Hot Berries

AN – I refer to the Hot Berries in this chapter, which is something I came up with in the Naughty version of this fanfic. The Hot Berries are supposed to arouse a troll. The chapter remains the same rating as the rest of the fanfic. ;).

Branch was paralyzed in front of a plant that came straight from a nightmare. Meadow Spriggs was happily watering her precious green friends and didn't pay attention to the horrified teal troll that had entered her precious greenhouse.

That morning, after a night of poor hours of sleep because of a chain of improbable events, Branch put on a shirt to hide the tattoo on his chest, a pair of gloves to hide the ones on his hands and sunglasses to avoid getting another headache.

He tried talking to the rock trolls about the tattoos and how to get them removed, but they all burst out laughing, leaving a puzzled Branch growing annoyed at his friends to the point of missing his isolation years. Even Demo, who could be trusted with secrets, rolled on the floor when the survivalist inquired about what had happened the night before.

It made the teal troll count only on himself to get the answers. Branch remembered finding in a botanic book a fruit that would make someone speak the truth for six hours. It was used for interrogations years before Poppy was crowned. Apparently, King Peppy had forbidden them before the Bergens realized they could use the fruit to make trolls tell where others were hiding.

Now, it was a good time to use it. The rockers had to speak up! Branch needed to know how he got in that shape and how to get the tattoos removed. It was true he wanted one, but he was considering a small one that could be easily hidden, not have his body covered with them.

If the fruit was still around, Meadow would have a sample. It was an innocent plan. Really. He had good intentions in his heart. Branch just wasn't counting on walking into the greenhouse to find a plant full of Hot Berries, looking appetizing and ready to be picked.

"Hm… Meadow?" Branch called, barely being able to look away from the terrifying plant. "What is this?"

"Hey there, Branch. Didn't see you coming in." Oddly cheerful, Meadow approached him to look at what he was referring to. "Oh, I have no idea what plant it is. Never saw it before. I was on my explorations through the forest when I found it. I brought it in to have it studied."

"Right." Still worried, Branch hoped he could get rid of the plant before anyone found out what it really did. "Do you mind if I try to grow it in my bunker? I think my grandma had one like this…" mentally apologizing to his deceased grandmother, Branch made his best convincing smile.

"Sure. I don't see why not." Meadow answered.

"And… could I have some of those-" he pointed at the Truth Berries, feeling his forehead getting sweaty and hoping Meadow wouldn't question him "-please?"

"Planning to add some exotic flavors to your inventory, I see." Meadow tried to be funny, but Branch was too nervous to reply. "Sure, take them all. If it's to preserve rare species, you can have the whole plant."

He felt like carrying a bomb home. Or two grenades in that case. Branch was especially worried about the Hot Berries. If the effects were the same that he saw in the alternative dimension, it could be really hazardous to ingest them.

The berries were small, red, with tiny black dots like a round strawberry and they looked edible. A troll would easily be tempted to try them and, Branch concluded, if a plant of Hot Berries were found, it could only mean there were bound to be more in unexplored parts of the forest. It was only a matter of time the growing civilization of trolls came across more samples.

The most intelligent thing to do was to get prepared for when someone was intoxicated by eating it.

But the Hot Berries could wait, first he needed to find out who tattooed him and how to get it removed.

At least he knew the Truth Berries weren't going to hurt anyone…

Branch put the plants on his kitchen table and went straight to get changed into his regular brown shorts and leaf vest. The shirt and the gloves were bothering him and if he was going to spend the day in the kitchen, he'd need to be able to move freely.

With one glimpse at the bathroom's door, Branch blushed and quickly averted his eyes, reviving last night's events.

Poppy was so beautiful and he couldn't help but stare at her tempting curves when accidentally walking in on her showering. It was true he shouldn't be surprised, after all he had seen her… a lot… but it was the first time that she was really there, not through a portal screen, and she was his Poppy, not another version of her… and she was conscious… she saw him staring!

It was no wonder she had left, instead of spending the night.

It was too embarrassing.

Forcing himself to think of practical solutions for the tattoo problem, he went through his wardrobe, thinking the best plan to make the rock trolls speak: he would bake cupcakes a la splode and walk in to Hard Rock Hollow with a batch filled with Truth Berries, then, all he needed to do was to start asking around.

Easy and simple.

He hoped removing the tattoos was easy and simple as well.

With his plan set, Branch returned to the kitchen trying not to look at the skull on his chest or the spiderwebs on his hands. He didn't notice that he wasn't alone in the bunker, until he lifted his eyes when a flash of pink was caught by his peripheral vision.

His heart sank.

Poppy was there, chewing on the Hot Berries that she had neatly arranged on a plate for a quick snack.

"POPPY!" He screamed on top of his lungs, rushing to her to slap the plate from her hands. She looked startled at him, after all, it wasn't Branch's nature to go knocking things around so abruptly. "How many did you eat?"

Trembling hands were on her shoulders and Branch stared at her with a horrified expression. It took Poppy a split second to understand he was worried about the berries.

"Just one. It's really delicious." Poppy explained. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I couldn't eat-"

"Just one…" Branch repeated, interrupting her. His blue eyes quickly went from left to right, as if he was trying to recall how many the alternative Poppy had eaten then.

"Is it poisonous?" Poppy started getting a little worried, seeing how he was behaving.

"In a way…" Branch answered, approaching her carefully to study her face. "... how are you feeling?"

"Totally fine." Shrugging, Poppy sat down once again, looking at the other plant. "And those?"

"Well… they aren't dangerous." It wasn't something he wished to explain. The mischief should be kept to himself until it worked out like he had planned. Poppy wouldn't approve of him to force the truth out of the other trolls.

"Why do you have them?" the queen asked, studying the Truth Berries with curiosity. "Are they going to be dehydrated and placed in a jar?"

"Huh... well… yes." At least that was what he was planning to do with the ones that remained.

Poppy nodded and decided to help him out, after all, she had planned to stay there to talk about their accident the night before. Carefully picking the berries from the small plant, the queen put them on another plate, giving Branch a small shy smile to show him that she intended to stay.

Several minutes passed in silence. Branch was separating the items to cook and Poppy stole glances at his tattoos from time to time. The plate was almost filled up when she noticed her boyfriend was tense. His hands were moving around meticulously, with a calculated amount of ingredients like he was cooking a recipe that needed to be masterly precise.

With one small berry in her hands she watched him, rolling the fruit on her fingers while a playful side started raising up to ease the heavy atmosphere.

"Hey, Branch-" She barely finished saying his name when he turned around, opening his mouth to reply with an alarmed 'what', just like she had expected. Aiming the berry in his direction, she used her thumb to flick it. The fruit went straight to him, passing his teeth to be swallowed whole. "Score!" She giggled.

"Poppy!" He just couldn't believe how childish she could be sometimes. "It's not time for games!" A Truth Berry! Seriously! Of all things he needed to deal with at the moment!

"Sorry, sorry…" She bit her lower lip, cocking her head to the side to watch him. "You're really cute when you frown."

"Hunf," scoffing in irritation, Branch returned to the recipe, "why are you here anyway? I thought you were mad at me."

"Well…" Standing up, Poppy quietly walked around the table, approaching him from behind. "I can never stay mad at you for long." Fingers quietly trailed up his arms and Branch felt a flush raising to his face.

His heart thundered against his ribcage in understanding.

"P-Poppy... how are you f-feeling?" He stuttered the words out, taking one safe step away from her.

"Fantastic." She whispered in his ear and her hand covered his tattooed one. "I love tattoos, by the way."

"Perhaps you should hm… take a nap?" He suggested, desperately trying to distance himself from her.

"Oh no!" Poppy turned around, spinning like she was feeling free in an open field. "We need to talk about last night, Branch."

"There's nothing to talk about. It was an accident. End of story." He insisted, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the dessert.

"An avoidable one." Poppy replied, "I am feeling too homey here and I shouldn't walk in when you're not around. So," She took a deep breath and placed her hand on her heart to show him she meant every word she said, "It was my fault. I'm sorry."

"You can come in here whenever you want, we've been through this before." Branch replied, getting irritated like the old days. "This is your home, too."

Poppy gasped and Branch put his hands in his mouth.

The Truth Berries worked! His thoughts just popped out of his lips like there was no restriction.

"My home? What do you mean?" Poppy took a tentative step closer and Branch turned to face her, only to take a step back.

"I wish we could live together." The words, once again, came out truthfully.

Panicking at the sincerity, he looked around, figuring that it was for the best to run and lock himself in the chocolate vault until the effects ran out.

"Oh My Hair, Branch… this is..." Poppy got interrupted by a wave of heat. Her cheeks were red and she started fanning herself. Her eyes found the skull tattoo and she licked her lips.

"Poppy…?" Another step back and Branch found himself firmly pressed against the wall while his girlfriend approached, looking like she was going to devour him.

"Can I touch…?" She didn't wait for an answer. Her hand softly touched his chest, burning him with her hot skin while tracing the new body art. "You're looking so… intriguing."

Branch watched her, enduring the torture like the brave troll he was. His thoughts were running wild with the possibilities to keep her away from him.

"My head is a little hazy…" She announced, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "Is it food poisoning from the berry?"

"I think so." Branch replied. "You should lay down to rest. In your room. By yourself."

"I feel hot." Poppy pressed herself against him and indeed, she felt so warm that that could even be feverish. Fluttering her eyelashes, the unsuspecting queen stared at his lips. "Kiss me."

"I-I don't think it's a good idea." Branch put his hands on her shoulders and turned them around, setting himself free from his enticing girlfriend, even if she cutely pouted in disappointment.

"Why not?"

"Because you're under the influence of the Hot Berry." He felt like kicking himself. He couldn't avoid speaking the truth, but perhaps he could try choosing the words carefully to give her a censored version of what happened when a troll ate a berry.

Poppy didn't seem to process what he meant. She held herself against the countertop with a strong grip.

"I feel on fire." She gasped, making her worried boyfriend approach to study her face. "Hug me, at least."

"Poppy… you should go lay down." Branch insisted.

Her eyes suddenly darkened. The queen's hands flew to her dress, unbuttoning the top. With a sly smile, she watched when Branch went into survival mode as her dress slipped to the floor, revealing a cute pair of blue panties and bra.

She couldn't tell if Branch was going to run away or pass out.

"Like what you see?"

"Yes, very much." He answered in a high-pitched voice and with eyes tightly shut. "But this isn't you, Poppy."

The refusal of a kiss, a hug and now a mere look, made her blood boil. Her heart seemed to beat even more widely.

She needed to touch him!

"Hug me!" Demanding in irritation, Poppy flexed her knees and Branch realized she was going to chase him a second before she sprung like a lioness after an unsuspecting antelope.

"No!"

A chair crashed on the floor. Branch ran away like his life - or his sanity - depended on it. The queen giggled in excitement, having the chase only increasing her bursting hormones.

"When I get you, I'll hug you so hard!"

Both left the kitchen after running in circles around the table. Branch went straight to the elevator. In desperation, he literally looked for a way out.

"Branch, please!" Poppy begged him, stopping halfway through the door when she realized he was going to leave. "I just want - no, I need - a little hug."

His intuition sparked at that. Holding the lever, he stopped the platform halfway up to look down at his flushing girlfriend, who had dropped on her knees in agony.

She was desperate. The Hot Berry seemed to be taking control of her actions. If he left, she would end up chasing him in the open… and Hair knew if she would jump on someone else. He couldn't risk that. She would never forgive him when he told her the truth.

Would he even dare explain?

The best plan was to lock her up in her bedroom until the effects ran out.

"My... Hair…" she gasped, running her hands over her arms, legs and neck, trying to give herself some comfort while she burned with a fire that she had never experienced. "Why did you have this plant, anyway?"

She seemed to be talking sense, but her body screamed otherwise. Branch gulped and descended, slowly, keeping an eye on her all the time.

"I intended to get rid of it before it fell in the wrong hands." He replied, with uncontrollable sincerity.

"How… argh… do you even - gasp - know this plant?" Curling her toes, her hair came undone, falling on her shoulders lacking energy to stay up.

"I...I… well… funny story…" milder words were in order. Branch internally begged for her not to ask anything else. "... you ate them in another dimension."

Poppy looked at the ground before curling into a tiny ball, hugging herself in a desperate attempt to soothe the effects.

"How do I stop this?" Her voice wavered and Branch could tell she was crying. He tried to bite his tongue to avoid answering, but the awkward truth was spoken before he could stop himself.

"... it seems that doing… you know… what you want… is effective." He watched Poppy's back raising and falling as she tried to control her breathing. "But I assume it will run out of your system sooner or later."

Even with her whole body screaming for him to touch her, Poppy was able to take in his words. They cruelly sounded like she was locked in a torture chamber, dying from an infirmity that only her boyfriend had the cure to. And he refused to give it to her. Her body seemed to ache even more.

"You're saying…" She pushed herself from the ground. Branch was prepared to run away again, but seeing her face wet with tears, he realized she couldn't stand by herself, let alone chase him. "... you'd rather watch me burn for hours than touch me?"

"Yes" He answered pronto, still not approaching. Poppy's lips trembled in anguish.

"So… you don't want me."

He could almost hear her pride shattering.

"I do." Branch watched her carefully, "more than I can put into words, but… not like this." He finally put a hand on her. She shuddered and curled even more.

Poppy sobbed, understanding that she wasn't going to get relief and a rational side of her agreed with him. But the wise agreement didn't make her body hurt less or reduce the wild beat of her desperate heart.

"Can you at least help me to my room?" She managed to say.

It was all her fault. Entering the bunker twice without announcing caused two accidents in a row. She shouldn't blame him for being careless in his own home.

And he wanted it to be her home, too.

One gentle hand on her shoulder made Poppy look up at the stern blue eyes of her boyfriend. Her strength was completely gone. Her knees buckled and he caught her just before she hit the floor.

Flashes of walls and thresholds were all she saw as her body slowly shut out. Branch was holding her firmly in his arms and his hand was caressing her hair while he carried her to her room. His touch made her crave for more. It was so wildly irrational, like she wouldn't be satisfied until they merged into one.

Those stupid berries should be incinerated!

"Poppy, listen to me." Branch whispered in her ear, "I'll be just outside. For safety."

The queen didn't seem to listen to him. She rolled on her side in frustration and the last thing she saw was her boyfriend's worried stare.

"Strawberries are blue." Branch said, testing the effects of the Truth Berries. He was completely free of them and relief washed over him.

He hadn't left the chair he had put in front of Poppy's room since he laid her down. If she was in agony begging for his touch, he was in pain not fulfilling her wishes. Hair knew how much he wanted to do what she asked, but it wasn't right. They both would regret it.

The way she screamed the night before when he just stared at her was a strong indication that she wasn't ready for another step.

The door creaked open and Branch lifted his eyes, fully alert. Poppy stepped outside, looking exhausted and holding herself against the door. Her hair was everywhere, her glittery freckles were sparkling, contrasting with her red cheeks. She had slipped on a strapped dress and looked so wonderfully sexy that the survivalist had to adjust himself on his chair.

"Are you okay?" He managed to ask, swallowing a hard lump in his throat.

"Yes…" She replied breathily. "Just tired." Timidly approaching, Poppy noticed he tensed. "Like the first day after Smidge's Booty Camp."

Branch watched her in suspicion. She sat down on his lap, wrapping her arms tiredly around him. He was tense, and she was completely worn out.

"Thank you for… not doing anything." She managed to say. Resting her cheek on his chest, Poppy closed her eyes to hear his heartbeat.

Finally, relaxing, Branch held her back, caressing the length of her spine and burying his nose in her hair. She was herself again.

"I was worried." The teal troll said. Poppy lifted herself from his chest to lightly brush her lips against his and he rested his hands on her thighs, mindlessly rubbing her skin. She saw the spider web tattoo on his hand and lifted an eyebrow, asking him what had happened without having to voice it out loud. "Funny story again… I went to Guys' Night and woke up like this."

"I like it…" Poppy replied with a twinkle in her eyes. "I got one last night as well."

"Wait! You got a tattoo at Girls' Night?" Branch couldn't believe his ears. Poppy had her cute pink skin marked!

"Yes, it was fun!" She giggled, grabbing the rem of her dress. "Won't you freak out if I…?"

"By all that is Troll-y, Poppy! Where did you get tattooed?!" He was already freaking out before she even lifted her dress.

It turned out, she raised the skirt and lowered the side of her panties, showing him some black ink letters written 'cupcakes and rainbows' just under her hip bone.

Shocked.

Words wouldn't come out.

Branch was so glad the effects of the Truth Berry had run out, or else he would have said something awkward.

"It's a pity they won't last. I really like it." Poppy giggled, nesting herself in his arms once again, ignoring his obvious tension.

"Won't last?" Branch repeated, grimacing.

"Yes. They aren't permanent. Henna tattoos will fade in a couple of days." She touched the skull art in his chest and rubbed it a little, seeing how the edges of the lines got faint. "See?"

Now he could understand why the rock trolls had laughed so hard.