Stress Balls

A couple of weeks passed since Branch had been to Lownote's spaceship. His life had almost returned to normal again, with a few flashes of memories popping up out of nowhere to inspire him during the day. He was successful, most of the time, to brush the scenes away and act like nothing had happened.

But of course, things had changed. The knowledge that he and Poppy were meant to be in most of realities just made him relax. It could only mean they were soulmates and somehow, they would always find a way to be together. Branch was so relieved he even dared to flirt with her, acting all cowboy-like when she showed up at the Country Corral to support him. Funnily enough, the flirting made him feel very confident

Branch was just confused why nobody seemed to catch his mojo. But it didn't matter anymore. He'd be ready for the rodeo the next year and that gave him plenty of time to practice the lingo.

When he walked back from the rodeo with Poppy after a disastrous afternoon with Fluffy, he noticed she was yawning more than usual. It was still in the middle of the afternoon, so Branch could only assume she hadn't been catching enough hours of sleep.

"What have you been up to in the past days?" Branch asked.

"Nothing much," yawning again, Poppy tiredly answered him with half lidded eyes. "It's just that Val keeps waking me up in the middle of the night if she needs something. She's a night owl, apparently."

Branch nodded sympathetically at his girlfriend. Poppy had been trying really hard to get on Val's good side and the rock troll was a real challenge. The survivalist had done his share of observation as well. Val Thundershock was the toughest hard rock troll delegate and her attitude earned her several fans. She wasn't going to change anytime soon.

Obviously, Poppy wanted to be available for Val whenever she needed. The Pop Queen was a perfectionist and she wouldn't rest until she had permanently made her way into Val's frozen heart. A friendship with a strong bond was Poppy's goal. She wouldn't settle for an uninterested attitude.

They arrived at the bifurcation where they had to go separate ways, so, with another yawn, the pink girl paid him goodbye and turned her back to go towards her pod, but as soon as she did, Branch had an idea. With his new self-assured attitude, he grabbed her hand before she walked away.

"If you really want to rest, come to sleep in the bunker. Nobody will bother you there," he offered. For a moment, he felt unsure if she would accept it. Poppy looked surprised at his offer. Perhaps she had considered the spare room in his place as somewhere to stay only if she was already there and it was too late to go back home. "I'll turn on full lockdown if you want me to."

"An uneventful night of rest sounds like heaven," she agreed with a relieved smile.

On the way to the bunker she mentioned she needed to go to her pod to get some pajamas, but Branch let it pass unanswered and as soon as Poppy stepped into the spare bedroom she understood why. The night clothes from the last time she had stayed over were there, ironed and folded, on the bed, with clean sheets, fluffy pillow and warm blankets. Blushing, she noticed her pink panties in between the folded shirt and pants.

"Crazy prepared," Branch smiled smugly, helping to ease her embarrassment. "You can fill the wardrobe, if you want to. You know… to save a few trips to your pod."

Setting aside the mortification to know Branch had cleaned, ironed and folded her underwear, she had to admit it was incredibly thoughtful of him to have done all that. It was her fault for leaving her clothes scattered on the floor before changing and leaving in a hurry the last time.

He was taking care of her. It was his way to show affection. Suddenly, her heart warmed up like freshly baked cookies and instinctively, her arms wrapped around Branch. Gladly, she noticed he wasn't surprised by her touch, instead he welcomed it, feeling completely relaxed and enjoying every inch of skin that touched.

Both noticed that the hug felt different. It wasn't a hug time hug. It wasn't a 'thank you' hug. It wasn't a 'congratulations' hug. It meant to deepen their bond. It felt profoundly meaningful, soul-binding and intimate. It didn't feel like touching was enough. Poppy wanted to literally crawl into him, like being two different trolls was too distant.

How insane could that sound?

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bright blueish lights flicked inside the bunker. Poppy's eyes opened in fright just to shut tightly close in the following moment. A thunder crashed loudly, reverberating through the walls and causing a small tremor to be felt. Heavy rain poured merciless from the sky and the Pop Queen felt the familiar panic she always had when a storm threatened the village.

The sound of the drops broke the quietness of the underground fortress. The restless girl forced herself to think that everything was all right. She was safe and the village was safer than ever, there was no need to be edgy, specially that night when Branch was so nice to lock his home so she could have a good night of sleep.

Oh dear… she was locked underground. During. A. Storm. How had she never thought about it before? The water went under and that was exactly where she was! Was there any possibility that the bunker could flood?

No. It was insane. How many storms had the bunker endured? Branch was an excellent hard-working troll. He built his home with the best protection from every natural event. There was no way his adored bunker was unsafe.

Another loud rumbling and, this time, it was so close it gave her ear a ringing sound. In a second, only the sheets remained on the bed because Poppy broke in a run towards Branch's bedroom as fast as she could.

"Branch!" she spun the door open without giving it a second thought. Her subconscious only had a fraction of time to register the adorable sight of her boyfriend curled on the side with Crocco rolled on the floor, before her feet led her inside the room, nearly giving him a heart attack.

"Poppy!" he yelled, jumping up on the bed, ready to engage in a hair jitsu fight. It took him a second to get his brain fully working and notice a scared girlfriend standing in the middle of his dark bedroom. His body relaxed at the same time his heart broke at the sight of her dilated pupils. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry," she flinched, realizing she was going to sound ridiculously childish. "The storm is so loud down here I got scared."

"Oh…" Branch rubbed his eyes, quickly glancing at the clock on his nightstand. He still had three hours before it was time for his morning swim. "You're protected here," he patiently explained. "It's way safer than your pod."

"I know…" feeling completely irrational and laughable, she took a step back towards the door, resenting having left her room in the first place. "I just panicked when I thought… well… we're underground… and there could be a flood… while we're trapped…"

"Poppy, I've been here for twenty years, do you think I wouldn't design a flawless drainage system?" Branch's nonchalant face made Poppy feel even worse for waking him up. She was about to apologize when another thunder crashed and she visibly shuddered with fear.

Branch wondered if he should make her a hot cocoa and spend the rest of the night on the couch, watching a movie and talking until she forgot about the storm, but she was there to rest. If they stayed up, she'd be exhausted in the morning. He he just lifted his blankets; he was so tired that the implications of his offer didn't even cross his mind;

"Get in here," he said with a yawn. Poppy didn't think twice before crawling in bed and gladly curled against him, feeling protected like never before.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Branch dreamed about stress balls. He had a few of them during his gray years. He'd squeeze them and they would provide him great relief. But the ones he dreamed about were a bit different. First, they were incredibly warm and the texture was softer than the ones he had before.

Like any curious troll, Branch squeezed some more, finding interesting the way they would mold against his hands. He was greatly intrigued and his mind slowly came out of the dreamy haze, having his explorations wake him up to check out what the stress balls were made of.

A strong strawberry scent and a puff of hot air on his neck made him moan in delight. Involuntarily, his fingers closed on the stress balls again.

Immediately, Branch's eyes shot open. They weren't stress balls!

He felt like his soul had left his body for one terrifying moment. Completely frozen, Branch studied the way his hands were fully groping his girlfriend in her sleep. Poppy had the sweetest relaxed face, with her lips slightly parted and her forehead so close to his he could feel the heat of her body irradiating to his skin without touching.

The survivalist concentrated on the problem - literally - on his hands. He needed to remove his palms, but he was too afraid to move and wake her up. What if she woke up and saw the way he was… squeezing them? Hair… it felt good to squeeze them.

When Branch invited into his bed, he didn't think the huge problem he was going to have. His male body was quickly reacting to Poppy's and she was too close not to notice it as soon as she woke up. Her lips were moist and delicate, causing a very perverted part of his mind to whisper tempting ideas like 'just lean forward and taste them. She'll never notice'.

Gulping nervously, Branch stretched his fingers. Poppy softly whimpered, but didn't wake up. It was enough for his heart to skip a beat, though. Once again, he held his breath and retreated his hands, being torn between happiness that she didn't wake up and disappointed that he wasn't touching her anymore.

Before he could completely relax, he needed to fix another problem. There was no way he'd allow Poppy to wake up and feel him poking her. So, he turned around, facing the wall and doing his best to ignore the sweet and hot girlfriend on his back.

A moan of protest was heard and Branch felt his body completely tremble in a mix of excitement and fear. He was afraid she had woken up, but before he could turn around to check on her, her arms slid around his body, embracing him from behind and burying her forehead against his neck. Her knees went up and perfectly fit in the back of his.

By all that is troll-y, they were spooning!

Of course, Branch couldn't sleep anymore and he lay there for hours. He missed his four am swim and nearly missed breakfast. He couldn't get out of bed. He was enjoying Poppy too much.

It was about seven when he felt the sleeping Queen slowly stirring behind him. His mind rushed with thoughts of what she would think to be waking up by his side. Would she realize something was off? He certainly had worked a great deal to control his hormones and he felt exhausted!

"Branch…?" she called quietly from behind him and he, hesitantly, turned to face her.

As soon as he saw her, he knew that was his favorite version of Poppy. She was holding herself up with an elbow. Her head was tilted to the side, with messy hair, puffy face and a tired, but glad, smile on her lips.

"Morning," he mentally kicked himself for sounding like a squeaky mouse.

"Morning…" Poppy's smile grew wider and gentler. "Thank you for last night."

Alarmed, Branch forgot for a second that he had the purest of intentions when he invited her over… and on his bed. He could only think of how her perfect lips puckered up to say his name.

"What time is it?" stretching, Poppy completely sat up, making him see how her shirt lifted, displaying a small portion of her pink back for him to see. "I think we overslept."

"I'm sure we did." Branch replied, sitting up as well.

"Well, it's your fault," Poppy nudged him playfully, fluttering her long eyelashes at him. "You're incredibly snuggly."

With one quick kiss on his cheek, Poppy jumped up, vanishing from his bedroom before he could say anything. He heard her changing and she walked out of the guest room, pausing just outside his door, giving him the sight of her form in the cute blue dress he was used to.

"I better go," she said quietly and Branch felt like melting. He reached for Gary and unlocked the bunker.

He wondered if he should say anything to her at all. 'Thank you for sleeping with me' wasn't going to sound right, was it? But Poppy interrupted his thoughts.

"Thank you for being a gentleman, cowboy. I'll see you around."