Shower Time

Poppy couldn't stop giggling even when her tummy started hurting. The tickles were getting hilarious and her friends had joined her to a symphony of laughter that only stopped when she realized she was running out of strength.

"I have to admit, y'all. Doing a perfect do is as fun as chasing an adorabull, but doing a statuesque do is so much more fun!" Holly Darling said, biting her tongue to keep herself from laughing even more.

"Not my kind of fashion hair, but it is pretty amusing." Satin commented, taking the brush down while Chenille finished Poppy's makeup.

"Who would have guessed Girls' Night with trollings would be so fun." R looked at her sister, finishing one last slice of pizza by the campfire.

"Can you stand with that hair, Poppy?" Val asked in a bored tone. She wasn't half as happy as the other girls. The kids' giggles started to get on her nerves since she arrived. Earlier that day she had mentioned she would skip that meeting, but apparently, she was kicked out of Hard Rock Hollow because the male rock trolls were having their own Guys' Night.

"Of course, I can!" Poppy said, making a big effort to lift herself from the ground. "I-It's… n-not.. as… big… as Holly's do." Finally sitting up, the Queen stared at herself with the hand-mirror.

The hair was the shape of a starfish, with gel mixed with glue - thanks Keith - to keep the strands in place and several scrapbook characters hanging from the pointy ends and little trolly-shaped cookies creating a design that would easily win a dessert contest, instead of a fashion show.

Poppy figured she would take hours scrubbing her hair in the shower to get it back to normal, but it was worth it. Gia Grooves has the flu and someone needed to look after the kids so their parents could enjoy the annual Child-Free party and the idea to take the children to the Girls' Night to look after them was just so much fun to let it pass.

"Guys, I really need to crash." Holly yawned, rubbing her eyes. Val looked like she was in desperate need of a bed as well, but since she wasn't risking returning home before next morning, Holly made a BFF's invitation. "Do you want to spend the night at my place? Country Corral is very quiet and cozy."

"I would love that."

Internally squealing, Poppy watched her friends stand up from the circle around the fire and say goodnight to everyone else. The queen was so proud to see how both girls had been growing close. It was one more golden star achievement she would place on her wall: to have inter-tribal BFFs around Trollstopia.

Apparently, Holly and Val's friendship had become stronger over the snow week. The sudden storm had taken everyone by surprise and lasted even more than they had predicted. The first day was all fun and games, but after a second storm… apparently most trolls got stuck inside and Holly and Val shared a place at Hard Rock Hollow for four days of a forced bounding challenge.

It seemed they were understanding each other's limitations even more after that.

Satin had just put the blankets over a sleeping Priscila and DJ was tugging CJ in a sleeping bag. Keith was snoring loudly, sprawled on the floor while Tiny Diamond was soundly napping on top of his stomach.

"I'm starting to itch, girls." Poppy announced, trying to keep her head straight with the weight of her hair.

"Go shower, girl. We'll watch the kids." B said, looking down at the quiet campfire.

"Yes, Poppy, the hardest part is over. We can manage from now on." DJ gave her friend a thumb's up.

"All right. Thanks guys."

The fun slowly died down as Poppy stumbled all the way back to her pod, wishing for a scalding hot shower, but as the glitter started falling each step she took, causing her to itch even more, the pink girl had to silence an annoying internal voice that whispered something about Branch being right when he avoided glitter like the plague.

Gosh… was she starting to think like her boyfriend?

And a frustrated growl raised from her throat when she couldn't walk inside her pod. Her hair was too big. Again. So, she turned and marched straight to the only place where she could get inside: the bunker. And she needed to take the garage door because, otherwise, she'd be stuck on the elevator.

The bunker was dark when she opened the garage. The firebugs were sound asleep and she had to beg a couple of them to at least shine the way to the bathroom. It turned out, one of them was having an insomnia episode and provided full light for as long as she needed. The shiny bug was happily rewarded with a cookie from her hair.

Thanking heavens for buttons and zippers, Poppy managed to slip down her dress once she quietly closed the bathroom's door to avoid making noise. It was going to be a long shower and she didn't want to disturb Branch's sleep. Hair knew he had been having trouble resting all night.

And - watching her reflection in a bigger mirror - she knew she was going to watch out for noises because she was going to engage in a real battle against her own hair to have it back to normal.

It was a good thing she brought a super-strong-straightening shampoo to the bunker! It was her own idea that made Sky Toronto work on a hair product to tame really wild hair. Since the day she had a hard time helping Guy Diamond with his rebel hair, she figured something to tame a beast would come in handy.

Oh well… now… to the hard work.

Branch cracked his eyes open, feeling dizzy and with a splitting headache. Groaning to the uncomfortable feeling on his back, he turned around to find he had been lying on a beer can. Alarmed, he looked around and found a clock on the wall pointing it was nearly three in the morning. It was almost the time he would wake up for his daily swim, but apparently… - looking around at the rock trolls knocked out drunk - he was nowhere near his adored hot spring.

How did he get drunk at Hard Rock Hollow?

Oh yes… Branch vaguely remembered visiting Demo to ask about tattoos. Since Poppy said she enjoyed them, the teal troll was enthusiastic about getting one. Of course, he needed an artist that had a good hand, perfect hygiene routine and sterilized needles, so he went to his Rocker friend to inquire about someone who met his standards.

Apparently, Branch had walked in on Guys' Night of games, guitar contests and lots of drinks. He was going to walk out before he was seen, but Demo spotted him and the uncomfortable pop male was dragged into a drinking contest.

His shoulder hurt and so did his neck. Apparently, his chest had a stinging sensation that was felt once he made a big effort to sit up. Branch looked down at the beer can and gasped: he had a spiderweb tattoo on the back of his hand.

Did he get the tattoo already? But how?! And a spiderweb of all things!

Recollecting his thoughts, even if the headache seemed to increase, Branch was able to pull a memory of a dare when he refused to say how far he had gone with Poppy. It looked like the Rock Trolls were thirsty for some juicy news and they didn't believe the Pop couple were taking their time instead of jumping on each other at any chance they had.

Was he wearing black leather pants?!

Alarmed, Branch struggled to sit up and found himself with his hair half-down in a mullet, a guitar hanging on his side and his leaf vest was nowhere to be seen. The missing item only made him look down at his exposed chest to spot a skull tattoo proudly flying with bat wings.

By all that was Troll-y, what had happened to him?

The smell of beer and the sticky feeling gave him a clue of the wild party he had been into, but not in a million years he would have believed he would wake up looking like that.

Despair made his knees go weak. What if Poppy saw all those tattoos? What would she think of him? Thinking about her, it was for the best if he rushed home and tried to look as presentable as possible before morning came. Hair knew he would need to come up with something to hide those bold arts permanently marked on his skin.

Branch knew he was stinking of beer, but when he stepped on the elevator and it moved down, the smell of the alcoholic beverage raised to his nose, causing his stomach to churn. He wondered if he was going to be sick because he was drunk or because he was nauseated by his looks.

He stumbled against the walls, trying to support himself when he couldn't trust his body to stand without a spinning sensation. His hands finally managed to find the bathroom's door handle while his other arm was busy trying to take the guitar off his back.

A small gasp was heard as soon as the door was completely open. Branch looked up to find Poppy standing in the shower, completely frozen, with her eyes wide open in surprise. Her hair was messy, covering just enough to make him wonder and revealing enough to trigger his multiverse memories.

Poppy, on the other hand, was just about to finish showering and she couldn't be more surprised to see her boyfriend walking in, looking just like he did when he was hit by the Powerchord - and stinking of liquor. The tattoos immediately made her shiver, but his drunkenness washed the thrill away.

He. Was. Seeing. Her. Naked.

"GET OUT!"

"AHHHH!"

The door was slammed shut and a painting fell from the wall.