Partial Truth

Notes:

I hope eveyone is doing well! Welcome to another chapter and before you read on, I would like to explain that I refer to little parts of Naughty Tales of Trollstopia to adjust Poppy's knowledge to Branch's multiverse trip. The rating of his chapter remain the same as the rest of the fanfic. So, have fun!

The surprise involuntarily went to Poppy's leg. She had a sudden urge to sit on her heels, but the painful pull and snapping sensation made her breath catch in her throat and a small scream came from her lips.

"The stitches, Poppy!" Branch reminded her once again, looking alarmed at her. He lost count of how many times he had to raise the leg of her pajamas to check on her healing skin. This time, he saw that she had managed to snap the thread, but the wound didn't reopen. "You're so clumsy…"

"I forgot about them." The queen defended herself. It was getting to her nerves not being able to move freely, anyway.

"Yeah… obviously." He leaned even close to study his work. Her skin wasn't red around the gash anymore and it looked like the swelling was coming down. "Good news, though. In a day or two I can take them off."

Furniture ended up being useful to help her to stand on her own. The Queen didn't struggle to put her hands on the couch and pull herself up with the help of her hair. It took a while, but she managed to be independent with one hurt leg.

"How did you learn so much about stitches?" Poppy asked and Branch stood up as well, picking up the dismantled puzzle to return it to its box.

"I've spent ten years underground, remember?" He chuckled. "I had a few accidents that needed proper attention." To illustrate his point, Branch turned his head so Poppy could see a scar that ran from his ear to his jawline. "A hammer got loose from the handle. Three stitches and a week of eating only soup."

"And nobody to kiss it better!"

"That part was kind of a relief." He teased, causing her to stick her tongue out for him playfully. "C'mon, my butt is freezing. Let's go to bed."

They had been three days underground and the survivalist constantly checked on his weather station. It was still snowing outside and apparently, the weekend of fun and games turned out to be a week of being trapped inside.

At least it was enough time for Poppy to heal. The bruise on her head was looking much better. Branch even caught her staring at the mirror, finally being able to see her reflection and understand how badly she had been injured.

And they made a new discovery. While her stitched leg was the left one, he had suggested, on the first day, to lay down on her right side, so she could cuddle on his left and put her healing knee on top of his leg. It was a small change of bed sides for healing purposes only.

It turned out to be a disaster. Poppy couldn't find the sweet spot to cuddle at his chest and he felt odd with her lying on his left, like she was an alien there.

"Branch," she whispered quietly at his side after failing several attempts to get comfortable. "I think we're one of those couples who have their own side of the bed." And he couldn't agree more. Once they traded places, they magically fit and sleep quickly claimed them both.

"Do you need anything?" It became routine for Branch to ask as he crawled in bed beside her. Poppy tried not to get in his way while he read his books before falling asleep, so she usually said she was fine.

"No… not really." One arm draped over his chest and she hooked her leg over his, caressing his shin with her toes. "But I am curious about what you said earlier."

"Yes…" he didn't even reach for his book. It was his plan to lay down and tell her everything with all the lights strategically out, so he could avoid her face without looking like a coward.

"I'm just a little anxious to know if you met Pushy Poppy."

"Pushy Poppy?" Completely puzzled, Branch repeated her, trying to make some sense out of it.

"Ugh, she's a very annoying version of me. I'm a little embarrassed to have seen myself like that." Poppy proceeded to explain how she had a version who didn't think twice about cheating in a multidimensional scavenger hunt.

The light dimmed down. The tired firebugs decided they needed to sleep pronto.

"No, I didn't meet Pushy Poppy." Branch had to admit Lownote Jones carefully chose the most innocent universes for games. It would be an ice bucket on the head to find a crab-apple in a scenario where they both were passionately tangled in one another. "I did meet several other versions of you."

"That's interesting!" Poppy squealed at his side and he could picture her excited face in the dark. She was already planning far ahead a way to invite all Poppies for a snack at her pod.

Somehow, Branch had to make her understand he hadn't been on a trip on the back of a unicorn. It wasn't cupcakes and rainbows and most of them were disturbing.

Especially that one when he enjoyed being turned into a rock troll. It was the closest to their own reality he had gotten. Too close for comfort.

And the accident… it wasn't his intention to fall inside one of the realities and...

"You're going all mysterious again." Poppy said and Branch snapped out of his thoughts. He had said he was ready to talk about it and yet, he could only stare at his girlfriend, remembering having her in so many ways… "and now you look like you're seeing me like a giant gloup du jour."

Shyly, she pulled the covers up, suddenly remembering he had seen more than she was willing to show while she was unconscious.

"Gloup du jour!" He laughed, looking up to the ceiling once more. That was a nice way to put it.

"Yeah… like… you're imagining me naked or something." Annoyance was evident as she tucked the covers up to her nose.

"Hair… I don't have to imagine." His laughter subsided enough for him to talk. She did taste like dessert, that was for sure. "I've seen you naked lots of times." He said before he could stop himself.

The coyness and tease vaporized from her attitude like water in the desert. She lifted her head to stare at her boyfriend with her mouth hanging open.

"You were spying on me!?" After the episode with her underwear, Poppy wouldn't be surprised if he was.

"No! Hair, Poppy, that's not what I meant." He shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place, but he was trying to tell her what he had been through. "I respect you, okay? I wouldn't go spying on you." Even if sometimes he was really attempted to.

"Huh…" Poppy raised an eyebrow at him and the playful annoyance was back in place. "Go on."

"I saw you… a lot… during the multiverse exploration." He chose his words carefully, "My self-confidence had seen better days and I thought… don't be mad… I thought I could get ideas to make you happy from versions of us that were ahead in their relationships."

Her eyes softened and she lowered her head, resuming her position on his chest. The past days had been an emotional rollercoaster for her. From realizing he doubted her feelings to gaining a gruesome bruise on her face, Poppy wondered if she was strong enough to listen to what her boyfriend had to say. He had mentioned she had died in one of the universes...

"It started so beautifully." Branch smiled, remembering the first thing he saw when he searched for their happiness. "We had kids and we helped each other with the chores."

"Kids!"

"Twins. They looked lovely." He felt her hand raising to his chest. Her lips turned upwards, resting just under his ear. "It inspired me to explore more, but… the other dimensions weren't innocent like that one…"

He had to get it out, but he feared she'd see him as a perverted troll. He didn't want for her to think badly of him in any way.

"And you kept looking." She whispered, not accusing him of anything, but just expressing her understanding.

"I did…"

They remained in silence for a while. Branch didn't feel guilty as he thought he would. Poppy didn't seem to be offended or to be judging him in any way. An itch of curiosity on his side made him wonder if she wanted to see those dimensions as well.

"Was there a favorite?"

By all that was troll-y, yes, there was a favorite and he couldn't be completely forward about the reason why! He wasn't ready to talk about intimacy.

"There was a dimension where our roles were a little inverted. I was a King and you were the village girl…"

"Oh," a flirtatious giggle made him relax and her pink fingers tracing his chest made the fire of confidence stir. "Someone got a taste of power…"

"It was… interesting."

"Any other?" Her hand slipped down and rested above his navel for a few seconds. Branch realized she hadn't touched him below his chest so far. It made him alert.

"Hm… there was this one where we couldn't undo the ultimate powerchord." It occurred to him, he had never had a chance to ask her about his looks when he turned into a rock troll and from the scenes he had seen, well… "Was I full of tattoos when I transformed?"

"Ahh…" Her dreamily sigh answered his question. "Yes, you were. Chest, hands, neck... not that I had the time to inspect them."

When did his heart start to race? Suddenly a wave of heat made him want to take his shirt off. Poppy had liked the tattoos! As soon as the snow melted, he was going straight to Rock Hollow. Demo probably had a friend or two who could tattoo something for him.

"It seems you had a lot of insights." The sound of her voice next to his ear was starting to be hard to ignore. Suddenly, all of his body was aware of her. The way her chest was pressed against his side, her hand that was torturously still on his belly button.

But as his excitement grew, she seemed to retreat. She placed a sweet, innocent kiss on his cheek, then resumed her favorite sleeping position and her enticing hand raised to his chest again. Unaware that she had vowed not to pressure him, Branch couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

Yes, he had a lot of insights, he figured. The biggest one was that it was up to him to lead things with her.

"Branch…" Poppy snuggled even closer, if possible. "I'm not being totally forward with you. I feel a little jealous from time to time."

The queen was satisfied with what she had learned from him so she offered a small confession of her own. His plans and strategies to come up with the best and most respectable way to touch his girlfriend suddenly fell on the background when he heard what she was trying to say.

Poppy?! Jealous of him?! He wouldn't have seen it coming in a million years.

"Do you even know what jealousy means?" He tried to joke, but her silence made him understand she was serious.

"Just because I don't act on my impulses, it doesn't mean I don't have negative feelings as well." Growling, she buried her face even more. He shouldn't joke about her feelings. "At first I was a little jealous of Holly."

"Holly?!" Shocked, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"We were still getting to know each other… and she has all these sugary words…" Poppy shut her eyes tightly, ashamed. "And your friendship with Laguna is something so precious."

"Laguna, too?"

"You guys are scientists. You transit into each other's world of nerdiness with an easiness that I'm not capable of." Laguna, even more than Holly, made Poppy understand she'd never fulfill Branch completely. There were things he would only find in his friends.

"Poppy… you do know I only have friends because you taught me how to be a better troll, right?" Branch felt her head shyly nodding against his chest.

No more words were needed. He didn't have to point out how she didn't have to be a part of every corner of his world. She knew that as much as he did. Deep down, he could feel she had already reached a truce with that jealousy she claimed to have, but since they were coming clear, she might as well take it out of her chest.

It felt incredibly refreshing to be able to tell each other their fears and to talk them through. Like a caterpillar, they would need to cocoon themselves to transmute the feelings that were binding them to the ground. From time to time, a small conversation to adjust spots of negativity would be required. It didn't mean they were loving each other less, but they were slowly breaking out of the ties to take flight.

And still, even with that realization… Branch was still a little anxious that he didn't tell her the part of the trip that bothered him the most. Perhaps he should wait another opportunity, when their hearts healed a little, to tell her about Rock Poppy.