Chapter 55

Unfortunately, Brainy and Creek did not go to Papa Smurf's mushroom unattended. They were accompanied by Branch, Poppy, Smurfette and Hefty so Creek's conversation with Brainy would have to wait for a later time.

When they arrived, Papa was thankfully home and welcomed them in after he got over his surprise. He looked at Creek's gray in concern but, thankfully, didn't ask. Instead, he listened to what happened, scolding Creek for going off on his own but impressed with Branch's ingenuity to scare Gargamel off. Once they were done, he couldn't stop smiling, grabbing it a potted flower and offering it to Brainy, "Let me see what you can do, Brainy."

Not taking it, Brainy just stared at the plant hand wrung his hands. What if he couldn't use magic again? What if healing Creek had been a fluke? He didn't want to disappoint Papa.

Seeing Brainy hesitate, Creek lightly bumped Brainy's arm with his own, "The flower isn't going to bloom at a distance, Brainy, go on and show us your magic."

Brainy smiled softly at Creek before turning to take the pot from Papa. He took in a deep, relaxing breath and as he exhaled the flower began to glow and bloomed beautifully in his hold. Still, he chuckled in amazement, "I did it!"

"Was there any doubt?" asked Creek, smiling slightly at Brainy's excitement.

"That's amazing, Brain-man," Hefty congratulated, lightly rubbing the top of Brainy's head in a soft noogie, "I know you've been working hard for this."

"Good thing too, or," Smurfette glanced at Creek and stopped herself.

Still, Poppy instantly grabbed Creek in a tight hug.

"Think it was the adrenaline of the situation that made the magic kick in?" asked Branch, trying to pull Poppy off of Creek but failing.

"Possibly," said Papa, taking the plant from Brainy. He turned to Creek, "Could you hold this for a moment, Creek?"

Though he didn't understand why, Creek held out his hands for the potted plant, jumping in surprise and dislodging Poppy when the pot cracked and fell apart at his touch, "What just happened?"

"Confirming a suspicion," said Papa, bending down and magically putting the pot back together, along with the dirt and flower back inside, unharmed. "Trolls must have latent magical abilities, just like Smurfs, but ours mostly stays dormant except for the aging process. Troll magic must be how you control your hair and possibly factor in your colors but remain dormant otherwise."

Poppy took the pot from Papa and stared at it, grunting a little and then pouting, "Then how come I can't make the flower bloom?"

"And why did Creek make the pot explode?" asked Branch.

"Brainy has been training his magic via trying to make the flower bloom so he has some control over it," said Papa, "However, Creek's newly awakened magic is untrained and running amok, as it were."

"Then why haven't I made anything else explode?" asked Creek, "And what awakened this magic to begin with?"

"The pot has been gathered residual magic from Brainy's training so it's a little more sensitive, I think," explained Papa, setting the pot down. "Other objects should be safe unless Creek concentrates on them more. As for how it awakened, I think Creek's meditation and yoga has, on a subconscious level, made him more attune and sensitive to magic. Something must have connected Creek's and Brainy's energies and awakened both of their magical potential, possibly when Creek's life was in danger."

Glancing over at Brainy, Creek saw that the smart Smurf was, indeed, blushing confirming Creek's suspicions that they were thinking the same thing. It wasn't Creek's life being in danger that awakened their magic; it had been the kiss from the night before. But, like Brainy, Creek was not about to volunteer that information.

"Must be the meditation," commented Poppy, "Because I do yoga too."

"I hardly call dancing via yoga moves, actual yoga," Branch rolled his eyes. "It's amazing no one has hurt themselves doing that."

Scoffing, Poppy gave Branch a playful shove, "Shows what you know, Copper has hurt himself several times doing just that."

"You're only proving my point," Branch smiled.

Moving closer, Smurfette smiled at Creek, "I guess this means you and Brainy will be taking magic lessons together, huh?"

Creek looked over at the potted flower, "I'm not sure if I want to," he turned to Papa, "If I ignore the magic, will it go away?"

Sighing, Papa shook his head, "More than likely it will just come out in more destructive ways if you don't learn control. It could even kill you."

"Can't say that I would mind that," mumbled Creek, unaware that he had said that out loud, surprised when Poppy suddenly hugged him, far too tightly, again, "Poppy?"

Sniffling, Poppy nuzzled Creek closer, "You're not allowed to die."

"I'm pretty sure you don't get a say in the matter," said Creek.

"Um, Creek," Hefty waited until Creek turned to him, "You were sort of thinking out loud again."

"Oh," said Creek slowly, "I really need to stop doing that."

"Maybe you should go see Therapist Smurf again?" asked Branch.

"It's hasn't even been a day," protested Creek, "Can't it wait?"

"Sure, if you'd like to start magic lessons," Branch crossed his arms.

"So, my choices are between going to talk to Therapist Smurf and magic lessons?" asked Creek, "Do I get a say in this?"

"No," stated Poppy.

Creek sighed, "Magic lessons it is, but the lot of you can go somewhere else. I can't imagine any of this will be easily with an audience."

Frowning, Poppy shook her head, "I'm not leaving you."

"I'll hardly be alone," said Creek, "Brainy and the father of Smurfs will be here."

"Just Papa is fine, Creek," commented Papa.

"Sorry, never had that kink," Creek deadpanned, internally relishing Papa's blush in reaction but enjoying Brainy's confused face all the more.

"Don't be gross," Poppy pulled back from the hug to roll her eyes at him.

"I am gross," stated Creek.

Poppy pouted, looking at Creek worriedly.

"Don't give me those kicked caterpillar eyes," Creek directed Poppy towards the door, "You're free to come back and hang all over me after the magic lesson is over, though I'd think you'd rather drape yourself all over Smurfette."

"I can do both," said Poppy.

"Kinky," rebutted Creek.

"Creek!" Poppy blushed.

Branch chuckled, "Glad to see that your twisted sense of humor is still intact."

"Thank goodness for small miracles," shrugged Creek, relieved when the group finally herded themselves out.

Looking between Creek and Papa, Brainy finally settled on Papa, "What does kinky mean?"

The look of absolute horror on Papa Smurf's face made Creek's face crack into a small smile. Really, Brainy was far too adorable for his own good.

Somehow Papa managed to avoid answering by starting the magic lesson. Brainy was given a book of simple spells to look over to find one he's be comfortable trying while Papa tried to talk Creek through not making the pot explode.

Concentrating on the matter, just made the pot explode faster. After a few tries Creek asked Papa to just put the pot down in front of him and concentrate on Brainy for a bit. Once Papa was no longer trying to mentor him, Creek let his thoughts wander a bit, trying to recall how he meditated before using for memory suppression.

Initially Creek became curious about meditation because he had been amazed by how quiet and still his uncle became while he did it. In some way, it reminded Creek of Branch in the way that you could forget Branch was even there with how little he had made a sound during those days. Many early attempts to learn just resulted in Creek taking an unscheduled nap but his uncle was very patient and never got upset with Creek, even when Creek deserved it.

As much as Creek loved and missed his parents, Creek knew he would have been a much different Troll without his uncle's influence. Most times he wondered if it would have been a good or bad difference but now he couldn't help but think of how disappointed his uncle would be if he had lived long enough to know how Creek misused his teachings.

A hand came and grasped Creek's shoulder in a way that was firm but still tender in such a way Creek thought that, somehow, he had summoned his uncle back to him. Though he knew it was impossible, he was still disappointed when he looked up and saw Papa Smurf.

"Creek," Papa's voice was kind, eyes concerned and smile gentle as he spoke, as if speaking to one of his own Smurflings, "Are you alright?"

"Why?" Creek felt like he should brush Papa's hand off but didn't move to do so, "Was I thinking out loud again?"

"No," Papa's tone took on an edge of concern, "But, even if I ignore the gray, you look like you're going to cry."

Sniffling, Creek wiped at his face, even though no tears had fallen yet, "It's nothing, just reminiscing on my uncle; Brainy thinks you two would have gotten along." He forced a smile, "I hope you won't be too disappointed but I won't be flirting with you anymore."

Chuckling, Papa released Creek's shoulder to pat his hair, "That's alright, I think Brainy will appreciate your restraint as well."

Face turning a shade darker with a blush, Brainy lifted the book to cover it up, "Papa, please…"

Smiling, Papa turned his attention back to Creek, "I understand that you don't know me very well but I can listen if you ever wish to talk."

It was tempting to say that he would rather talk to Willow, if only for Papa Smurf's reaction, but Creek couldn't muster the energy to do so. Plus, it felt wrong, somehow, to even jokingly flirt anymore, especially in front of Brainy. Instead he just nodded, "Thank you."

Nodding, Papa paused, waiting to see if maybe Creek would take him up on the offer. When Creek didn't, Papa gave him an encouraging smile and returned to the lesson, giving him space for the time being.

As Papa Smurf concentrated on Brainy, Creek worked on his breathing, slowly relaxing as he normally would have for meditation. Instead of trying to meditate though, he picked up the pot, pleasantly surprised when it didn't explode in his hands.

If the Smurfs noticed, they didn't say anything, still working on their lesson. As Creek watched, he wasn't sure what it was at first, Brainy concentrating on a torn piece of paper. When the tare began to seal back together, Creek wondered if it was some sort of repairing spell or a way to practice healing without someone being hurt.

After the tare in the paper was completely sealed, Brainy looked exhausted. But when he looked up and saw Creek watching, he smiled.

And the pot exploded again in Creek's hands.

"Ah, bloody hell," Creek mumbled, looking at the dirt all over him rather than Brainy's sweet smile.

After they left Papa's mushroom, it took a while for them to actually leave. This was due to Popp continuously running to a window, trying to peek in and running to the next window each time Branch pulled her away until Hefty finally just picked her up and carried her away.

"No fair," Poppy pouted, crossing her arms as she was slung over Hefty's shoulder.

"Welcome to my life," Branch glanced back at her but continued to walk beside Hefty.

"I'm just being concerned," Poppy protested.

"Creek wants some space and he's not alone," Branch countered, "I think we can respect his wishes in this."

"Papa will watch him," Smurfette walked a little behind Hefty so she could speak directly to Poppy. "And, of course, Brainy will too."

"Brainy better or I'm taking away his bonus points," Poppy huffed, starting to poke over Hefty's back in an attempt to find a tickle spot and earn her freedom.

Ignoring her, Hefty wondered where he should even be walking to. He finally settled on Smurfette's mushroom before changing course and asking, "When did that even start anyway?"

"You mean Brainy and Creek?" asked Poppy, "I'm not sure actually."

"I think Brainy starting liking Creek back at the Troll Tree," said Smurfette, "Brainy never said a word whenever Creek was paying attention to him; at first I thought Brainy was mad but Clumsy pointed out that Brainy was being bashful."

Hefty hummed, setting Poppy down when they reached Smurfette's mushroom but immediately grabbed hold of the princess when she tried to run off, easily dragging her in once Smurfette opened the door, "Now that you mentioned it, Brainy was awfully quiet during song boot camp."

"Brainy was at song boot camp?" asked Branch, not knowing much about how Hefty prepared for the song ambush. He closed the door once they were all inside and stayed there, guarding the most obvious exit.

Seeing this, Poppy sighed and willingly sat on Smurfette's bed once Hefty released her, "Yeah, the whole Snack Pack was there and most of the Smurfs that first came to the tree. Only Stormy and Lily headed back to the Village to get the rest of the Smurfs for the ambush."

"It was mostly Poppy and Creek helping with the singing and dancing lessons," said Hefty. "Smidge was listening at your door to see if you would come back up while Guy tried to get the slot off the door and Suki played music for us to practice with. The rest were just there to laugh at me whenever Creek squirted me with glitter."

Despite himself, Branch chuckled, "He squirted you with glitter? Is that how you got that shimmer stuff all over you?"

"No, the glitter was a punishment for screwing up a lyric or a dance step," Hefty explained with a frown. "He made sure to emphasis how much you hated glitter."

"Branch doesn't hate glitter," protested Poppy.

"Branch hates glitter," Branch emphasized each word accordingly.

Chuckling, Smurfette sat beside Poppy on her bed, "Brainy actually made the shimmer stuff though; he was messing around with some of the glitter and came up with that while everyone was working on their tasks."

"Pretty amazing Brainy made that in such a short time," commented Branch. "I bet most Trolls would love it if he made more."

Poppy nodded, "I already asked Brainy if he would but we need to get him more glitter first."

Humming, Branch absently nodded, thinking over everything. Brainy seemed like a bit of a handful at times but overall a very caring and curious Smurf. Branch could see Brainy being a good match for Creek if Branch wasn't so worried about Creek rushing into a relationship after being forced to remember everything with Brocade. Why couldn't he have realized that something happened sooner? Why couldn't be have helped Creek when he needed it?

"Branch?" Hefty gently put his hand on Branch's arm, "Are you okay? You're, um, you're going gray again."

Looking down at his hand, Branch sighed, "I was," he swallowed, "I was just thinking about Creek."

Nodding, Hefty pulled Branch into a hug, "He'll get through this."

"It didn't sound like he wants to," Branch mumbled, leaning against Hefty.

"People say things they don't really mean when they're hurting," Hefty paused to kiss Branch's temple. "We just need to make sure he knows he's not alone and support him the best that we can."

Raising his arms to hug Hefty back, Branch silently nodded.

Watching them, Poppy turned to Smurfette, trying not to worry.

Silently taking Poppy's hand, Smurfette gives it a squeeze but continues to watch Hefty and Branch with the same concerns.

Slowly pulling back from the hug, Hefty kept an arm around Branch as he turns to face the girls, "In the meantime I think I should go talk to Therapist Smurf, apologize for being 'aggressively supportive' and see when he's available to talk to Creek again. They really should have a proper session before you guys head home."

Branch nodded, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Smiling softly, Hefty kissed Branch's cheek, "Not this time; you should stay here and catch up with Poppy." He kissed Branch softly, "I'll be back soon."

After he left the mushroom, Hefty sighed. Branch was worried enough without having to be concerned about Hefty on top of Creek. He'd let Branch join him another day but today he really needed his own session with Therapist Smurf.