy and Snappy Bug woke up and started sniffling around the basket. Again, Creek shared his muffin with Pudgy, giving the firefly pieces to munch on between bites. Brainy also shared his muffin with Snappy Bug, setting a chunk down for her to have at her own pace.

"Um," Creek began, not really sure what to say but, again, knowing that something should be said, "Thank you, that is, for last night."

Brainy looked vaguely surprised for a moment but then smiled, "You're welcome, but I'm just glad it seemed to have helped."

Absently, Creek nodded, "You don't have to stay if you don't want to though. I'm sure there are things you rather be doing."

Brainy set down his muffin to use both hands to point to himself, "Scared of Poppy, remember? I'm not going against her royal decree." He smiled a little when Creek rolled his eyes. "Besides there's nothing I rather be doing then being here with you."

Turning, Creek looked at Brainy's smile and swallowed.

Pudgy chose that moment to swoop in and steal the rest of Brainy's muffin.

"Hey!" shouted Brainy, getting out of bed to chase the firefly.

Watching them, Creek frowned to himself. Maybe there was nothing happening from his perspective but maybe Brainy was a bit more foolish than Creek originally thought.