NSFW-ish. There's talk bout mature themes but nothing explicit so I think its safe to post the entire chapter here.

Chapter 47

Branch had almost dozed off when Hefty returned and lifted him up and held him closely, carefully as if he was something precious. Not bothering to open his eyes, he snuggled into that feeling and Hefty's warmth, savoring it all.

Though he was aware of Hefty walking, Branch didn't even think to wonder about where they were going. Only when Branch suddenly found himself in warm water did he open his eyes and try to figure out what was happening.

They were now in Hefty's washroom, in Hefty's bathtub. The water was warm but nothing compared to the furnace that was Hefty in the tub behind Branch, a comfortable backrest and Hefty loosely held Branch and caressed over Branch's body under the water, more like an attempt to wash him or a gentle massage than anything sensual.

"How do you have any energy?" Branch turned his head a little in order to nuzzle Hefty, closing his eyes again. "I feel like I could sleep for a year."

"Go ahead and sleep," Hefty kissed Branch's temple, "I got you."

Sleepily, Branch mumbled but refused to give in, "You didn't answer my question."

A soft chuckle vibrated through Hefty's chest, "I'm your mate; it's my duty and pleasure to take care of you, remember?"

Humming, Branch had a weird thought pop into his head, "I'm glad Smurfs and Trolls don't reproduce like rabbits."

"That's random," commented Hefty, "Why's that?"

"If you're like this after sex, or a regular basis, I can only imagine what you'd be like if I was capable of getting pregnant," Branch commented, frowning when he felt Hefty's body stiffen under him, "Hefty?"

"Um," Hefty blushed, unable to get the image out of his head now, "I'm pretty sure we'd be moving into the bunker and I'd be waiting on you hand and foot."

Waking up a little more, Branch laughed, "I don't mind the bunker bit but I would not handle that very well for very long; I'd go stir crazy."

"What were you planning on doing if you had to stay locked in the bunker for a while?" asked Hefty, nuzzling Branch and enjoying the feel of his mate so relaxed in his arms.

"I have a lot of odd projects I could do," commented Branch, then hummed, "Next time we're at the bunker I'll have to show you my favorite room."

"You have a favorite room?" Hefty questioned, "How did I not see it before?"

"In my defense, my bunker is pretty expansive and that room is in the deepest part of the bunker," Branch explained. "I go there to escape any sounds from above and I work on it when I'm restless, especially in winter." He smiled softly, "I think you'll like the ceiling."

"What's on the ceiling?" asked Hefty.

"It's a surprise," Branch half turned to smile at Hefty, "And incentive to come back with me to the Troll Tree for a while once Creek is better."

Though he rolled his eyes, Hefty smiled, "You're all the incentive I need."

Smiling a little more, Branch leaned in and kissed him, "Love you, Hero."

"Love you too, Siren," Hefty returned, kissing him again.

They stayed in the bath a little longer, light kisses shared between them until the water began to get cold. Though Hefty allowed Branch to get out of the tub and dry off on his own, the moment he was done, Hefty lifted him up again.

"I can walk," Branch rolled his eyes, and poked Hefty's cheek.

"No walking allowed," Hefty grinned, "It's bad for the baby."

Blushing, Branch lightly hit Hefty's chest, hitting him again when the Smurf laughed, "There is no baby!"

"A Smurf can dream," commented Hefty, pausing to pull back the blankets before setting Branch down on the bed.

Branch watched Hefty get into bed beside him, laying down when he did, "You want kids?"

Hefty shrugged, "I never really thought about it before but I like the idea of having a family with you."

Again, Branch blushed, but he moved closer to Hefty, snuggling up to him, "That's a really sweet notion, but I'm afraid it's not possible, all things considered."

Sighing, Hefty wrapped his arms around Branch, "I know. There are no Trolling orphans anymore that we could adopt and there haven't been any Smurflings around since I was a Smurflng."

"So, the age before time?" Branch teased, chuckling when Hefty messed up his hair a bit in retaliation.

"You're just going to have to have twenty Trollings with Poppy and we'll be a family that way," commented Hefty.

"Okay, I know you grew up with just under a hundred brothers but there's no way, on this green Earth, Poppy and I are having twenty Trollings," Branch frowned at Hefty.

"Come on, Trollings are so cute," Hefty was trying hard not to laugh. "How about an even dozen?"

"One, if any," Branch rolled his eyes. "And I'm sure Miss Frizz will let you play with her foster grandtrolls as much as you want."

"They are sweet kids," commented Hefty. "Let's see, there were thirteen Trollings Miss Frizz originally took care of. You and Creek don't have any kids. I'm assuming Brocade didn't have any either before he died."

"Thankfully his genes were not passed down, yes," Branch nodded.

"So, the five kids belong to… who of the ten remaining Trolls?' asked Hefty.

"Dragon Lily is Tiger Lily's little girl and Regale is Stargazer's. Clover and Violet are Posy and Bluebell's son and daughter. Cricket is Grasshopper's son. Taffeta, Chiffon, Tartan and Damask all have kids but they're too little for Miss Frizz to watch along with the five older Trollings and I haven't met any of them," explained Branch, "Tinsel doesn't have any kids yet either, he's still rather young and he was an infant when he left Miss Frizz's so I'm not sure if he ever talks to her or not."

"How do you remember all that?" asked Hefty.

"How do you remember the names of roughly two hundred Smurfs?" asked Branch.

"Point taken," Hefty nodded, then yawned. "Ready to sleep for that year?"

Branch huffed a little laugh, "See you in the morning." He kissed Hefty's cheek and settled down.

"Sweet dreams," Hefty kissed Branch's forehead before closing his eyes.

Sunlight was drifting into the mushroom when Branch awoke again. The rain was over but more importantly, Branch was in bed alone. And, worse than that, Branch was wrapped in a blanket burrito again.

"Damn it Hefty," Branch struggled, trying to free himself. He managed to pull an arm free just as he fell off the bed.

Cursing, Branch rolled around until he managed to free the other arm, which made the blanket lose enough so he could sit up. He sat up and immediately spotted Hefty, standing in the doorway of the washroom, still naked and trying his hardest not to laugh.

The moment they locked eyes, Hefty doubled over laughing and Branch blushed into a new shade of purple.

"Shut up," Branch shouted. "It's your fault for putting me in a burrito to begin with!"

"I can't, I can't," Hefty gasped for air between laughter.

Standing, Branch grabbed a pillow and tossed it at Hefty.

Hefty looked up just in time to get smacked by the pillow but it did nothing to calm down his laughter. If anything, it made him laugh worse.

Grumbling, Branch held the lose blanket around him. He ignored Hefty and headed over to the fireplace to gather up his clothing.

"Oh, come on Branch," Hefty struggled to speak, "That was so Smurfing cute, I couldn't help myself."

"Yes, because my reaction to cute things is to laugh at them," Branch rolled his eyes and started to get dressed.

"Even you have to admit that you rolling around like that was a little funny," Hefty walked over to Branch and wrapped his arms around him from behind, not caring that he was still completely naked. He kissed over Branch's cheek and neck. "Come back to bed."

A slight shiver went through Branch but he shook his head, "Tempting but I want to check on Creek; he's been alone with Brainy since before the rain started and Brainy has got to be climbing the walls."

"I think you mean Creek," said Hefty, "If he was well enough to climb walls that is."

Rolling his eyes, Branch kissed Hefty's cheek, "Get dressed or I'm leaving without you."

"I don't think you can leave if I hold you prisoner," Hefty grinned and gave Branch a squeeze.

Branch raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

"Or I could get dressed," Hefty quickly let Branch go and went to get his pants.

After putting back on his vest, Branch picked up the jar of the ointment Creek made and blushed at the fact that it was pretty much empty. He hoped Creek would not realize why as he rubbed the last of it onto his arm.

As they walked to Chef's to pick up breakfast, they ran into Poppy and Smurfette going the same thing. They agreed that they would all go check on Creek and Brainy and eat together.

"Did you check on Creek at all during the rain?" asked Branch.

"Yep," Poppy nodded, "He's doing a lot better, well, physically."

"What do you mean by physically?" asked Branch.

Poppy paused and stared at him, then gasped, "That's right, you don't know."

"Don't know what?" asked Branch.

"Creek, well," Poppy hesitated and looked at Branch. "You and Creek are friends now, right? You won't make fun of him or anything?"

"Only if it's really funny," said Branch, jumping back when Poppy tried to smack his arm. "I'm joking; I won't make fun of Creek if it's something serious."

Nodding, Poppy then turned and eyed Hefty.

"Fine, I won't either," grumbled Hefty.

Sighing, Poppy looked around to make sure no Smurf was listening before she started, "Something happened to Creek, back when he moved into his own pod."

Frowning, Branch stopped walking to give Poppy his attention, "Something? You mean you don't know or you don't want to tell me?"

"I don't know," Poppy insisted. "Shortly after Creek moved he stopped coming out of his pod and I was worried so I went to check on him."

"You mean you broke in," Branch clarified.

"Same difference," Poppy shrugged. "But Branch, I don't even know how to explain how… not-Creek, Creek was. He was just curled up against the wall of his washroom, completely terrified about something. When I tried to ask him, he just started sobbing. He actually hit me when I tried to get him to his bed to rest and was… really panicked about it."

Hefty glanced at the others faces. Besides generally worried, none of them seem to suspect the cause. Still he felt a weight growing in him that he couldn't ignore even as he kept it to himself.

"I let Creek stay in the washroom for a bit and got the others," Poppy continued, "I didn't know what was freaking him out so we got rid of everything in his bedroom, leaving most of it at Biggie's place until Creek could look at it, and got a new bed. It seemed to help, Creek finally willing to leave the washroom when the others left but just kept having nightmares whenever he tried to sleep."

"And you have no idea what about?" asked Branch.

Poppy shook her head, "The most I could get was something about a voice. Creek was only able to rest if I stayed with him. It took some time but he finally let me take him outside for a while but something freaked him out again and he rushed back. When I caught up he asked me to leave him alone for two days. I didn't want to but he begged me to, so I did. I went back after a day though, to tell him about what happened to Brocade, and Creek's pod was a mess. He had smashed his tea set and didn't even notice that he as standing on some of the glass. I told him Brocade had died and, and Creek started laughing."

"Laughing?" Branch repeated, dumb folded.

Poppy nodded, "Laughing and crying and it was so scary Branch. I had no idea what was happening. Then, then Creek went gray."

Surprised, Branch's eyes widened, "I never knew he went gray."

"He never left his pod during it and I was sworn to secrecy," Poppy looked down at her feet. "I stayed with him for days afterward to help and, eventually, Creek was able to get some real rest with me there. When he could concentrate again he used a combination of meditation and yoga to block his memories of the whole ordeal."

"Wait, Creek can do that?" Smurfette questioned.

"Mind over matter," Hefty murmured, looking towards the Recovery Mushroom.

"Pretty much," Poppy nodded again. "Creek is aware that something happened but he doesn't remember what and he doesn't remember being gray. But when he's sick or hurt and he can't meditate or do yoga, those memories start creeping back up and he gets night terrors."

"So, Creek's been, what, suffering since we got here and you didn't say anything?" Branch frowned at Poppy.

"I thought having Brainy around was helping," Poppy protested.

"Besides looking drained Creek doesn't really act like there's something wrong," Smurfette defended.

"He's a good actor," commented Hefty, remembering what Creek had told him the purple Troll told him his first night in Smurf Village.

"What do you think we should do?" Poppy asked Branch.

"We figure out what happened and help Creek deal with it properly," said Branch.

"But Creek doesn't want to know," protested Poppy.

"He can't rely on blocking it out when things like this can happen anytime," commented Branch. "It might hurt at first but resolving it will be better in the long run."

Poppy looked down and shuffled her feet, "I don't know."

"I do," said Hefty, turning back to them. "Poppy, you and Branch get breakfast for everyone. Smurfette, go to Therapist Smurf and ask him to meet us there after he eats; Creek is going to need to talk to him."

Looking up, Poppy frowned at Hefty.

"Please Poppy, trust me on this," Hefty patted the princess's shoulder, "I know what I'm talking about."

Sighing, Poppy nodded, "Alright; I don't like it but I trust you."

Stepping closer to Hefty, Branch spoke softly, "Hefty?"

Forcing a small smile, Hefty pulled Branch close and kissed his temple. He whispered, "I'm going to try to talk to Creek before Therapist Smurf; I think Creek and I are more similar than I originally thought."

Worry filled Branch like ice, holding Hefty as he looked up at him, "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure," Hefty nodded.

"But that has never happened among Trolls," Branch tried to reason it away.

"Never happened among Smurfs either," said Hefty, "Unfortunately, things change."

Branch squeezed Hefty close, wishing again that he had been able to protect him all those years ago. And now fearing that he had failed Creek as well.