Just Infatuation

Mama Cuddlepuff growled at him when he opened the cage. Branch had Gary in his hands and was prepared to capture the ferocious predator if it changed its mind and decided to return to the village. Hesitantly stepping out of the confinement, Mama eyed the captor one last time, surrendering and finally - to Branch's relief - it ran towards the forest, where it was safe to have pups.

Another happy ending for the predator and for Trollstopia. Branch folded the cage until it was small enough to be carried with one hand. He had to admit that he felt nostalgic when predators showed up. It was the time he could do something useful and play with his traps, exercising the survival instincts that had been unused lately.

"You shouldn't go near him; you have no idea how odd that troll is." Branch heard someone talking and abruptly stopped to pay attention to what was going on. It had been a while since he heard someone criticizing another troll behind their backs. Being the happiest creatures, the community usually lived in perfect harmony.

"But he is the smartest troll I've seen around here." A younger techno troll protested, carrying a few floor plans and some tools under his arms.

"He isn't smart, it is a consequence of his paranoia." The older lady explained, making a disgusted face.

Branch carefully stepped into the shadow of a tree and leaned down to hide behind a bush, having a feeling that the older troll was talking about him in his bunker days.

"I'm sure you're mistaken about him. He is dating the Queen after all. He can't be dangerous if the Queen loves him."

Branch's heart skipped a beat. They were most certainly talking about him. So, the rumors that he and Poppy were together spread through Trollstopia like he had guessed. He just wasn't prepared to meet resistance from some of the elders. Was he still seen as someone insane?

"Ah, yes. That nonsense. The Queen is infatuated with him, but soon she'll realize they have nothing in common and they will eventually fall apart."

"Don't you believe opposites attract each other?" The younger troll inquired, looking shy next to the wrinkled matriarch who looked sure of every word she said.

"That's just some tale from younger trolls to date someone unreachable. Here's the truth: life is unbearable if you marry someone too different from you. I've seen it happening dozens of times in this village. They fall in love and they fall apart. Simple as that."

They started walking away from Branch's hiding place. The survivalist noticed his hand was shaking and he couldn't tell if it was from hatred (yes, he realized he was still capable of hating) or if it was because his self-esteem had just been shaken to its roots.

They fall in love and they fall apart. The lady's words echoed in his mind. He remembered Demo falling for DJ because Val didn't return his feelings. Branch also remembered Laguna's speech explaining love scientifically, meaning it wasn't anything deeper than a bunch of hormones and chemicals that made thoughts go fuzzy near a possible mate.

Branch watched Poppy for a while. She was distracted, scrapbooking ideas to, didactically, explain to the kids where the trap zone was and how important it was to keep away from the unprotected part of the forest.

His heart painfully squeezed inside his chest; Poppy had had a small fright that morning when Mama Cuddlepuff jumped on a group of kids. They were lucky the traps were always under constant maintenance and vigilance, or else things could have turned out ugly. The queen had seen the whole thing and was looking pale by the time Branch had arrived.

He had been hoping for a cup of coffee and a some cupcakes while they shared a few words about safety, but after overhearing that pop matriarch speaking badly of his relationship, it was like a switch had been turned off.

Poppy's hands furiously cut the character to glue it to the scrapbook next. Last time she stayed over those same delicate hands were shaking with cold and then they were designing small patterns on his chest until she fell asleep, happily snuggled at his side. It was the highlight of their relationship in the past weeks.

While he spent the days wondering how to tell King Peppy he loved his daughter, Branch watched Poppy grow busier with her new friends and, once again, he found himself missing her. It only put fuel to a fire that the matriarch started earlier.

What if Poppy wasn't as enthusiastic about their relationship as he was? They were so different. Even when he had made progress and became a more sociable troll, the queen was still the happiest troll in the world, and her positivity only spread through the kingdom, attracting more curious fellows to join their city.

It was only a matter of time until she found someone as happy to be with, right? While he preferred his traps and geekiness, she was overjoyed to be surrounded by different trolls.

"Hey Branch." Poppy smiled broadly at him when he jumped inside her pod. "Thank you for getting rid of that Mama Cuddlepuff for me."

The Queen was so good at reading him that Branch noticed she immediately frowned, realizing he was giving her an empty smile, with his thoughts far away. Then, he could spot that moment when she made up her mind to help him. She couldn't have her boyfriend feeling down. Whatever had happened to have him hunching his back miserably, she was going to take it away. It almost caused him to chuckle.

"Yeah. I just came to tell you the perimeter is safe." Branch replied, scratching his hair and avoiding her eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Poppy approached, taking his hands with her own, worriedly dipping her head so she could see his face better.

"Yes, the kids can play now." Branch turned to leave, but Poppy immediately stood in front of him, blocking the way out.

"I mean, is everything okay with you?" The Queen insisted.

The frown and the lines around his eyes. The expression he had in the bunker days was back. Something big had happened to make him sad, or angry, or paranoid. With her heart beating wildly inside her ribcage, Poppy stepped forward, hoping to make him feel better with her endless positivity.

Her arms opened and she wrapped them around his body, but unlike she had expected he didn't hug her back. Instead, she felt the awkward feeling that he was struggling to endure the touching until it was over.

He patted her on the back! Instead of gifting her with his warm hold, he just patted her on the back to show that he was done and he needed to be released.

"Because of the accident with the predator and all, I had an idea." Branch said, hoping it would change the uncomfortable atmosphere. He didn't want to talk at the moment. He needed to spend some time by himself. "I'll be gone for a couple of days."

"What?" Poppy asked, feeling desperate that he was going away while feeling down.

"I want to take a look at some things that could improve the safety of Trollstopia." He offered an explanation once he noticed Poppy was looking like she had just seen a ghost.

The ghost of this bunker days.

"If you must…" Poppy replied, looking down at her feet.

For a moment, she thought he would offer some kind words, lift her head by her chin and plant a sweet goodbye kiss on her lips. But none of it happened. She saw when he approached. His hand trembled and he lifted it up to try to touch her, but he decided against it and his fist returned to his sides, still like a soldier.

"See you."

Poppy heard Branch saying and, a second later, he was gone.