Palentine's Day - Part 1

"All the possibilities!" Poppy squealed, causing Branch to chuckle while he watched his girlfriend filling the canon flowers with blue and white hearts. "Don't get me wrong, Palentine's Day is always awesome, but this year, with different tribes living together, it will be epic!"

"You're usually excited about the festive days, but you seem more triple-rainbow than usual." The survivalist pointed out. He wasn't as excited. He liked the idea of celebrating friendship, sure. It was a good opportunity to get to know another troll and to spend the day with games and chat, but somehow, he had spent so little time with Poppy lately, that he wanted to have a full day with her and not anybody else.

It felt like spending time with other trolls was a waste of time. He wanted a full day of her exclusive attention. Was that too much to ask?

"Of course, I'm excited. I can barely wait to see who will ask me!" Poppy bent down and shut the flower canons just in time for Fuzzbert arrive and take them to the mushroom where the royal announcements happened. "Hello, Fuzzbert. Just give me a moment. I'll go get the remote with the popper button." And the Queen vanished from sight to return to her pod. The fuzzy friend mentioned something about getting a pushcart to take the cannons away.

And just like that, Branch was left alone. He was alone with both flowers that were conveniently filled with paper hearts…

… he had an idea.

Demo was obsessed with perfection and epic-ness. Poppy knew from watching him all day that he and she had a lot in common. They wouldn't settle for anything less than perfect. It was no wonder how they got acquainted so fast.

Sitting down on top of the highest trees, the Queen watched the moon coming up and warmly rested her cheek on her knees. DJ Suki was so happy when Demo finally got it right. A nice song that came straight from the heart was everything that was needed to make her say yes.

It had been a good day. Poppy had done her job beautifully and she checked her Hug Watch to realize it was close to dinner time. Only then, the pink girl realized she hadn't been asked. Was it possible that her paper heart got lost in the bushes and nobody got her?

She took a small notebook from her hair and checked the list of names she had made. Palatine's was fun, but so it would be super fun she had to make sure everybody was paired. While helping Demo, Poppy took the opportunity to take notes on every trollstopian's pal. It usually was a quick duty, but now that other tribes were living together, her job to make sure everybody got satisfied prolonged during the day.

Her list wasn't complete. Sky Toronto was unmatched and so was Branch and Maddie. So, her job was easy. All she had to do was to find one of them and find out who they got. The remaining troll would be her Palentine.

Chuckling to herself, Poppy was already imagining that the one who got her was nobody else than Sky. He wasn't the kind to come up with one big performance before work hours were over. It made sense.

And, checking her Hug Watch once again, the queen realized she still had half an hour before the factory closed, which meant she could snoop on Branch's bunker and see how he dealing to have been paired up with Maddie.

When the trapdoor opened worry immediately took over Poppy. The smell of something burning greeted her and it only got stronger as she descended to the lounge room. There wasn't smoke anywhere, so if there was fire it was already under control. Still, it was too quiet and a horrible thought that Branch could be intoxicated couldn't be avoided.

"Branch?" The queen called, going straight to the kitchen where she assumed the source of the smell was coming from. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, fudge." She heard him cursing and a loud crash just followed. "Just a second!" He loudly said, indirectly making her stop walking and wait until he gave her permission to walk inside.

"There's a smell all over the bunker…" Poppy said while leaning against the wall. She always admired how Branch so carefully carved shelves on the walls; a clear reminder of his childhood when he lived in a pod with his grandma and, like everyone else, there were shelves made of hair in every wall.

One of the shelves got her attention. It was covered with a green curtain, completely closed. Well… he had told her to feel at home, so, she allowed herself to approach and curiously grab the sides of the fabric to pull them open…

"Okay, you can come in now!" Branch put his head out of the kitchen's door and Poppy jumped in surprise. Not wanting to be caught snooping, she quickly turned on her heels and followed him.

"What in the world are you... oh…" The words died on her lips.

The table was filled with colorful cupcakes, pies and one big cake in the middle. On top of it, written in pink and blue frosting she read "Will you be my Palentine?"

How come she hadn't thought that Branch could have gotten her?! It was the most perfect… oh wait.

Branch was nervously fidgeting, staring at her and the table like it was a ping pong match. Poppy couldn't see anything wrong with the desserts so she just assumed he was anxious to hear her answer.

"Of course, I'll be your Palentine, Branch!" She squealed, hugging him so tightly she actually heard a rib crack under her arms. "Hair, what are the odds! Of so many trolls we got each other!"

A little out of breath and now with a sore rib, Branch nervously chuckled while scratching his neck.

"Okay, what?"

Guilty wouldn't let him enjoy that holiday if Branch didn't come out with the truth. It had been eating him up all day.

Early that morning, when he opened the bags of the askers and the askees and snatched their hearts out of it, he felt like he was committing a crime. He wanted to be Poppy's Palentine so badly that didn't even consider it before cheating.

Branch had walked around with the hearts in his pockets for half an hour before he decided to tell his girlfriend what he had done. He had found her on the way to the announcement and he got his breath away just after he called her.

Poppy had stopped and turned to give him her full attention. She was standing under two big leaves with several holes carved by hungry caterpillars. The sun penetrated the tree cups from them and Poppy happened to be standing on the right spot where one of the bright beams of autumn light illuminated her, almost making her shine.

She had patiently waited until he remembered how to speak because it was very confusing to say he had done something wrong - something that would most definitely upset her - when she was looking like an angel sent straight from the heavens.

Hair… had he really kissed those lips? He was one lucky troll…

In the end, he couldn't get his brain to function properly and Poppy got late for the announcement. The best he could do was to go along with his plan.

He spent the entire afternoon cooking. He wanted to make her a feast of candies so he could sweet his way out of any reproaches she might have.

"Things didn't go exactly as I wanted…" Branch finally said, snapping out of his thoughts.

Poppy's eyes softened, sitting down on the chair by his side. "I wanted to make you feel special. It had been a while since we spent a whole day together, but I couldn't wrap my head around it. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean, Branch? It's perfect." Poppy gently placed a hand on his shoulder, but he couldn't meet her eyes.

"I've burned the cupcakes three times. I'm not even sure those ones are tasting good." His head started spinning. It was time to tell her. "I couldn't concentrate on the cooking because I took our hearts from the flowers before you popped them."

It took her a while to realize what he was confessing. So, Branch didn't want to spend that holiday with nobody else. Poppy could have been mad because he took her chance of meeting someone new, but even his little transgression didn't make her quite as upset. On the opposite. She felt flattered.

"It's okay if you're angry." His eyes were fixed on his knees.

"Well… it's not what I expected." Poppy said after what seemed an eternity. Branch finally looked up to find a rebellious grin on her face. "But if you don't tell anyone I won't either."

"Really?" With his hopes rising, Branch happily saw as Poppy took a bite on one of the cupcakes… and she grimaced. "Not good, right?"

"Let's say they are a little burnt." Giggling, Poppy looked at the pies and the cake. "Are they safe?"

"Ah, yes." Another strike of guilt. "I actually asked Holly to cook them for me." Poppy could barely keep from laughing. "I wanted to have something edible to give you."

Happily, Poppy hopped around the kitchen, opening the cupboards and getting plates and silverware. Branch sighed as the weight of his misbehavior left his shoulders. Just like that morning, he had an impression that she was some sort of heaven's gift for him. She wasn't just pretty. She was astonishingly understanding.

"Here," she placed a full slice of chilly pie in front of him. "So that's how your day went. Just cooking and breaking the law?" Poppy teased, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, that was basically it. What about your day?" Branch asked back, taking a big bite and realizing how hungry he actually was.

"My day was full of troll-watching." Poppy closed her eyes when she took the bite of Holly's cooking for the first time. She had tasted a lot of cupcakes from the country girl, but she had never tried her chilly. Good it wasn't too spicy. "I was intrigued at how Demo went overboard to ask DJ to be his Palentine." When she said that, Branch raised his eyes from his place to pay full attention to what she was going to say next. "Then, watching him as he succeeded, I don't know… I think he may have a crush on her."

"On DJ?" Confusedly, Branch didn't even realize he was waving a piece of pie around with his fork. "No way. He has a crush on Val."

"Does he?" It was Poppy's turn to be confused.

Okay… so perhaps Branch just accidentally spilled his friend's secret.

"Right. I'm not supposed to tell, so let's keep it between us." The survivalist quickly said and stuffed the pie in his mouth to keep from talking more.

"Well… he did look very much in love…" Quietly chewing, Poppy played with a piece of tomato, going deep into her thoughts. "Could he love both?"

Her question startled her boyfriend. Branch had never really thought about feelings that way. It took him a lifetime to realize what it was to be in love and to him it was something so unique and complex that he didn't think it was possible to fall in love with two different people.

Not the same way…

The fantasies of a fairy tale love slowly faded as Branch used his realistic and analytical brain to emotionally detach himself from the situation and look at love like a science project. He spent enough time playing chess with Laguna to understand that feelings were merely the body chemically reacting to a suitable mate.

It meant… if someone more interesting came along…

"I hope he doesn't confuse DJ…" Poppy said, bringing Branch out of his mental wanderings. "It looked like her heart skipped a beat."

Could a troll stop loving another just like that? A love that was claimed to be profound and full of devotion could just cease to exist?

Poppy's lips moved. She had changed the subject and a smile was coloring her face. Branch tried hard to pay attention to what she was saying, but something inside him had just broken.

Love was an entirely new concept to him, but for some reason he had assumed it was transcendentally stable. He thought true love couldn't die or be replaced. It scared him to see how easily feelings could change.

Branch thought he could never love another troll like he loved Poppy…

But… if someone else showed up… could she ever stop loving him?